States’ and EPA’s Permitting Authorities Vary in Whether and How They Control Pollutants in Discharge Permits

Our review of the data on municipal permits for five commonly discharged toxic pollutants disclosed that decisions about whether and how to control pollutants differed both from state to state and within states. Because EPA relies on its regional offices to oversee the states’ implementation policies, it does not maintain national information on these policies. Moreover, except for some efforts by its regional offices, EPA has not assessed the impact of the differences among the states. EPA said that its regional offices do review the states’ standards and implementation policies and that they do consider the impact of variations among the states in their reviews. Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix V.

EPA’s and the States’ Responsibilities

Figure I.1 illustrates the roles and responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state agencies in developing water quality standards and implementing them in the permits issued to municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program (NPDES). Approve states' water quality standards.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) authority to permit municipal wastewater treatment facilities to discharge pollutants into surface waters, focusing on: (1) differences in how EPA and the states control discharges of specific pollutants; and (2) EPA oversight of state water quality standards and policies.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) controls over the discharge of pollutants in surface waters vary by state; (2) differences in state water pollutant controls are a concern to neighboring states that share water bodies; (3) differences in state controls exist because surface waters differ greatly throughout the country and EPA regulations allow for flexibility in the way states assess and control water pollution; (4) EPA has limited oversight of state water quality standards, since it does not maintain sufficient information on state implementation policies or assess the impact of variations among states and it reviews relatively few permits; and (5) EPA plans to enhance its reviews of state implementation policies and increase its emphasis on controlling pollution within watersheds.