What are the Current Backlog Rates?
The chart on the left shows the current NPDES permit issuance and backlog rates. As of July 31, 2000, 68 percent of NPDES permits are current. This represents an improvement of 13 percent from the backlog measured in November 1998 (54 percent). Over the last 22 months EPA Headquarters has provided assistance to states and EPA Regions to clean up invalid records in PCS. Other states were encouraged to improve PCS on their own initiative. This effort has been very successful. Since the EPA and states began focusing on cleaning up PCS data, the overall universe of permittees in PCS has declined 18 percent. Records in PCS that were listed as not having a permit expiration date have been reduced by 56 percent. Now, EPA is able to more accurately track the backlog of facilities with individual permits on a national basis. EPA is now working with states and EPA Regions to better characterize facilities that are covered by non-stormwater and stormwater permits. While EPA is encouraged by the p
