Index by Topic ---------------------------- News Items Permit and Monitoring Info Surface Water Discharges Stormwater Municipal Financing Biosolids (sludge) Students and Teachers Wastewater Reuse Forms and Checklists Operator's Forum - NEW! NJ Discharger Newsletter Discharge From STPs Industrial Discharges to STPs Discharge to Ground Water Onsite Septic Systems Treatment Works Approvals Rules and Regulations Permitting/Technical Info Database Info

Program Units ---------------------------- Administration and Mgt. Division Organization Director's Message Financing-Const. Permits Municipal Finance/Const. Nonpoint Pollution Control Permit Management Pretreatment and Residuals Point Source Permitting 1 Point Source Permitting 2 Program Dev.-Tech Services Watershed Permitting

 
Jeffrey Reading,
Assistant Director Phone: (609) 292-9977
FAX: (609) 984-7938
NJDEP, DWQ
Watershed Permitting Element
401 E. State Street
P.O. Box 029
Trenton, NJ 08625-0029

The Watershed Permitting Element (WPE) is responsible for protecting New Jersey's ground and surface water quality by assuring the proper treatment and discharge of wastewater (and its residuals) and stormwater from various types of facilities and activities, including the generation, monitoring, and management of sludge and sludge derived products.

One of WPE's main functions is the issuance of NJPDES permits, which limit the amounts of pollutants discharged into the waters of the state. The NJPDES Program's goals are to:

	restore, enhance, and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters of the state,
	protect public health and safety,
	protect potable water supplies,
	safeguard fish and aquatic life and scenic and ecological values,
	enhance the domestic, municipal, recreational, industrial, agricultural, and other uses of water, and
	prevent, control, and abate water pollution.

Much of the Program was created in 1972 by the Federal Clean Water Act. The NJPDES Program was delegated to New Jersey by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1981.

The WPE through the NJPDES program has issued 5233 currently active permits. This includes 255 municipal permits and 422 industrial permits for wastewater discharges to surface water (excluding stormwater only permits). For stormwater discharges, 3387 NJPDES permits (184 - individual, 3203 - general) have been issued, including 675 for the new municipal stormwater program. For ground water discharges, 1034 NJPDES permits have been issued to both municipal and industrial facilities including landfills. The Element has also permitted 74 NJPDES Significant Indirect Users (SIUs). These SIU permits are for facilities (mostly industries) that have a potential to discharge significant quantities of wastewater and/or concentrated pollutants into a sewer system for treatment at a municipal treatment plant. In addition, 61 NJPDES permits have been issued to municipal and private entities for the land application, processing, storage, and distribution of sewage sludges (residuals) and sludge derived products. The WPE also regulates alternative designs of onsite wastewater treatment systems through the issuance of Treatment Works Approvals.

Bureau of Point Source Permitting Region 1
Bureau of Point Source Permitting Region 2
Bureau of Nonpoint Pollution Control
Bureau of Pretreatment and Residuals

NJPDES Data Management Support:

Bureau of Permit Management