Authority to Administer the NPDES Program

On This Page

• Overview
• Statutory Authority
• Legislative Reports
• Regulations

Overview

The Clean Water Act requires that a state must have the necessary legal authority to administer the NPDES Program before the Environmental Protection Agency will approve a state's NPDES Program application. The state adopted statutes and regulations to provide for the necessary authority.

Statutory Authority

The Governor signed Senate Bill 110 (PDF) into effect on August 27, 2005. This bill authorized the state to pursue primacy for the NPDES wastewater discharge permitting and compliance program established under the Clean Water Act.

House Bill 149 (PDF) and Senate Bill 91 were identical bills introduced to the Legislature in January 2007 during the first session of the 25th Legislature to address changes to statutory authorities for authorization of NPDES primacy. HB 149 passed out of the House of Representatives and was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration. A hearing on the bill was not scheduled before the end of the session.

During the second session of the 25th Legislature, HB 149 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was signed by the Governor and became law effective April 15, 2008. The passing of HB 149 signified the final statutory authority necessary for Alaska to submit to EPA a complete application for primacy.

Alaska Statutes

AS 01.10	AS 39.52
AS 09.25	AS 40.25
AS 11.81	AS 44.46
AS 12.55	AS 44.62
AS 22.10	AS 44.64
AS 31.05	AS 45.50
AS 38.05	AS 46.03

Legislative Reports

Since the passing of SB 110, the Department of Environmental Conservation provided annual reports to the Legislature on efforts to obtain state primacy over NPDES. These reports were a requirement of SB 110. The most recent report was submitted January 16, 2013.

Regulations

Existing regulations at   18 AAC 15 (PDF)  and   18 AAC 72 (PDF)  were amended to comply with Clean Water Act requirements. New Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (APDES) Program regulations were adopted at   18 AAC 83, along with subsequent amendments (PDF)  effective October 23, 2008.

APDES Regulations	Reference Regulations
18 AAC 15 (PDF)	2 AAC 96 (PDF)
18 AAC 72 (PDF)	11 AAC 110 (PDF)
18 AAC 83 (PDF) (with Amendments effective October 23, 2008)	18 AAC 50 (PDF)
	18 AAC 60 (PDF)
	18 AAC 70 (PDF)
	20 AAC 25 (PDF)