The Surface Water Quality Bureau Point Source Regulation Section (PSRS) is responsible for the protection of surface water quality through implementation of state’s Ground and Surface Water Protection Regulations dealing with point source discharges and spill reporting. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, created in 1972 by the Clean Water Act, helps address water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants to waters of the United States.
The NPDES program is administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the State of New Mexico. All New Mexico NPDES permits are posted on the US EPA New Mexico NPDES permits webpage. EPA has a General Permit Search tool that can be used to search for permit records and related submissions for general permits, including coverage requests and certain types of reports, for the Construction General Permit (CGP), Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP), Hydrostatic Testing General Permit, and Pesticide General Permit. EPA also has webpages dedicated to the Middle Rio Grande Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit and the New Mexico small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (sMS4) permit.
The Permitting and Certification Team assists the U.S. EPA in implementing the Clean Water Act Section 402 NPDES permit program by reviewing federal permits and preparing Section 401 certifications to certify that the permit also complies with New Mexico law. Recent State of New Mexico Section 401 Certifications for NPDES permits are available here. Public notices of 401 certifications of draft NPDES permits are available on the NMED Public Notices page. Interested parties may submit public comments for consideration in the State of New Mexico 401 Certification pf a draft NMDES permit through the NMED Public Comment Portal.
The Compliance and Enforcement Team assists the U.S. EPA to implement the Clean Water Act Section 402 NPDES permit program by conducting federal compliance evaluation inspections on behalf of the EPA. Recent inspection reports are available here.
The State Permitting Program Team is developing and implementing a surface water quality state permitting program. Recent activities include the Surface Water Advisory Panel (SWAP).
Key PSRS Documents