WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Writer's Course is a five-day training session covering the key elements of NPDES permit development. The course is taught by experienced Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff and contractors and has been well received by EPA Regions and authorized NPDES states. Due to the high demand for the course, EPA has developed and recorded Web-based presentations covering much of the material presented in the live course. These recorded presentations enable participants who attended the NPDES Permit Writer's' Course to review the material on demand in a self-paced environment. The presentations also are useful for those who have not attended a live course, but who wish to become familiar with important concepts of the NPDES permit program.

Several training modules were previously posted on EPA's NPDES Training Courses and Workshops Web page; however, the 13-part series is now complete. In addition, a new feature has been added that allows the user to print a "course completion certificate" if they achieve a passing score on the module quiz. After printing the certificate, the user also may click a link to send their contact information to EPA for tracking purposes.

The NPDES Web-based training series can be accessed at www.epa.gov/npdes/training.