Technical Bulletin No. 0735: Evaluation of EPA's Permit Compliance System (PCS) Database

The Permit Compliance System (PCS) is a national computerized database that tracks discharge monitoring data and permit limits for 75,000 facilities for which information is collected under the authority of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). PCS data are being used with increasing frequency by environmental consultants, law firms, and non-profit environmental groups. For example, data retrieved from the PCS are being used in citizen suits to establish compliance or non-compliance, by public-interest groups to assist in litigation or lobbying, in performing Phase I environmental assessments for lending institutions, and in providing data for use in watershed-wide or industry-wide environmental analyses.