H.R. 3899 — Clarifying Federal General Permits Act

This section authorizes the EPA Administrator to issue general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits—on a state, regional, or nationwide basis, or for a delineated area—for categories of similar discharges from similar sources. (NPDES permits, under the Clean Water Act, regulate pollutant discharges from point sources into U.S. waters.) It further requires the Administrator, if deciding not to renew an expiring general permit for similar discharges, to publish a Federal Register notice of that decision at least two years prior to expiration; absent such notice upon expiration, the terms of the expired permit continue to apply to previously covered discharges and to new discharges that would have qualified, until the earlier of issuance of a new general permit or two years after publication of a non-renewal notice.