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Watershed Permit Assistance Program
WVRC’s Watershed Permit Assistance Program is dedicated to achieving clean water by improving public participation in water permitting processes, and by helping dischargers achieve better permit compliance. We: sponsor workshops, • support watershed organizations and the public by answering questions and helping with detailed permit reviews, and
• publish reports. We also offer our Water Permit Information Center, which provides a range of resources necessary to learn about local permits and the permitting process.

OUR FOCUS
Since its inception in 2000, the Permit Program has focused on water pollution control discharge permits (called NPDES or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits) that are required for municipal, industrial, mining, and other discharges into the state’s rivers and lakes. These permits restrict the amount of pollutants that facilities can discharge.

The program also offers services related to mining, quarry, and Clean Water Act Section 404 permits.

Mining permits are required for coal mining operations. Among other things, these permits affect the intensity of floods downstream from surface mines and the likelihood of damage to downstream ecosystems from failed slurry impoundments.

Section 404 permits allow the use of heavy machinery directly in streams to remove debris and to reconfigure the banks. These permits are also the legal means by which hundreds of miles of West Virginia streams have been buried through mountaintop removal coal mining operations.

SUPPORT FOR WATERSHED ORGANIZATIONS AND THE PUBLIC

We answer questions:
Call or e-mail with questions related to specific permits or federal or state laws, regulations, or policies related to permits.

We help with detailed permit reviews:
Concerned about a local permit? Contact the Permit Program for help with a detailed technical review. We can help you get copies of a permit and related information, read and understand the permit, and draft comments.

We sponsor workshops:
See our workshops page to find out about future workshops, or to schedule a new workshop. We hold workshops for watershed organizations and for permittees.

We offer online information:
The Water Permit Information Center offers centralized access to local, state, and national information on specific permits and permit-related laws, regulations, and policies.