Join host Jeff Berckes and guests to get to the "point" of "point source pollution." The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program, commonly referred to by its acronym, “NPDES,” addresses water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants to waters of the United States. During this episode, learn about the types of NPDES permits, who needs a permit, and how they are developed. About our guests: Joe Haberek joined the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) in 1997 in the Rhode Island Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (RIPDES) Program, working his way up to eventually become the supervisor of the RIPDES Program. Haberek is currently the Administrator of Surface Water Protection in the RIDEM’s Office of Water Resources. In this role, he supervises the RIPDES, Operations and Maintenance, Wastewater Design, and Shellfishing Programs. Jeff Poupart is the section chief of Water Quality Permitting with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). In that position he oversees permitting and compliance for the NPDES and Non-Discharge wastewater, sewer collection systems, 401 Certifications, Wetlands and Buffer, transportation permitting and Animal Feeding operations. Poupart has been with DEQ since 1992 and has served in various supervisory positions including industrial pretreatment and emergency response. Learn more about the NPDES program: https://www.epa.gov/npdes Follow us @cleanwaterpod on Twitter to keep up with the latest podcast news! Learn more about NEIWPCC at neiwpcc.org.