"In a December 10, 1974, letter, the Chairman, Subcommittee on Investigations and Review, House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, asked us to review the status and reasonablieness of permits issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the States under the National Pullutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) established by the Federal Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1251)... Our review of the NPDES permit program was conducted at EPA headquarters and in regions III and V. We reviewed 120 municipal permits and 50 industrial permits issued to dischargers in four States -- Delaware, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Wisconsin. We interviewed officials at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.; EPA regional offices in Chicago (region V) and Philadelphia (region III); and State water pollution control agencies or departments in Dover, Delaware; Springfield, Illinois; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Madison, Wisconsin. We also contacted and obtained information from 29 municipalities of their consulting engineers and 17 industrial dischargers and examined pertinent Federal and State agencies' documents, records, and other literature."--p.1, 3.