Iowa Department of Natural Resources issues discharge permits under delegation of a federal program known as the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit program. Storm water regulations were established by EPA under the NPDES permit requirements for certain types of industrial facilities and industrial activities. The intent of the federal storm water regulations is to improve water quality by reducing or eliminating contaminants in storm water. Storm water is defined as precipitation runoff, surface runoff and drainage, street runoff, and snow melt runoff. The storm water permits database tracks wastewater permits for NPDES General permits #1-3. General NPDES Permits allow the DNR to allocate resources in an efficient manner to provide more timely permit coverage. For example, many facilities that have common elements may be covered under a general permit without expending the time and money necessary to issue individual permits to each facility. In addition, using a general permit ensures consistency of permit conditions for similar facilities. General permit #1 covers storm water discharge associated with industrial activity. General permit #2 covers storm water discharge associated with industrial activity for construction activities. General permit #3 covers storm water discharge associated with industrial activity from asphalt plants, concrete batch plants, rock crushing plants and construction sand and gravel facilities.