Alabama
The stormwater permit for construction in Alabama
Alabama runs its own NPDES programme, so a state issued construction general permit governs. Below is what our engine can say about it, and where we have not read that permit, what it will not say.
Governing permit
NPDES General Permit No. ALR100000, Construction General Permit (CGP)
- Issued by
- Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM)
- Permit number
- ALR100000
- Version determined against
- as published by the state agency
- Effective
- 2026-04-01
- Expires
- 2031-03-31
Who may prepare the plan
A credentialed preparer is requiredAlabama requires a credentialed preparer. Treat the generated document as a complete draft for that person to review, adopt and sign. It is not by itself a compliant filed plan.
Qualifying routes
- PE
- CPESC
- Landscape architect
- Surveyor
- PG
- Forester
- REM
- Soil scientist
A Qualified Credentialed Professional must prepare and certify the plan. There is no acreage floor. The inspection-only QCI credential is expressly barred from preparing.
Does a site in Alabama need coverage
Worked for a one acre site as a reference point. Change the acreage in the tool below and the answer, and its reasoning, change with it.
Coverage
Permit coverage required
The project disturbs 1 acres, at or above the 1 acre threshold, so it needs permit coverage.
Determined against dataset version 2026-07-19.
Read these before you act on the answer
- Requirements below are what we have read and cited directly from NPDES General Permit No. ALR100000, Construction General Permit (CGP), not the federal CGP. A category we have not yet transcribed from this permit is omitted here rather than assumed to match EPA's rule.
- AL's permit does not use an acreage-tiered final-stabilization-completion deadline analogous to federal's Table 2, so it ties stabilization to an activity-cessation trigger (13 calendar days) plus an 'immediately' (next business day) initiation deadline. AL has no arid/semi-arid/drought reduced-inspection provision. AL's routine site-inspection frequency is monthly-plus-rain-trigger rather than weekly/biweekly, modeled as new state.al.* ids (separate for linear vs. non-linear projects). AL's closest analog to increased inspection frequency for sensitive/impaired waters is the CBMPP evaluation cadence (3 months priority / 6 months non-priority) plus mandatory daily inspection for in-waterbody activity, modeled as new state.al.* ids. Could not verify a numeric permit application fee schedule.
- Alabama requires a credentialed preparer. Treat the generated document as a complete draft for that person to review, adopt and sign. It is not by itself a compliant filed plan.
- Basinwise does not perform the physical site inspections the permit requires. Those must be carried out on site by a qualified person.
How this answer was reached, step by step
- 1
Coverage threshold
The project disturbs 1 acres, at or above the 1 acre threshold, so it needs permit coverage.
- 2
Permitting authority
Alabama. The state runs its own programme under ALR100000.
- 3
Preparer credential
Alabama requires a credentialed preparer. Treat the generated document as a complete draft for that person to review, adopt and sign. It is not by itself a compliant filed plan.
What to do next
- 1. Confirm the governing permit. Read NPDES General Permit No. ALR100000, Construction General Permit (CGP) directly. It is linked above, and it is the document an inspector will hold you to. Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM)
- 2. Settle the preparer question before you draft. Getting this wrong costs a redraft at best. The detail is on the credential page for this state. Preparer credential in Alabama
- 3. Screen the site. Run the real acreage and receiving water facts through the tool below. You get the inspection frequency, the stabilisation deadlines and the filing path with the permit section behind each.
- 4. Read the requirements in full. SWPPP requirements in Alabama
Screen a Alabama site now
Runs in your browser. Nothing about the site is transmitted.
What people ask about the Alabama construction stormwater permit
Do I need a stormwater permit for a construction site in Alabama?
Permit coverage is triggered at one acre of land disturbance, and below one acre if the project is part of a larger common plan of development or sale that will ultimately disturb an acre or more. The project disturbs 1 acres, at or above the 1 acre threshold, so it needs permit coverage.
Who issues the construction stormwater permit in Alabama?
Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) issues NPDES General Permit No. ALR100000, Construction General Permit (CGP).
Does Alabama require a qualified preparer for the plan?
Alabama requires a credentialed preparer. Treat the generated document as a complete draft for that person to review, adopt and sign. It is not by itself a compliant filed plan.
Keep the record Alabama will ask you for
The screening is free. Holding the written plan and the retained inspection log is what the permit actually demands.