Hawaii
The stormwater permit for construction in Hawaii
Hawaii 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 Authorizing Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activity (HAR Chapter 11-55, Appendix C)
- Issued by
- Hawaii Department of Health (DOH), Clean Water Branch (CWB)
- Version determined against
- as published by the state agency
- Effective
- 2024-01-29
- Expires
- 2029-01-28
Who may prepare the plan
No preparer credential foundNo preparer credential was found for Hawaii. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted by the operator without a credentialed signature. Local ordinances can still be stricter than state law.
No preparer credential found in the reviewed sources. Not exhaustively verified; confirm with the state agency and any local ordinance.
No permit section cited. Confirm this with your permitting authority.
Does a site in Hawaii 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 Authorizing Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activity (HAR Chapter 11-55, Appendix C), 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.
- Hawaii's permit does NOT differentiate stabilization completion deadlines by acreage (no 'five acres or less' vs 'more than five acres' split exists in the text); instead it applies a single 14-calendar-day completion deadline to all sites, with a 7-day accelerated deadline only for portions of a site discharging to a CWA section 303(d)-listed impaired water (Section 5.2.1.3.2). Accordingly, stabilization.complete.fiveAcresOrLess/moreThanFiveAcres were omitted and replaced with state-specific facts. Hawaii's 'increased inspection frequency' trigger (Section 9.1.3) is based on discharge to a CWA section 303(d) impaired water, not on a discrete 'sensitive waters' or reef/coastal-specific category -- no coral-reef- or coastal-specific inspection-frequency or buffer provision was found anywhere in the permit text, despite Hawaii's many nearshore/reef waters; the mapped inspection.increased.sensitiveWaters fact below is Hawaii's closest analog (impairment-based) and this distinction is noted in its own 'note' field. No 'arid/semi-arid/drought' reduced-inspection provision exists in this permit (Hawaii instead has reductions for stabilized areas and for frozen conditions, carried over from a mainland-oriented template); inspection.reduced.aridSemiAridDrought was omitted as genuinely inapplicable. No numeric effluent limits or benchmarks (e.g., turbidity NTU, pH range) were found in the permit body -- Hawaii relies on narrative compliance with the state water quality standards at HAR 11-54-4 (Sections 5, 6.1, 9.1) rather than fixed numeric benchmarks, so numericLimitsAndBenchmarks is omitted entirely. Hawaii's permit uses the term 'Notice of Cessation' rather than 'Notice of Termination'; deadline.not.submission below is mapped to that provision.
- No preparer credential was found for Hawaii. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted by the operator without a credentialed signature. Local ordinances can still be stricter than state law.
- 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
Hawaii. The state runs its own programme, issued as an unnumbered or rule-based general permit rather than under a discrete permit number.
- 3
Preparer credential
No preparer credential was found for Hawaii. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted by the operator without a credentialed signature. Local ordinances can still be stricter than state law.
What to do next
- 1. Confirm the governing permit. Read NPDES General Permit Authorizing Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activity (HAR Chapter 11-55, Appendix C) directly. It is linked above, and it is the document an inspector will hold you to. Hawaii Department of Health (DOH), Clean Water Branch (CWB)
- 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 Hawaii
- 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 Hawaii
Screen a Hawaii site now
Runs in your browser. Nothing about the site is transmitted.
What people ask about the Hawaii construction stormwater permit
Do I need a stormwater permit for a construction site in Hawaii?
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 Hawaii?
Hawaii Department of Health (DOH), Clean Water Branch (CWB) issues NPDES General Permit Authorizing Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activity (HAR Chapter 11-55, Appendix C).
Does Hawaii require a qualified preparer for the plan?
No preparer credential was found for Hawaii. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted by the operator without a credentialed signature. Local ordinances can still be stricter than state law.
Keep the record Hawaii will ask you for
The screening is free. Holding the written plan and the retained inspection log is what the permit actually demands.