Michigan
The stormwater permit for construction in Michigan
Michigan 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
Permit-by-Rule for Storm Water Discharges from Construction Activity, Mich. Admin. Code R 323.2190 (Part 21, under Part 31, Water Resources Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451)
- Issued by
- Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Water Resources Division
- Permit number
- R 323.2190 (Permit-by-Rule)
- Version determined against
- as published by the state agency
Who may prepare the plan
No preparer credential foundNo preparer credential was found for Michigan. 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.
Michigan's gating structure does not map cleanly onto a typical SWPPP-preparer-credential model. State rule places no credential requirement on whoever drafts the SESC plan itself. Credentialing instead attaches to two adjacent roles: the local Part 91 enforcing agency's plan reviewer (who must hold EGLE's Comprehensive SESC Plan Review & Design certification), and the construction-phase site inspector (who must be a CSWO, required for every site 1+ acre, unrelated to the separate 5-acre NOC-filing threshold). No PE stamp requirement was found anywhere in Part 17, Part 21, or the EGLE Permit-by-Rule FAQ. Individual county/municipal enforcing agencies may impose additional local requirements beyond this state floor; that county-level variation was not verified.
Does a site in Michigan 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 Permit-by-Rule for Storm Water Discharges from Construction Activity, Mich. Admin. Code R 323.2190 (Part 21, under Part 31, Water Resources Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451), 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.
- Michigan does NOT issue a single discrete numbered general permit (no 'MIR100000' document was found or verified). The operative mechanism is the 'Permit-by-Rule' at Mich. Admin. Code R 323.2190, contingent on holding a Part 91 Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control (SESC) permit (R 323.1701-.1714) issued by a county or local enforcing agency. EGLE's 'Guidebook of Best Management Practices' and 'Permit-by-Rule FAQ' pages returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches and were not used. No exact promulgation/effective date for the current text of R 323.2190 could be recovered (only amendment years: 1992, 2003, 2006 AACS), so permit.effectiveDate is left null. No minimum rainfall depth is specified for the post-storm inspection trigger (only 'every precipitation event that results in a discharge'), so rainTriggerInches is left null. No numeric effluent or turbidity benchmarks were found. No MI equivalent was found for federal's increased-frequency-near-sensitive-waters or reduced-frequency-in-arid-areas provisions. Additional/stricter requirements imposed by individual county or municipal Part 91 enforcing agencies (100+ delegated statewide) are out of scope of the state-level rule text fetched here.
- No preparer credential was found for Michigan. 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
Michigan. The state runs its own programme under R 323.2190 (Permit-by-Rule).
- 3
Preparer credential
No preparer credential was found for Michigan. 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.
VerifiedMich. Admin. Code R 323.1703 (SESC plan preparation, Part 17) and R 323.2190(1)-(2) (Permit-by-Rule, Part 21)Source
What to do next
- 1. Confirm the governing permit. Read Permit-by-Rule for Storm Water Discharges from Construction Activity, Mich. Admin. Code R 323.2190 (Part 21, under Part 31, Water Resources Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451) directly. It is linked above, and it is the document an inspector will hold you to. Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Water Resources Division
- 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 Michigan
- 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 Michigan
Screen a Michigan site now
Runs in your browser. Nothing about the site is transmitted.
What people ask about the Michigan construction stormwater permit
Do I need a stormwater permit for a construction site in Michigan?
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 Michigan?
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Water Resources Division issues Permit-by-Rule for Storm Water Discharges from Construction Activity, Mich. Admin. Code R 323.2190 (Part 21, under Part 31, Water Resources Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451).
Does Michigan require a qualified preparer for the plan?
No preparer credential was found for Michigan. 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 Michigan will ask you for
The screening is free. Holding the written plan and the retained inspection log is what the permit actually demands.