South Carolina
The stormwater permit for construction in South Carolina
South Carolina 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 for Stormwater Discharges From Construction Activities, Permit Number SCR100000 (2026 Construction General Permit)
- Issued by
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES), Bureau of Water, Dam Safety and Stormwater Permitting Division
- Permit number
- SCR100000
- Version determined against
- as published by the state agency
- Effective
- 2026-03-30
- Expires
- 2031-03-30
Who may prepare the plan
Conditional, depends on the siteSouth Carolina gates plan preparation only above a threshold this site does not meet. The gate applies above 2 acres. This site is 1 acres. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted without a credentialed signature.
Qualifying routes
- SC-licensed Professional Engineer (Title 40, Chapter 22)
- SC-registered Landscape Architect (Title 40, Chapter 28, Section 10, item (b))
- SC Tier B Land Surveyor (Title 40, Chapter 22)
- Federal government employee as described in Title 40, Chapter 22, Section 280(A)(3)
Gate is acreage-tiered, not flat. Sites disturbing 2 acres or less, not part of a larger common plan of development, have no named-credential requirement to prepare the C-SWPPP (a Coastal Zone carve-out at Section 3.1.2.D pulls some sub-2-acre sites near a coastal receiving water into the same gated requirement). Above 2 acres, the C-SWPPP must be prepared, certified and stamped by one of the four routes above — no CPESC/CEPSCI route exists for this design/stamp role, correcting and confirming this dataset's prior 'CPESC not accepted as signer' finding. A narrower, genuinely mandatory PE-seal requirement applies only where the site is both subject to Regulation 72-400 and disturbs 5+ acres; exactly what triggers 72-400 applicability was not independently confirmed (it appears tied to permanent stormwater/dam-safety-linked structures). Routine inspections are a separate obligation from SWPPP preparation: Section 4.2.E allows the C-SWPPP preparer, someone with equivalent registration, someone they directly supervise, or a person certified through an SCDES-approved Construction Site Inspector Certification Course (Clemson's CEPSCI is the recognized course) — stateCourseRequired is false because that course is one of several qualifying options for inspection, not a mandatory single path, and does not confer SWPPP-preparation authority.
Does a site in South Carolina 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 for Stormwater Discharges From Construction Activities, Permit Number SCR100000 (2026 Construction General Permit), 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.
- des.sc.gov blocked all direct requests (HTTP 403); content was verified from a South Carolina county-government mirror of the identical, officially signed permit (Permit No. SCR100000, Issued Feb 26 2026, Effective March 30 2026, Expires March 30 2031) plus SCDES's companion Fact Sheet. No numeric effluent limits or fixed benchmark values were found; SC uses a narrative/BMP-based 'Non-Numeric Effluent Limits' approach with TMDL/303(d)-driven site-specific requirements instead. No acreage-tiered stabilization COMPLETION deadline was found -- only a single 14-day initiation deadline applies regardless of site size. No standalone inspection-report-filing deadline separate from the inspection interval was found.
- South Carolina gates plan preparation only above a threshold this site does not meet. The gate applies above 2 acres. This site is 1 acres. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted without a credentialed signature.
- 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
South Carolina. The state runs its own programme under SCR100000.
- 3
Preparer credential
South Carolina gates plan preparation only above a threshold this site does not meet. The gate applies above 2 acres. This site is 1 acres. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted without a credentialed signature.
Verified2026 SC NPDES CGP (SCR100000), Section 3.1.2.B-D and Section 3.1.3 (Signatory Requirements); inspector qualifications at Section 4.2.ESource
What to do next
- 1. Confirm the governing permit. Read NPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges From Construction Activities, Permit Number SCR100000 (2026 Construction General Permit) directly. It is linked above, and it is the document an inspector will hold you to. South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES), Bureau of Water, Dam Safety and Stormwater Permitting 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 South Carolina
- 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 South Carolina
Screen a South Carolina site now
Runs in your browser. Nothing about the site is transmitted.
What people ask about the South Carolina construction stormwater permit
Do I need a stormwater permit for a construction site in South Carolina?
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 South Carolina?
South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES), Bureau of Water, Dam Safety and Stormwater Permitting Division issues NPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges From Construction Activities, Permit Number SCR100000 (2026 Construction General Permit).
Does South Carolina require a qualified preparer for the plan?
South Carolina gates plan preparation only above a threshold this site does not meet. The gate applies above 2 acres. This site is 1 acres. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted without a credentialed signature.
Keep the record South Carolina will ask you for
The screening is free. Holding the written plan and the retained inspection log is what the permit actually demands.