Tennessee

The stormwater permit for construction in Tennessee

Tennessee 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

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities (Construction General Permit), Permit Number TNR100000

Issued by: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Division of Water Resources
Permit number: TNR100000
Version determined against: as published by the state agency
Effective: 2021-10-01
Expires: 2026-09-30

Read the permit Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Division of Water Resources

Who may prepare the plan

Conditional, depends on the site

Tennessee gates plan preparation only above a threshold this site does not meet. The gate applies above 5 acres. This site is 1 acres. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted without a credentialed signature.

Qualifying routes

Registered professional engineer (TN)
Registered landscape architect (TN)
Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC)
Completion of TDEC's "Level II Design Principles for Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control for Construction Sites" course

Gate is acreage-based, not a single mandatory credential: sites 5 acres or less of disturbance have no SWPPP-preparer qualification requirement (optional TDEC templates available); sites over 5 acres require the narrative be prepared by someone meeting one of the routes above, and the permit's own list is open ("such as, but not limited to"). The separately-triggered PE/landscape-architect stamp requirement applies only to engineering design of sediment basins/structural controls at 10+ acre (or 5+ acre for sensitive waters) drainage areas — commonly conflated with a full-SWPPP PE requirement, which this permit does not impose. Reconfirms and supersedes the prior entry, which was sourced to the 2011 permit and flagged for reconfirmation against the 2021 version.

Verified2021 Tennessee CGP (TNR100000), Part 5.2 "Qualification Requirements"Source

Does a site in Tennessee 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

Verified

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 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities (Construction General Permit), Permit Number TNR100000, 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.
This is TDEC's current 2021-issued TNR100000 General Permit (effective 10/1/2021, expires 9/30/2026). TDEC's own hosted PDF returned an HTTP 403 to automated fetch, so text was read from an identical mirror hosted by the Tennessee Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control Association, which reproduces the same TDEC letterhead, permit number, and dates. Since the permit expires 9/30/2026 (about six weeks after retrieval), a reissuance may be in progress; no evidence of an already-effective newer version was found. Numeric monitoring parameters in Section 5.5.3.3(f)/5.5.3.5 are 'Report'-only values (no fixed numeric exceedance threshold) applying only to specific higher-acreage/sensitive-water outfalls, treated as monitoring requirements rather than true numeric effluent limits. No fixed-day NOT filing deadline exists (TN's NOT is condition-triggered); the only fixed day count found is a 5-year abandonment backstop, captured as a state-specific id.
Tennessee gates plan preparation only above a threshold this site does not meet. The gate applies above 5 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.
VerifiedPart 1.1.2Source
2
Permitting authority
Tennessee. The state runs its own programme under TNR100000.
3
Preparer credential
Tennessee gates plan preparation only above a threshold this site does not meet. The gate applies above 5 acres. This site is 1 acres. On what we have verified, a generated plan can be adopted without a credentialed signature.
Verified2021 Tennessee CGP (TNR100000), Part 5.2 "Qualification Requirements"Source

What to do next

1. Confirm the governing permit. Read National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities (Construction General Permit), Permit Number TNR100000 directly. It is linked above, and it is the document an inspector will hold you to. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Division of Water Resources
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 Tennessee
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 Tennessee

Screen a Tennessee site now

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Screen your site

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State*

Activity*

Total acres disturbed*

Total land disturbance over the whole project, including staging and access. This decides whether you need a permit at all.

Acres open at any one time

Optional. If you phase the work, the most that will be disturbed at once. Leave blank if the whole site is open together. The stabilisation deadline turns on this figure, not the total.

Part of a larger common plan of development or sale

A half acre lot inside a 40 acre subdivision is covered even though the lot alone is under the threshold. This is the most commonly missed trigger in the permit.

Receiving water and site conditions(optional, but they change the inspection frequency)

Discharges to a sediment or nutrient impaired water

Discharges to a Tier 2, 2.5 or 3 water

Arid, semi arid or drought stricken area

May allow a reduced inspection frequency during the seasonally dry period.

In Indian country

EPA keeps permitting authority in Indian country even inside a state that runs its own programme.

No account, no card, nothing transmitted.

What people ask about the Tennessee construction stormwater permit

Do I need a stormwater permit for a construction site in Tennessee?

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 Tennessee?

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Division of Water Resources issues National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities (Construction General Permit), Permit Number TNR100000.

Does Tennessee require a qualified preparer for the plan?

Keep the record Tennessee will ask you for

The screening is free. Holding the written plan and the retained inspection log is what the permit actually demands.

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