West Virginia
The stormwater permit for construction in West Virginia
West Virginia 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
West Virginia NPDES General Water Pollution Control Permit for Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities
- Issued by
- West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), Division of Water and Waste Management (DWWM)
- Permit number
- WV0115924
- Version determined against
- as published by the state agency
- Effective
- 2024-04-06
- Expires
- 2029-04-05
Who may prepare the plan
No preparer credential foundNo preparer credential was found for West Virginia. 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.
Part II.H states the SWPPP shall be prepared by a 'Qualified Person,' but that term is never defined in the permit — absent from Appendix C Definitions and not recurring as a defined term elsewhere. No state-recognized course, license, or certification body is named, so the gate is open: any operator-designated qualified individual may prepare the SWPPP. A PE stamp is genuinely not required to prepare the SWPPP; the sole PE/surveyor mention in the whole permit (Part IV.D.2) is an optional alternative path for demonstrating final site stabilization, not a gate on plan authorship. Commercial preparer-training courses exist in the market but are not referenced or required by the permit text itself.
Does a site in West Virginia 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 West Virginia NPDES General Water Pollution Control Permit for Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities, 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.
- dep.wv.gov could not be reached directly from this environment -- every attempt failed at the TLS handshake, which appears to be a network-path issue rather than the document not existing. All facts below were pulled from a mirrored copy of the reissuance 'clean' draft (dated 12-13-23) hosted by Jefferson County Foundation, itself sourced from WVDEP's public-comment docket for WV0115924. Public search indexing (not independently PDF-verified) suggests the permit was subsequently issued 3/6/2024, effective 4/6/2024, expiring 4/5/2029 -- the executed final text was not independently confirmed identical to this draft. No numeric turbidity/pH/TSS benchmarks exist; WV's CGP is BMP/narrative-based. WV has no biweekly-plus-rain alternate routine schedule -- a single combined weekly-plus-rain-trigger requirement is the only routine standard. Corrective-action deadlines are not split into minor/major tiers -- a single uniform 24-hour deadline applies to all deficiencies, so majorFix is omitted rather than fabricated. Stabilization completion-by-acreage (<=5 vs >5 acres) does not appear in WV's permit; only an initiation deadline plus a completion deadline for enhanced-BMP sites exists.
- No preparer credential was found for West Virginia. 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
West Virginia. The state runs its own programme under WV0115924.
- 3
Preparer credential
No preparer credential was found for West Virginia. 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 West Virginia NPDES General Water Pollution Control Permit for Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities directly. It is linked above, and it is the document an inspector will hold you to. West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), Division of Water and Waste Management (DWWM)
- 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 West Virginia
- 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 West Virginia
Screen a West Virginia site now
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What people ask about the West Virginia construction stormwater permit
Do I need a stormwater permit for a construction site in West Virginia?
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 West Virginia?
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), Division of Water and Waste Management (DWWM) issues West Virginia NPDES General Water Pollution Control Permit for Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities.
Does West Virginia require a qualified preparer for the plan?
No preparer credential was found for West Virginia. 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 West Virginia will ask you for
The screening is free. Holding the written plan and the retained inspection log is what the permit actually demands.