Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania issues its own construction general permit. We have read PAG-02 NPDES General Permit for Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities and list below the requirements we could cite to it, with the scope limits stated plainly. Screen your own acreage further down.
Who may prepare the plan
No preparer credential foundNo preparer credential was found for Pennsylvania. 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.
PADEP PAG-02 instructions state the developer need not be a licensed professional. 25 Pa. Code 102.4(b)(3) requires only trained and experienced.
No permit section cited. Confirm this with your permitting authority.
Coverage trigger
The project disturbs 3 acres, at or above the 1 acre threshold, so it needs permit coverage.
The trigger people miss is the second one. A half acre lot inside a 40 acre subdivision is covered, because the larger common plan of development or sale is what counts, not the lot.
Worked for a three acre site with the receiving water unconfirmed. Each line says why it attached to this site rather than in general. Check the notes above for the site sizes this permit does not cover.
at least 60 calendar days prior to the planned date for commencing construction
Why this applies here: This is the deadline for a new site. A transfer to a new operator or an emergency related project has a different deadline.
Persons seeking new coverage under the PAG-02 General Permit must submit a complete NOI package at least 60 calendar days prior to the planned date for commencing construction.
Visual site inspections must be conducted and documented weekly, and within 24 hours after each measurable stormwater event of 0.25 inch or greater, throughout construction until the NOT is acknowledged.
Why this applies here: You have not confirmed whether the site discharges to an impaired or high quality water. If it does, the increased frequency applies instead and this answer changes.
The permittee and co-permittee(s) must ensure that visual site inspections are conducted and documented weekly, and within 24 hours after each measurable stormwater event (0.25 inch or greater) throughout the duration of construction and until the receipt and acknowledgement of the NOT by DEP or the authorized conservation district.
Qualified personnel, trained and experienced in erosion and sediment control; effective December 8, 2025, only DEP-recognized 'qualified site inspectors' (via DEP's Qualified Visual Site Inspector Training Program) may complete the required weekly visual site inspections.
Why this applies here: This is why Basinwise cannot perform your inspections. The permit requires a trained person physically on the site.
The requirement for qualified site inspectors begins on December 8, 2025. DEP's Qualified Visual Site Inspector Training Program is available in Clean Water Academy.
Permanent stabilization must begin immediately upon final completion of an earth disturbance activity or any stage/phase of it. Temporary stabilization must begin immediately whenever a temporary cessation of earth disturbance activity on any stage or phase will exceed 4 days.
Why this applies here: This applies at both land disturbance amounts.
Upon final completion of an earth disturbance activity or any stage or phase of an activity, the site shall immediately have topsoil restored, replaced, or amended, seeded, mulched or otherwise permanently stabilized and protected from accelerated erosion and sedimentation. ... Upon temporary cessation of an earth disturbance activity or any stage or phase of an activity where a cessation of earth disturbance activities will exceed 4 days, the site shall be immediately seeded, mulched, or otherwise protected from accelerated erosion and sedimentation pending future earth disturbance activities.
immediately
Upon reduction, loss, or failure of any BMP, the permittee and co-permittee shall take immediate action to restore, repair, or replace the BMP or provide an alternative method of treatment.
Where a Chapter 102 permit is required and the project site is in an Exceptional Value or High Quality watershed attaining its designated use, earth disturbance activities may not occur within 150 feet of a perennial or intermittent river, stream, creek, lake, pond, or reservoir, and any existing riparian buffer must be protected.
persons proposing or conducting earth disturbance activities when the activity requires a permit under this chapter may not conduct earth disturbance activities within 150 feet of a perennial or intermittent river, stream, or creek, or lake, pond or reservoir when the project site is located in an exceptional value or high quality watershed attaining its designated use
Where E&S, PCSM, or PPC BMPs are found inoperative/ineffective, or an incident causing or threatening pollution is discovered, the permittee/co-permittee must contact DEP or the authorized conservation district by phone or personal contact as soon as possible but no later than 4 hours after becoming aware of the incident.
the permittee and co-permittee(s) shall, as soon as possible but no later than 4 hours after becoming aware of the incident, contact DEP or the authorized conservation district, by phone or personal contact, followed by the submission of a written report within five (5) days of the initial contact.
Records of all monitoring information, including inspection reports, site log book, calibration/maintenance records, and NOI data, must be retained for 3 years from the date coverage under the permit is terminated. The period must be extended during any unresolved compliance, enforcement, or litigation matter, or when requested by DEP/CCD.
Why this applies here: The clock runs from permit expiry or termination, not from when the record was written, so on a multi year project every record stays live for the whole project plus three years.
The permittee and co-permittee(s) shall retain records of all monitoring information including copies of all monitoring and inspection reports required by this permit, all monitoring information (including site log book, calibration and maintenance records) and records of data used to complete the NOI for this permit, for a period of three years from the date of the termination of coverage under this permit as required by 25 Pa. Code Section 92a.61(f)(2).
Your acreage, your receiving water, your answer. Runs in your browser, nothing is transmitted.
This is EPA's list, from the 2022 Construction General Permit. It does NOT govern in Pennsylvania, where the state issues its own permit and sets its own contents. It is here as a shape to expect, not as the requirement you will be held to.
Read the permit itself at the source document.
Pennsylvania issues its own construction general permit, and we have read PAG-02 NPDES General Permit for Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities. The requirements listed on this page, such as inspection frequency, who may inspect, stabilisation, corrective action and record retention, are cited to that permit rather than to EPA's. Anything we have not transcribed is left out instead of assumed to match the federal rule, and the scope note on this page says which sites the permit does not cover. Confirm the current permit and any site-size variant with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), Bureau of Clean Water.
No preparer credential was found for Pennsylvania. 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.
The inspection frequency is set by the Pennsylvania construction general permit, which we have not read. Confirm it with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), Bureau of Clean Water.
Screening is free. Pro generates the site specific plan document and retains the inspection and corrective action log.