Do I need a QSD to prepare my SWPPP?

A Qualified SWPPP Developer is a California specific role. Under the state's construction general permit the plan must be developed by a QSD, and a person qualifies either by holding a California PE or PG and self certifying, or by holding one of several other credentials (landscape architect, AIH hydrologist, CPESC or CPSWQ) together with the state training and exam. It is a California term of art, not a national one.

No, because the role does not exist outside California. What can exist is an equivalent gate under a different name. Several states require a licensed engineer or another credentialed person to prepare the plan, sometimes only above an acreage threshold or only where the plan carries a particular component. Check your own state on the table below rather than assuming California's rule travels.

No, and this is the trap that catches people most often. A named role in a permit is not automatically a credential. Colorado's Qualified Stormwater Manager and Arizona's Qualified Person are self attested: the permit names a responsibility, it does not require an external qualification to hold it. Treating a named role as a credential leads people to hire a consultant they did not need, and treating a real credential as a named role leads to a plan that is not valid.

Usually not, and practice act citations on this point are routinely overstated. A PE stamp is not required as a general matter in Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and most states with no preparer gate. Where a state does require a licensed engineer, it is because its own permit says so, and the state page cites the section that says it.

The permitting authority at review, and an inspector at the site. There is a second trap here worth knowing: some credentials are regulator side, not applicant side. Michigan, the Virginia plan reviewer and the South Carolina certified plan reviewer are all qualifications for the people who REVIEW plans, not the people who write them, so seeing them named does not mean you need one.

Yes, as a draft. Where a credentialed preparer is required, a generated document is a complete draft for that person to review, amend and sign. It saves them the assembly work; it does not replace their signature, and it says so on its face. In a state with no preparer gate, an operator can adopt it directly.