District of Columbia
The stormwater permit for construction in District of Columbia
District of Columbia is not NPDES authorised for construction stormwater, so EPA is the permitting authority and its 2022 Construction General Permit governs directly. That permit is one we have read, so the requirements below are real and cited.
Governing permit
2022 Construction General Permit
- Issued by
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Version determined against
- 2022 CGP (as modified 2025)
- Effective
- 2022-02-17
- Expires
- 2027-02-16
Who may prepare the plan
No preparer credential foundNo preparer credential was found for District of Columbia. 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.
EPA is the permitting authority. Coverage is under EPA's 2022 CGP, permit area DCR100000. CGP Part 9.3.1 requires compliance with the District's Stormwater Management and Soil Erosion and Sediment Control regulations in Chapter 5 of Title 21 DCMR, and requires a copy of the SWPPP to be submitted to DOEE during review and approval of the DOEE Erosion and Sediment Control Plan. Authorization must also be requested from DOEE to discharge dewatering water or groundwater to the District MS4 or a surface water body. IMPORTANT: whether the separate DOEE Erosion and Sediment Control Plan requires a credentialed preparer was NOT verified, so the credential flag here is scoped to the federal SWPPP only. The 2022 CGP as modified became effective April 8, 2025 and expires February 16, 2027; confirm the successor permit near that date. Credential: the 2022 CGP imposes no SWPPP preparer credential. It does require inspections by a 'qualified person' (Part 4.1), which is an inspection credential, not a preparation credential.
No permit section cited. Confirm this with your permitting authority.
Does a site in District of Columbia 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
- No preparer credential was found for District of Columbia. 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.
- The source extraction contains the permit body (Parts 1-9) only. Appendices A (Definitions), B (Eligible Permit Areas), C (Small Construction Waivers), D (ESA Eligibility Procedures), E (Historic Property Screening), F (Buffer Requirements), G (Standard Permit Conditions), H (NOI Form), I (NOT Form), J (Chemical Treatment Request) and K (Turbidity Report Form) were NOT present in the extracted text. Every fact whose operative text lives only in an appendix is marked confidence "unverified" with a note naming the appendix to confirm.
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
EPA. DC is not an NPDES authorized state, so EPA's Construction General Permit governs directly.
- 3
Preparer credential
No preparer credential was found for District of Columbia. 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 2022 Construction General Permit directly. It is linked above, and it is the document an inspector will hold you to. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA Region 3)
- 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 District of Columbia
- 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 District of Columbia
Screen a District of Columbia site now
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What people ask about the District of Columbia construction stormwater permit
Do I need a stormwater permit for a construction site in District of Columbia?
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 District of Columbia?
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issues 2022 Construction General Permit.
Does District of Columbia require a qualified preparer for the plan?
No preparer credential was found for District of Columbia. 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 District of Columbia will ask you for
The screening is free. Holding the written plan and the retained inspection log is what the permit actually demands.