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Virginia

The stormwater permit for construction in Virginia

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

General VPDES Permit for Discharges of Stormwater from Construction Activities (General Permit No. VAR10)

Issued by
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (Virginia DEQ)
Permit number
VAR10
Version determined against
as published by the state agency
Read the permitVirginia Department of Environmental Quality (Virginia DEQ)

Who may prepare the plan

Conditional, depends on the site

Virginia gates plan preparation conditionally. The gate is triggered by plan scope rather than acreage: The SWM plan is gated; the erosion and sediment control plan is not. Confirm which case applies to your plan before relying on a generated document.

Qualifying routes

  • Licensed professional seal on the stormwater management plan

The Responsible Land Disturber role is on-site execution, not plan preparation.

Verified9VAC25-875-510(C); 9VAC25-875-550 has no counterpartSource

Does a site in 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

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

  • We have identified General VPDES Permit for Discharges of Stormwater from Construction Activities (General Permit No. VAR10) as the governing permit but have not loaded its requirements. The requirements below are not shown because we will not substitute the federal permit's rules for a state's. Confirm with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (Virginia DEQ).
  • Virginia gates plan preparation conditionally. The gate is triggered by plan scope rather than acreage: The SWM plan is gated; the erosion and sediment control plan is not. Confirm which case applies to your plan before relying on a generated document.
  • 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. 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. 2

    Permitting authority

    Virginia. The state runs its own programme under VAR10.

  3. 3

    Preparer credential

    Virginia gates plan preparation conditionally. The gate is triggered by plan scope rather than acreage: The SWM plan is gated; the erosion and sediment control plan is not. Confirm which case applies to your plan before relying on a generated document.

    Verified9VAC25-875-510(C); 9VAC25-875-550 has no counterpartSource

What to do next

  1. 1. Confirm the governing permit. Read General VPDES Permit for Discharges of Stormwater from Construction Activities (General Permit No. VAR10) directly. It is linked above, and it is the document an inspector will hold you to. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (Virginia DEQ)
  2. 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 Virginia
  3. 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. 4. Read the requirements in full. SWPPP requirements in Virginia

Screen a Virginia site now

Runs in your browser. Nothing about the site is transmitted.

Screen your site

Runs in your browser

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

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.

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)

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

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 Virginia construction stormwater permit

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

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (Virginia DEQ) issues General VPDES Permit for Discharges of Stormwater from Construction Activities (General Permit No. VAR10).

Does Virginia require a qualified preparer for the plan?

Virginia gates plan preparation conditionally. The gate is triggered by plan scope rather than acreage: The SWM plan is gated; the erosion and sediment control plan is not. Confirm which case applies to your plan before relying on a generated document.

Keep the record Virginia 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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