Stormwater basics
The stormwater infrastructure is designed to control the quantity and quality of rain water runoff into our community’s watershed. By design, the infrastructure requires a close eye and constant maintenance. The purpose for these structures from filters and catch basins to bio-swales and storm ponds is to protect our environment. To neglect stormwater infrastructure results in violation, fines, cease work orders, and public embarassment.
Inspection Requirements
Requirements for stormwater flows from the federal level. The Clean Water Act, established in 1972, established regulated standards for surface water. At the federal level these standards are set by the EPA, who enforces states to establish departments to oversee the municipalities. Therefore, on an industrial site local, state, and federal have requirements for managing stormwater. The state audits the local governments and industrial sites. You can expect the local and/or state audits to typically take place every 5 years. However, there are requirements for self inspection as well. According the the Permanent Maintenance Agreement, self inspections should take place annually. However, the cadence gets stricter for industrial sites. Most industrial sites must complete an inspection quarterly. These inspections are to be performed by a stormwater professional. The inspection must be signed and filed with SWPPP documents.
SWPPP Requirements
Industrial and construction sites must be permitted through the state to satisfy NPDES. These permits are filed with South Carolina’s DES. Your site’s Stormwater Pollutant Prevention Plan (SWPPP) is submitted for approval in this permitting process. The SWPPP is site specific and must be written by a stormwater professional. The SWPPP instructs on how to handle spills, how to train employess, how to inspect and monitor water quality. It also includes maps to show the topography, local bodies of water, high risk contamination points, and discharges on your property. The SWPPP must be updated with each new general NPDES permit or whenever there is construction on the site.
Sampling Stormwater Discharge
Sampling, or water monitoring, is required on each industrial site. Typically, every new industrial site is required to at least provide three E. coli tests in the first year. These water samples should be drawn by a member of your SWPPP team in containers provided by your local lab. The sample should be taken immediately after a rain event while water is discharging from your stormwater pond. Each discharge on your site must be sampled. The containers are then to be taken back to the lab. Be sure to ask your lab for the time frame the samples should be brought in for your specific tests. Generally, within 10 days, your lab will email the results. Check your results against the SWPPP tolerance levels and keep the report in your SWPPP file.
Maintenance of Stormwater Pond
Maintenance refers primarily to mowing of vegetation. The typical interpretation of the regulations does require at least two mowings each year. The regulation is broad so as to monitor the result more than the process. Often, regulators fail stormwater ponds over vegetation height, because growth prevents a proper inspection. Furthermore, many cities will say that vegetation may not exceed a certain height. Beyond this, there is to be no woody or invasive vegetation in your stormwater pond. Spraying chemicals to control woody vegetation is typically frowned upon by stormwater regulators. The preferred management is to increase mowing visits. However, when chemicals are applied, a Category V Chemical Application licenses is required.
Penalties for Stormwater Violations
Penalties in commercial or residential sites can be up to $1000 per violation, per day. In other words, if a violation is given and 30 days later the inspector sees that it has not been taken care of, he has the ability to fine $30,000 per violation. In the case of industrial sites, the penalties can be much stiffer. For example, in November of 2025, Hanover Foods (PA) was required to pay $1.15 million for penalties under the Clean Water Act. They were also required to upgrade their wastewater treatment system and implement an enhanced monitoring and reporting of their dischage. Another penalty that affects the finances of a company is a “cease operations” directive such as what SC-DES gave Silfab Solar (Fort Mills, SC) in March of 2025. And in May of 2025, DES levied a $3 million fine before the new Scout plant was even built. EPA’s fines range from $2500 to $50000 per day per violation.
Steps to follow when you receive a notice of violation letter
Buck Outdoors does not provide this process as legal advice. Please communicate with legal counsel when needed. These steps are merely intended to give you best practices to prevent fines.
When you receive a Notic of Violation (NOV) letter in the mail, respond immediately. Often the NOV is a mailed letter to your tax address. The letter should include a phone number and email address. By responding with an email, you have a documented thread of communication.
If you are unsure who to call to complete remediation, contact Buck Outdoors. We can either get you a quote or help you find a contractor in your area.
Once a contract is in place for the repairs, email a copy of that contract to the inspector. This allows him to know that you are moving forward with repairs. Also, give him an estimated time of when the repair work will be completed. Often, contractors are booked, but will place priority on violations. When a regulator has an estimated date of completion, they generally will not recheck the violation until that date. Therefore, keep the regulator posted to changes in the estimated date.
Make sure that you show the NOV to the contractor. Often clients think they are keeping the cost down by not letting the contractor know fine could be in play. However, your goal should be to eliminate fines by making sure the contractor knows exactly what is needed.
Once the project begins, email the inspector again to inform them that remediation is in process. Buck Outdoors takes photos of the completed project and sends them to the inspector. If your contractor does not do this, we highly recommend that you email completed work photos in order to document the completion.
Ask the inspector to send a letter, or email, that communicates the satisfaction of the violation to keep in your records.