Bowling Green, KY Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Sec. 21-2.09(a) requires anyone undertaking a site construction project or land disturbance in Bowling Green's Service Area to obtain a permit from the City as set out in the Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Manual, submitting an application to the stormwater Utility on its own form before construction begins; developers must also check separately with the Kentucky Division of Water and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permits those agencies require. The City waives its permit for emergency activity immediately necessary to protect life, property or natural resources, and for nursery and agricultural operations.

Once a project disturbs more than 750 square feet of soil, the permit application must include a review and inspection fee: $35.00 flat for residential building permits, or two tenths of one cent ($0.002) per square foot of disturbed area for all other building permits, with a $75.00 minimum. The Utility reserves the right to inspect the site before construction begins as part of its review, and its approval only confirms general compliance with local rules and the Kentucky Division of Water's General Permit; the designer stays responsible for the erosion-control design details, and the property owner is responsible for actually building it.

Larger disturbances trigger more: Sec. 21-2.11 requires a Post Construction Stormwater Quality Management Plan, reviewed and approved before any permit issues, for any project disturbing more than one acre and adding over 10,000 square feet of new impervious surface, or for hotspot land uses such as automotive fueling and repair facilities or grease-generating restaurants; developers on those larger sites can instead pay a Fee-in-Lieu of Construction ranging from $600 to $1,800 per acre for subdivisions or $12,000 per acre for commercial and industrial projects. Sec. 21-2.12 enforces the whole Subchapter with Stop Work Orders and Chapter 27 civil penalties.