Chapel Hill, NC Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Chapel Hill's erosion control program is required by the NC Sedimentation Pollution Control Act (NCGS 113A-50 to 113A-67) and codified locally in Town Code Chapter 5, Article V (Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control). The state-floor disturbance threshold under NCGS 113A-54.1 is one acre; Chapel Hill applies a lower 20,000 square foot trigger — every site at or above 20,000 sq ft must obtain an approved Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan and Permit before any clearing or grading begins. Because Chapel Hill has not assumed full local delegation of erosion control plan review, plans are submitted to and approved by NC DEQ Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR) or Orange County Planning and Inspections, which handles day-to-day inspection and enforcement of erosion measures inside Town limits and the ETJ. Required submittal documents include the Financial Responsibility/Ownership Form under NCGS 113A-54.1(d), a written sequence of construction, the site plan showing all sediment and erosion control measures, sediment basin calculations sized to the 25-year 24-hour storm, and certification by a qualified design professional. Below the 20,000 sq ft trigger, every Chapel Hill construction site — including single-family residences — must still install at minimum a stabilized construction entrance, silt fencing along downhill slopes, inlet protection at storm drains, and stabilized stockpiles. For projects of 1 acre or more (or smaller sites that are part of a larger common plan of development), the contractor must also obtain coverage under the NC DEMLR NPDES Construction General Permit NCG010000 and maintain the SWPPP on site. Chapel Hill's position in the Jordan Lake Upper New Hope subwatershed makes sediment control especially consequential — sediment delivered to Bolin Creek, Booker Creek, Morgan Creek, or other Jordan Lake tributaries adds to the reservoir's existing nutrient and turbidity impairment. The Town's NPDES Phase II MS4 permit requires the erosion control program as one of the Six Minimum Control Measures.