Fayetteville, NC Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

§ 113A-57 sets five mandatory statewide standards for any land-disturbing activity. A buffer zone must be kept along any lake or natural watercourse wide enough to confine visible siltation within the 25 percent of the buffer nearest the disturbance, with trout waters getting a 25-foot minimum buffer. Graded slopes and fills may be no steeper than vegetation or erosion-control structures can hold, and exposed slopes must get temporary or permanent ground cover within 21 calendar days of completing any grading phase. Whenever a tract disturbs more than one acre, the person conducting the work must install devices sufficient to retain sediment on-site during construction and establish permanent ground cover afterward.

No one may start such an over-one-acre disturbance until an erosion and sedimentation control plan is filed at least 30 days ahead and approved by the agency with jurisdiction (or under an approved express-permit program, less than 30 days), and the work must then follow the approved plan. Fayetteville's own subdivision rules confirm this state framework governs locally: applications must be accompanied by a Sedimentation and Erosion Control Plan approved by the city engineer or, where applicable, the North Carolina Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources' Land Quality Section.

S. 1, and it is unlawful to resist or obstruct an inspector. S. 00 cumulative if damage is abated within 180 days of a first notice), assessed by the administering agency with 30 days to pay or file a contested case petition, plus criminal penalties for knowing or willful violations.