Franklin Township, PA Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Section 19-303 of the Stormwater Management Ordinance (Chapter 19, Ord. 2023-01, 4/19/2023) sets Franklin Township's erosion and sediment control gate on construction. No regulated activity may commence until the township receives documentation that the applicant has obtained a letter of adequacy from the Chester County Conservation District, or other PADEP approval under 25 Pa. Code Chapter 102, covering an erosion and sediment control plan for projects disturbing more than 5,000 square feet but less than one acre, for pond dredging, or for activities tied to a Chapter 105 permit.

Projects disturbing more than one acre instead require a PADEP NPDES permit for construction stormwater discharges under 25 Pa. Code Chapter 92a. Applicants must also produce evidence of any other required permits or approvals. A copy of the erosion and sediment control plan and any required permits must be kept available on site at all times, and additional erosion controls apply wherever infiltration BMPs are proposed, per § 19-306, Subsection 1L. This section works within the chapter's broader disturbance rules: § 19-301 bars ground-cover disturbance within 50 feet of the top of bank of streams, ponds and wetlands (reducible to no less than 10 feet with Municipal Engineer and Conservation District approval), and § 19-302 lists related state permit triggers, including PADEP permits for work in natural drainageways or near surface waters.

Violating § 19-303 is enforced the same as any Chapter 19 violation: § 19-901 declares it a public nuisance, and § 19-905 authorizes a fine of up to $1,000 per violation, per day, prosecuted as a summary offense before a Magisterial District Judge, alongside the township's right of entry to inspect erosion controls under § 19-902.