Memphis, TN Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

) to be sent to the city's stormwater management section. 'Construction activity' is defined as clearing, grading or excavating disturbing more than one acre, but the chapter carves out exceptions for home gardening and landscaping, individual single-family lots in already-approved, recorded subdivisions where excavation is limited to foundation and utility trenches, agricultural practices, utility line installation confined to already-paved rights-of-way, and railroad maintenance. Section 13-40-11 separately requires any developer discharging stormwater from a construction activity, temporary or permanent, to submit a notice of intent for coverage under the state's general permit before work begins.

Section 13-40-12 requires the letter of intent to be filed with the Manager of Stormwater Management at 664 St. Jude Place, and to include the developer's name, mailing address and a site map on 8½-by-11 paper showing property boundaries one to two miles out with the receiving water identified; construction may begin as soon as the letter is submitted, without waiting for city approval. Coverage terminates 20 days after the city receives the developer's notice that construction is finished. Section 13-40-10(C) requires builders to follow the minimum erosion and sediment control best management practices set out in the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook on every construction site regardless of whether the site discharges stormwater, though the city may waive the BMPs at its discretion for projects under one acre.