Newport Beach, CA Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

130. Cut and fill slope faces must be planted and irrigated, with the Building Official empowered to require irrigation systems keyed to soil-moisture override controls before rough-grade approval and installed before final sign-off; each planted bank must stay in growing condition for at least two years or until the Building Official accepts it. Pads carry the same planting duty unless construction starts within ten days of grading completion. Where slopes or pads alone will not hold, the code requires check dams, cribbing, riprap, or other devices, plus permanent desilting facilities sized by the uniform soil loss equation whenever silt could escape the site, and both sheet-flow and concentrated-flow conditions must be engineered for, covering low-volume and intense-rainfall events alike.

140(A) backs this with a hard calendar deadline: erosion control devices must be installed, inspected, and approved by the Building Official before the rainy season, defined as October 15th through May 15th. Grading over 5,000 cubic yards, or any grading in commercial, industrial, tract, or potentially hazardous areas, must follow an engineered grading plan certified by a civil engineer, soil engineer, and engineering geologist rather than the lighter 'regular grading' track. 180, and violators must clear the material within 48 hours or the Community Development Director will order its removal at the responsible party's expense.