Orangeburg County, SC Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Section 32-31 sets the baseline rule: the surface of land in the county cannot be disturbed or altered for any purpose, and no major drainage channel can be impeded or encroached upon, without an approved sediment control plan or flood control plan. The Soil and Water Conservation District Board gets 30 days to review and comment on the plan; if it misses that window, the county can act without its input. Only after the board or the public services director signs off does the director of public services issue the actual permit, and no construction, grading or land disturbance can start before that.

Section 32-32 carves out five exceptions: ordinary farming and on-farm buildings that don't block drainage or encroach on a floodplain or wetlands; construction or improvement of a single-family home or its accessory buildings outside a subdivision, again as long as drainage and floodplains are not affected; improvements to an existing single-family home already inside a developed subdivision; permitted mining operations outside floodplains and wetlands; and any development of two acres or less that stays clear of floodplains and wetlands. Everything else, including the initial grading, road-building, and utility work for a new residential subdivision, is not exempt and needs the Section 32-33 written application, three copies of a sediment control and drainage plan, and the nonrefundable fee set by the county's current fee schedule (Section 32-34).

The director of public services has 30 days to approve or deny each submitted plan under Section 32-35, and a denial must state its reasons in writing within ten days.