Champaign County, IL Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

The Champaign County Storm Water Management and Erosion Control Ordinance regulates land disturbance within the county's MS4 Jurisdictional Area, the unincorporated territory served by the county's stormwater system. A Major LDEC Permit is required for any land disturbance of one acre or more; a Minor LDEC Permit covers disturbance between 10,000 square feet and one acre that is part of a common plan of development, per Section 12. Before disturbance begins, the permittee must install erosion control facilities and submit an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan to the Zoning Administrator, per Sections 11.1 and 12.0.

Section 11.2 requires disturbed areas to be stabilized within 14 calendar days of construction ceasing, with stabilization work started within one working day of that cessation; slopes of three feet horizontal to one foot vertical or steeper must be stabilized, and non-active areas must get temporary seeding, mulching or blanketing before the fall growing season ends around October 15. Section 11.3 bars straw bale dikes as sediment control devices and requires traps, basins or silt fences in place before mass grading, with soil tracked onto streets removed by the end of each workday. Section 11.5 requires stockpiles of 100 cubic yards or more of soil or erodible material to be stabilized within 14 days and set back at least 50 feet from a stream or drainage-ditch bank, 30 feet from an intermittent drainage swale or roadside ditch, and 10 feet from the nearest property line. Section 11.6 requires permittees to repair erosion and sediment controls after any rainfall of 0.5 inch or more in 24 hours and to remove temporary controls within 30 days of final stabilization.

The Zoning Administrator inspects sites and, under Sections 15.4 through 15.6, may issue a Notice of Violation or a Stop-Work Order for uncorrected deficiencies, unsafe work, or disturbance without a permit.