Pico Rivera, CA Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Chapter 38 of the Pico Rivera Building Code, added by Ordinance 1200 through § 15.08.220, governs every grading project in the City of Pico Rivera. Section 3806.1 requires a grading permit from the Community and Economic Development Director before any cutting, filling, or earthwork begins, with narrow exemptions in Section 3806.2 for isolated work that poses no danger, small excavations under 50 cubic yards, and utility trenching. Once a permit issues, Section 3816, Erosion Control, takes over: Section 3816.1 requires the faces of cut and fill slopes to be prepared and maintained against erosion, which the code satisfies through planting, and that protection must go in as soon as practicable and before final approval is called; slopes cut into erosion-resistant material can be excused from this planting requirement.

Section 3816.2 backs that up with structural options: check dams, cribbing, riprap, or other devices wherever they are needed to control erosion and keep the site safe. The chapter layers on drainage and terracing rules in Section 3815 (terraces at least 6 feet wide every 30 vertical feet, paved swales with a minimum 5 percent gradient) and setback rules in Section 3814 that push cut and fill slopes back from property lines, all aimed at keeping runoff and sediment on the construction site rather than the Rio Hondo or San Gabriel River channels bounding the city.

The Community and Economic Development Director inspects grading operations under Section 3817 and can order revised plans if erosion controls are not holding. Work performed without inspection sign-off, or fill placed against the approved erosion-control plan, is grounds for a stop-work order and can delay the final grading approval required under Section 3818 before an as-built plan is accepted.