Smyrna, GA Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Article II of Chapter 46, titled the City of Smyrna Soil Erosion, Sedimentation and Pollution Control Ordinance, took effect on August 1, 2020 under Ord. No. 2020-07. Section 46-34(b)(1) bars any land-disturbing activity within the city until the person holds a permit from the Community Development Department and supplies a copy of the notice of intent submitted to EPD where one applies. The application goes to the city engineer with five copies of the erosion, sedimentation and pollution control plan, and the plan preparer must certify a site visit under EPD Rule 391-3-7-.10. Plans must meet the best management practices in the Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia, and maps and drawings carry the signature and seal of the certified design professional. State fees under O.C.G.A. § 12-5-23(a)(5) are capped at $80.00 per acre and are paid before the permit issues.

The county soil and water conservation district has 35 days to approve or disapprove the plan, and the city must issue or deny the permit no later than 45 days after a completed application. A tract built in phases needs a separate permit for each phase. An applicant with two or more violations of previous permits within three years can be denied. Under Sec. 46-37, each site needs at least one person in responsible charge of erosion and sedimentation control, who meets the certification requirements of the commission, present whenever land-disturbing activity is conducted.

Section 46-32 exempts projects involving less than one acre of disturbed area, but not when the work belongs to a larger common plan of development or sale of one acre or more, or lies within 200 feet of the bank of any state waters. Section 46-33(c) sets a 25-foot buffer along the banks of state waters and a 50-foot buffer along trout streams, left undisturbed until all land-disturbing activity on the site is complete. A stormwater discharge that raises receiving-water turbidity by more than 25 nephelometric turbidity units for warm water fisheries, or more than ten for trout waters, is a separate violation for each day it occurs.