Adams County, CO Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Plan required
- ESCP, also called SWMP or SWPPP
- Trigger
- Stormwater Quality Permit under county DSR
- Coverage period
- Ground-breaking to Final Stabilization
- Post-construction duty
- O&M Manual for permanent BMPs
- Enforcing agency
- Adams County Public Works
- Repeat-offense fine
- $500 to $750 per day
Summary
Construction sites in unincorporated Adams County must control erosion and sediment with Best Management Practices under the county's illicit discharge ordinance, folded into an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (ESCP), also known as a Stormwater Management Plan, that ties into the county's Development Standards and the state CDPS construction permit.
The owner, operator, lessee, or tenant, at its own expense, shall provide reasonable protection from accidental or intentional discharge of prohibited materials or other wastes into the storm drainage system or watercourses through the use of structural and non-structural, temporary and permanent BMPs. Further, any person responsible for a property or premises which is, or may be, the source of an illicit discharge may be required, at its own expense, to properly clean up the pollutant and implement additional temporary and/or permanent, structural and/or non-structural BMPs to prevent further discharge of pollutants to the storm drainage system. These BMPs, when applicable, shall be part of an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (ESCP) and/or Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) as necessary for compliance with the requirements of the County's Development Standards and Regulations pertaining to stormwater and/or the State's COPS stormwater discharge permit related to construction activities, including the property owner's Operation & Maintenance Manual for permanent post-construction BMP maintenance.
Full Breakdown
Ordinance No. 11's stormwater program, adopted October 10, 2017 and effective November 13, 2017, reaches beyond finished lots into the construction phase. Section 2 defines an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (ESCP), which Colorado's stormwater program calls a Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) and the EPA calls a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), as the detailed written plan required by Adams County's Development Standards and Regulations to obtain a Stormwater Quality Permit, identifying the measures that control erosion, keep sediment inside the permitted construction footprint, and limit pollutant discharge from the first day of ground-breaking until Final Stabilization.
Section 9 makes that plan operational: anyone whose property is or may become the source of an illicit discharge must, at their own expense, clean up the pollutant and put structural or non-structural Best Management Practices in place, and those BMPs shall be part of an ESCP and/or SWMP whenever needed to comply with the county's Development Standards and Regulations on stormwater and the State's CDPS construction stormwater permit. The same section requires a property owner's Operation & Maintenance Manual for permanent, post-construction BMPs, meaning erosion control obligations do not end when the construction permit closes out.
Public Works, through the Director or Stormwater Coordinator, may compel BMP implementation and inspect construction sites to confirm the plan is being followed, using the same notice, warrant and abatement-cost procedures that apply to any other MS4 violation.
Violations & Fines
A construction site that fails to control erosion is treated as an illicit-discharge violation: the Director can issue a Notice of Violation giving ten days to abate, and if that fails, apply for a court warrant to enter and correct the site, billing the operator plus a five percent inspection fee. Criminal penalties under Section 30-15-402, C.R.S. reach a minimum $500-per-day fine for a second offense and $750 per day for later offenses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an ESCP for a construction site in Adams County?
What must the erosion control plan actually cover?
Does erosion control end once construction is finished?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Adams County
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