Tuscaloosa, AL Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Sec. 21-221, part of Article XII's land-development activities regulations, applies even to projects exempt from land-development or driveway permits: any person causing development, an earth change, or driveway approach construction on property "regardless of size" must take erosion control measures using best management practices to keep erosion and sedimentation out of city streets, rights-of-way, public storm drainage facilities, easements, utilities, public water reservoirs named specifically as Lake Tuscaloosa, Lake Nicol and Harris Lake, creeks, rivers, streams, and property belonging to others. Those practices must follow the state's Alabama Handbook for Erosion Control, Sediment Control and Stormwater Management on Construction Sites and Urban Areas, Volumes 1 and 2.

Enforcement runs through Sec. 21-223: the city engineer can issue a written notice to comply and a stop-work order, and continuing development or driveway work after a stop-work order is itself unlawful; the city engineer can also ask the city attorney's office to pursue civil sanctions. Subsection (c) separately makes it unlawful to allow dirt, silt, mud, debris or sediment to accumulate or discharge onto another's property, city streets, rights-of-way, storm drainage easements or facilities, or public water reservoirs because adequate erosion or sedimentation controls weren't provided or maintained.

If a developer or owner fails to remove sediment after written notice, Sec. 21-223(f) lets the city perform the cleanup and restoration itself and bill the responsible party for the full cost, and emergency situations allow city crews to remediate immediately without prior notice, with the invoice following afterward.