Worcester, MA Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Chapter Twelve, Section 12 governs anyone who wants to build, repair, alter or otherwise open a way used by the public, whether under the subdivision control law, the city's official map, or G.L. c. 41, § 81G. Before that work can begin, the person doing it must get an inspection permit from the commissioner of public works and parks, and Section 12(b) lists conditions the commissioner attaches to every such permit. Item (5) is the erosion control mandate: the applicant must submit an erosion control plan, and the commissioner has to approve it before the permit is valid for the work.

The same subsection stacks other conditions around that plan: unless completion is already secured under the subdivision control law, the applicant must post security under G.L. c. 41, § 81U; the permit runs for one construction season only, April 1 through November 15, though the commissioner can allow winter work from December 1 through the end of February at his discretion; the applicant must give the commissioner a detailed construction schedule; all inspection fees must be paid before the permit issues; and a pre-construction conference with the DPW engineering division is required first.

This erosion control plan requirement is tied specifically to way-construction and way-opening permits; it is not a freestanding, citywide site-erosion ordinance for every construction project. Worcester's separate Wetlands Protection ordinance, Chapter Six, independently regulates grading and ground disturbance within one hundred feet of wetlands, water bodies and storm drain inlets through the conservation commission, a different permit track for projects near water resources.