Dorchester County, SC Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Dorchester County's stormwater program runs on state law layered with a local ordinance. C. Code § 48-14-30, bars anyone from starting a land-disturbing activity "without first submitting a stormwater management and sediment control plan to the appropriate implementing agency and obtaining a permit to proceed" (subsection (A)). Subsection (B) requires the person responsible to certify the work will follow the approved plan, and subsection (C) requires at least one individual on site who functions as "responsible personnel," typically a foreman or superintendent named on the permit.

Locally, Dorchester County Code Chapter 36 designates the county's director of public works as the official who administers this permit program under the county's NPDES Permit No. SCR030000, issued under the federal Clean Water Act. Applicants submit plans against the county's Stormwater Management Design Manual, and Sec. 36-13 authorizes a non-refundable neutral third-party review fee, billed when the plan is submitted, to cover outside engineering review of the plan and hydraulic model. Some activities are exempt from the permit requirement outright: construction of a single-family home not part of a larger subdivision, timber harvesting under Forestry Commission best-management practices, and mining activity regulated under the state Mining Act, per § 48-14-40.

Even exempt agricultural land needing a structure over one acre, such as a broiler house, still needs an approved plan before construction starts. Violators face a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per day of violation under § 48-14-140, assessed only after written notice, with 30 days to pay or settle before the county's attorney can sue in circuit court to collect.