Fauquier County, VA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Fauquier County Code § 11-1 establishes the "Erosion and Stormwater Management Ordinance of Fauquier County," authorized by Code of Virginia § 62.1-44.15:27, and § 11-3 has the county establish its own Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program (VESMP) rather than defer entirely to the state, adopting the state's technical criteria while letting the county impose stricter standards where county rules are more protective. The Board of Supervisors designates the director of community development as the appointing authority for the VESMP program administrator, who reviews and approves stormwater management plans, issues land-disturbing and VESMP authority permits, and oversees inspections.

The program covers the unincorporated county plus the towns of Remington and The Plains, but not the Town of Warrenton, which runs its own separate stormwater program under § 11-2. Beyond construction-site permitting, § 11-126.1 separately protects the county's public storm drainage system itself: it is unlawful to cause or allow an illicit discharge into that system, to discharge anything other than stormwater by spilling, dumping or disposal without a VPDES permit, to send industrial discharges into it without a VPDES permit, or to violate any condition of a stormwater discharge permit.

Routine flows like water-line flushing, landscape irrigation, air conditioning condensation and dechlorinated pool discharges are exempted unless the county finds they're actually carrying pollutants, in which case the director can order them stopped. Landowners whose stormwater facilities require easements or maintenance agreements must record those under §§ 11-101 through 11-104 before a VESMP authority permit issues.