Aiken County, SC Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Aiken County Code Ch. 19.6, § 19.6-21
- Enforcing agency
- Aiken County Stormwater Division/manager
- NPDES permit referenced
- Permit Number SCR030000 (MS4)
- Penalty
- Up to $200 fine or 30 days jail, per day
- Appeal window
- 30 days to stormwater board of appeals
- Adopted
- Ord. No. 10-01-02, Jan. 19, 2010
Summary
Aiken County bans dumping anything but stormwater into its storm sewer system under Chapter 19.6, the Stormwater Management Program adopted to meet its NPDES small-MS4 permit (SCR030000). The Aiken County Stormwater Division enforces the ban on illicit discharges and connections, with fines up to $200 a day and an appeals board for contested orders.
(1)Prohibition of illegal discharges. It is unlawful for any person, to throw, drain, run, or otherwise discharge into any component of the county storm sewer system, including streets, highways, rights-of-way, or to cause, permit or suffer to be thrown, drain, run, or allow to seep or otherwise discharge into such system, any organic or inorganic matter that shall cause or tend to cause pollution or blockages to such waters, as provided for in this chapter. No person shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the county storm sewer system any discharge that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 119).
Full Breakdown
6-21 makes it unlawful to throw, drain, run or otherwise discharge into any part of the county storm sewer system, including streets, highways and rights-of-way, any matter that causes or tends to cause pollution or blockage, and it separately bars introducing anything into the storm sewer system that is not composed entirely of stormwater. Limited exceptions cover things like water-line flushing, landscape irrigation, dechlorinated pool water and firefighting flows. The same article bans illicit physical connections to the county storm sewer system, including old connections made before the chapter existed, and lets the county suspend a property's storm-sewer access without notice during an emergency discharge.
6-7 and the construction and post-construction runoff controls in Article III, which require a stormwater management plan and, for sites of an acre or more, coverage under South Carolina's NPDES General Permit for Storm Water Discharges from Construction Activities before any land disturbance begins. 6-61 proceeds through a warning notice, then a notice of violation with a hold on the certificate of occupancy, then a citation, and finally revocation of the building permit if the owner still will not comply.
Violations & Fines
Section 19.6-62 makes any violation, or any failure to comply with a compliance directive from the stormwater manager, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $200.00 or up to thirty days in jail, with each day of continuing violation a separate offense. Owners who miss an abatement deadline face county-performed remediation billed back to them, and decisions can be appealed to the stormwater board of appeals within thirty days under Section 19.6-63.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Aiken County
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