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

The permit requirement covers land-disturbing activities, defined broadly to include clearing, grading, filling, excavation, development, and redevelopment, once the disturbed area reaches one acre, or is part of a larger common plan of development that will eventually reach one acre even if the individual lot is smaller. Applicants must submit a stormwater management plan and a sediment and erosion control plan, both stamped by a licensed professional engineer, landscape architect, or Tier B land surveyor, along with plan-review and NPDES permit fees. Pickens County must respond in writing within 20 calendar days, approving or denying the application, and no building permit can issue until the land-disturbance permit is approved.

A permit expires if substantial work has not started within 180 calendar days, and expires outright five years after issuance; the applicant must notify the county at least three working days before construction starts. Single-family homes built outside a subdivision, existing farms and nurseries, logging on forestland, and emergency work are exempt, but exempt or not, the ordinance sets the floor: other local requirements that are stricter still apply. County stormwater staff inspect construction, and owners must maintain permanent and temporary facilities afterward, with the county inspecting at least once a year.

Waivers and variances are available on written request when a project restores predevelopment runoff conditions or would not harm downstream properties, but every waiver decision, and every notice of violation, can be appealed to the Pickens County Stormwater Board within 15 days.