Environmental Rules in South Carolina (2026)

South Carolina's Stormwater Management and Sediment Reduction Act sets statewide minimum standards for land-disturbing…

Beaufort County requires new development and redevelopment in the unincorporated county to meet numeric stormwater…

Unincorporated Greenwood County requires a county grading permit before disturbing land under Sec. 6-5-24, with a…

Any land-disturbing activity in unincorporated Horry County needs a county stormwater permit before work starts. Code §…

Nearly any land-disturbing project in unincorporated Lexington County needs a Land Disturbance Permit before dirt…

Rock Hill, South Carolina bans dumping anything but stormwater into its storm drain system and runs a dedicated…

Spartanburg County bans any pipe, ditch or other conveyance that discharges anything besides stormwater or…

Aiken County bans dumping anything but stormwater into its storm sewer system under Chapter 19.6, the Stormwater…

Anderson County's stormwater management article implements its federal NPDES small-MS4 permit to control pollutant…

Berkeley County's Stormwater Management Ordinance, sections 65-981 through 65-1052, controls drainage, erosion and…

Charleston regulates stormwater runoff citywide under Chapter 27's Stormwater Management Ordinance, requiring…

Charleston County's Stormwater Management Ordinance requires a permit application before any land-disturbing…

In unincorporated Cherokee County, South Carolina, no land development plan or subdivision plat is approved unless the…

Columbia regulates stormwater runoff citywide under Chapter 21, Article II, enforcing its NPDES municipal separate…

Unincorporated Darlington County bans illicit discharges and illicit connections to its MS4 storm drain system under…

Before disturbing land anywhere in Dorchester County, you must submit a stormwater management and sediment control plan…

Unincorporated Florence County requires a stormwater management and sediment control permit for land disturbing…

Unincorporated Georgetown County funds stormwater management through a dedicated utility fee billed to every developed…

Greenville County requires a Stormwater Management and Sediment Control Plan or land disturbance permit before any…

Kershaw County's Stormwater Manager runs the county's NPDES Phase II Permit No. SCR030000 program under Chapter 14…

Laurens County folds stormwater management into its Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance rather than a…

The Town of Mount Pleasant requires a stormwater land-disturbing permit for most construction under Chapter 153: less…

New subdivision lots 200 feet deep or less must drain to an approved swale, ditch or gutter at a minimum eight-tenths…

Anyone subdividing land in unincorporated Oconee County must build perpetually maintained drainage systems that remove…

Orangeburg County's public services department only performs drainage work off the road right-of-way for one of four…

Every new Pageland subdivision must install an adequate storm drainage system, sized to good engineering practice and…

Anyone disturbing one acre or more of land in unincorporated Pickens County, or a smaller tract that is part of a…

Richland County crews will fix drainage problems on private land only in narrow circumstances: an approved system built…

Unincorporated Sumter County requires a stormwater permit before any land disturbing activity and funds county-wide…

Before disturbing land anywhere in unincorporated York County, South Carolina, state law requires an approved…

South Carolina's Sediment Reduction Act sets statewide minimum erosion and sediment-control standards for construction…

Columbia requires a land disturbance permit before any grading, construction or land-disturbing activity that disturbs…

Unincorporated Greenwood County regulates erosion and sedimentation from construction under its Stormwater Management…

Every stormwater permit application in unincorporated Horry County must include a sediment and erosion control plan…

Lexington County requires an approved Land Disturbance Permit before grading, clearing, or any land-disturbing…

Aiken County requires a grading permit and an approved erosion and sediment control plan before land can be disturbed…

Anderson County requires a stormwater management and sediment control plan and permit before disturbing an acre or more…

Before any clearing, grading or construction touches a natural resource area in unincorporated Beaufort County, the…

Berkeley County Code Sec. 11-62 ties every project to the county's Stormwater Drainage Ordinance and sets a sodding…

Charleston's stormwater management ordinance directs the city to require erosion and sediment controls on new and…

Any land-disturbing construction project in unincorporated Charleston County must control erosion and sediment under…

In unincorporated Cherokee County, South Carolina, a land development project meets the county's drainage requirement…

Developers in unincorporated Darlington County must stabilize graded slopes steeper than 4:1 with hydroseeding, sod, or…

South Carolina treats erosion and sediment as regulated pollution. Any land-disturbing activity in Dorchester County…

Florence County's stormwater and sediment control ordinance exists in large part to stop excessive soil erosion and…

Unincorporated Georgetown County requires a Land Disturbance Permit before any land-disturbing construction under the…

Clearing, stripping, excavating or grading land anywhere in unincorporated Greenville County requires a land…

Kershaw County folds erosion and sediment control into its Stormwater Management Ordinance: nobody may develop land…

Laurens County requires a land disturbance permit before any grading, clearing or construction disturbs unincorporated…

In the Town of Mount Pleasant, any construction project covered by a drainage plan must have a Stormwater Pollution…

A grading or land-disturbing permit is required before excavation begins, and the application must meet South…

Within 750 feet of Lake Keowee or Lake Jocassee's full pond contour, Oconee County's Lake Overlay District requires an…

Disturbing land anywhere in unincorporated Orangeburg County, grading, filling, clearing or building in a floodway…

Any land-disturbing activity of one acre or more in unincorporated Pickens County must include a sediment and erosion…

Anyone disturbing land from a vacant parcel in Rock Hill, South Carolina needs a grading permit before work starts, and…

Spartanburg County requires a land disturbance permit, complete with a plan to control stormwater pollutants and…

Any land disturbing activity in unincorporated Sumter County must follow the erosion and sediment control standards of…

Unincorporated York County requires a land disturbance permit before any clearing, grading or excavating, and every…

South Carolina's Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act gives SCDES (formerly DHEC's OCRM) exclusive permit authority over…

Anyone filling, dredging, draining or building in a South Carolina coastal critical area within Dorchester County, such…

South Carolina bars altering or building in any coastal critical area, beaches, the beach/dune system, tidelands, and…

York County administers its own Flood Damage Prevention ordinance, Chapter 151, to keep the county in the National…

Aiken County regulates all development within FEMA-mapped floodplains, shallow-flooding areas, and floodways through…

Berkeley County requires a floodplain development permit before any construction begins in a FEMA-mapped special flood…

In unincorporated Cherokee County, South Carolina, every area of special flood hazard mapped by FEMA in its Flood…

Any development in a Columbia flood hazard area needs a development permit from the city engineer before work starts…

Development Standards Ordinance § 3.4.1 requires a development permit before any construction in Darlington County's…

Any development inside a FEMA-mapped special flood hazard area in Dorchester County needs a development permit before…

Horry County requires a development permit before any construction, fill, or land alteration in FEMA-mapped special…

No one may develop land, build, or alter a structure within a Kershaw County special flood hazard area without first…

Unincorporated Laurens County requires a development permit before any building, filling, grading or other man-made…

Lexington County requires a floodplain permit, reviewed by the County Floodplain Manager, before any development begins…

North Charleston requires a development permit before any construction, land alteration, or structural change in…

Before any construction, fill, or manufactured home placement begins in a mapped special flood hazard area of…

Unincorporated Sumter County requires a development permit before any work begins in an area of special flood hazard…

Anderson County requires a floodplain development permit before any grading, filling or construction inside the special…

Beaufort County requires a development or building permit before any development activity begins in a mapped special…

Any development in a Charleston special flood hazard area needs a permit and full compliance with Chapter 27's flood…

Charleston County Code Chapter 9 ties every building permit in a mapped flood zone to the county's FEMA-adopted Flood…

Anyone developing land in unincorporated Florence County's FH Flood Hazard District must get a development permit from…

Unincorporated Georgetown County regulates every Special Flood Hazard Area shown on FEMA's June 18, 2025 Flood…

Any development in a special flood hazard area of unincorporated Greenville County needs a development permit before…

In unincorporated Greenwood County, the county engineer requires a development permit before any construction, fill, or…

Anyone developing in a Mount Pleasant special flood hazard area needs a building permit before starting, under §…

Before any development can proceed in a special flood hazard area of unincorporated Orangeburg County, Section 18-81…

Pageland's subdivision code keeps new construction out of flood-prone land: no building within 50 feet of a natural…

Any development activity in a special flood hazard area of unincorporated Pickens County needs a development permit…

Rock Hill regulates development inside FEMA-designated special flood hazard areas under the Flood Insurance Study dated…

Before any development activity begins in Spartanburg County's mapped special flood hazard areas, unincorporated…

Beaufort County limits private docks to 300 feet in total length, requires 20 feet of clearance from side property…

In unincorporated Greenwood County, a boat house, boat dock or boat lift is an accessory use that must sit at least ten…

Building, repairing or altering a private dock anywhere in unincorporated Horry County requires conforming to Section…

Every new or substantially improved residential structure in a Kershaw County special flood hazard area must have its…

Aiken County requires one foot of freeboard above the base flood elevation for any new or substantially improved…

In unincorporated Cherokee County, South Carolina, new and substantially improved residential and nonresidential…

Columbia requires new and substantially improved homes in a special flood hazard area to sit at least two feet above…

In mapped special flood hazard areas with known base flood elevation data, Laurens County requires new and…

New and substantially improved homes in North Charleston's mapped flood zones must have their lowest floor built at…

Commercial, industrial and other nonresidential buildings in Sumter County's mapped flood hazard areas must have their…

New and substantially improved homes and manufactured homes in Anderson County's mapped flood hazard areas must have…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances Sec. 78-67 requires new construction and substantial improvements in special flood…

In special flood hazard areas with base flood elevation data, Berkeley County requires new construction and substantial…

Charleston requires new residential construction in a special flood hazard area to elevate its lowest floor at least…

Charleston County requires new construction and substantial improvements in a special flood hazard area to reach the…

In unincorporated Darlington County, new and substantially improved residential structures in a special flood hazard…

New homes and substantial improvements inside a Dorchester County flood zone must sit at least two feet above base…

In unincorporated Florence County's Special Flood Hazard Areas, County Code § 30-62(b) sets the local freeboard…

In unincorporated Georgetown County's Special Flood Hazard Areas, the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance sets the Design…

New and substantially improved homes in a Greenville County flood zone must have their lowest floor, plus all…

In unincorporated Greenwood County's special flood hazard areas, Sec. 6-6-32 requires new or substantially improved…

New construction and substantial improvement of residential structures in Horry County's special flood hazard areas…

Lexington County requires manufactured homes placed or rebuilt in flood hazard areas to sit at least 2 feet above the…

Mount Pleasant sets its design flood elevation two feet above FEMA's base flood elevation under § 152.04, and § 152.22…

In the special flood hazard areas of unincorporated Oconee County, new or substantially improved buildings must have…

In special flood hazard areas of unincorporated Orangeburg County where FEMA has set a base flood elevation, Section…

New or substantially improved residential structures in a Pickens County special flood hazard area must have their…

New construction and substantially improved buildings in a Rock Hill flood hazard area must have their lowest floor at…

Spartanburg County requires two feet of freeboard above the base flood elevation for both residential and…

In York County's mapped special flood hazard areas, new and substantially improved residential and non-residential…