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…

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…

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

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…

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

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

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…

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…

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…

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

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

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…

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

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…

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…

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…

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

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…

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

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

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

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…

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…

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

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…

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…