3.5 Erosion & Sedimentation Control

Relevance to the NC GC Exam

Erosion and Sedimentation Control is one of the five official subject areas tested on the North Carolina Business & Law exam, and questions here come directly from the Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973 (SPCA), codified at General Statutes Chapter 113A, Article 4. The exam expects you to know the acreage that triggers a control plan, when the plan must be filed, who enforces the rules, and what penalties apply. The NC Licensing Board's own examination statute (GS 87-10) specifically lists knowledge of the Sedimentation Pollution Control Act as a required qualification for licensure, so treat this as core legal content, not an environmental afterthought.

What the Act Regulates

The SPCA is designed to keep sediment — soil particles dislodged by rain, wind, and gravity during construction — from washing off a job site into streams, lakes, and drainage systems. Uncontrolled sediment clogs waterways, destroys aquatic habitat, and degrades drinking-water supplies. The Act regulates land-disturbing activity, which includes any use of the land that removes ground cover and exposes soil to erosion: grading, clearing, excavating, filling, and stockpiling.

The program is administered at the state level by the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources, under rules set by the NC Sedimentation Control Commission. Many cities and counties operate their own delegated local programs that are at least as strict as the state rules; where a local program exists, you file and comply with it instead of the state.

The One-Acre Plan Threshold

The single most tested fact is the acreage trigger:

A person conducting land-disturbing activity that will disturb one acre or more on a tract must file an E&SC plan with the local government having jurisdiction, or with the Sedimentation Control Commission if no local program applies. The plan must be submitted at least 30 days before the land-disturbing activity begins. The approving authority has 30 days to act on the plan; if it fails to act within that window, the plan is deemed approved. A paper copy of the approved plan must be kept on file at the job site.

An important aggregation rule: lands being developed as a single common plan are added together regardless of ownership. A subdivision built one half-acre lot at a time still needs a plan if the whole development reaches one acre.

The NCG01 Construction General Permit

Separate from the state plan, any operator disturbing one acre or more must obtain federal stormwater coverage under the NCG01 Construction General Permit (the NPDES construction stormwater permit administered by DEQ). Coverage is requested by filing an electronic Notice of Intent (E-NOI). NCG01 requires a stormwater pollution prevention approach with self-inspections — the permittee must inspect the site at least once every seven calendar days and within 24 hours after any rainfall event of 1.0 inch or greater, keeping written records of each inspection.

Best Management Practices and Buffers

Contractors install best management practices (BMPs) to keep sediment on the tract. Common devices tested on the exam include:

• Silt fence installed along the downhill perimeter to filter sheet flow.
• Sediment basins and traps that pond runoff so soil settles out before discharge.
• Temporary and permanent ground cover — the Act requires stabilization of exposed slopes within specified time frames, generally within 7 to 14 calendar days depending on slope and location.
• Stone construction entrances that knock mud off tires before trucks reach public roads.
• Protection of the natural buffer along perennial and intermittent watercourses.

Enforcement and Penalties

Inspectors from DEQ or the local program may inspect a job site at any reasonable time. If a site is out of compliance, the enforcing authority can issue a Notice of Violation (NOV) requiring corrective action, and — for serious or continuing violations — assess civil penalties of up to $5,000 per day for each day the violation continues. Willful violations can lead to additional legal action. Because these penalties run daily and can attach personally to the contractor conducting the activity, understanding your SPCA duties is a direct financial-responsibility issue, not just a compliance formality.