Erosion Control and Stormwater on Dirt Work in Pend Oreille County

Any job that clears, grades or digs one acre or more can need a stormwater permit from Washington's Department of Ecology, and smaller jobs can need one if they are part of a larger plan. The acreage counts the whole project, including staging areas and haul roads.

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What erosion control means on a dirt job

When ground is cleared or dug, bare soil can wash into ditches, culverts and streams in the next rain or snowmelt. Erosion control is the set of steps that keeps it on the site: leaving buffers, covering bare ground, slowing runoff, and keeping mud off roads. On a rural lot in Pend Oreille County, where ditches and creeks are close, it is part of doing excavation well.

For larger projects it is also a legal requirement. Ecology's Construction Stormwater General Permit covers land-disturbing work that reaches one acre, and it carries inspection and monitoring duties that someone has to carry out. The permit is held by the operator of the project, so an owner who hires a company should ask who that is.

The practical point is that erosion control belongs in the plan from the start. Adding it after soil has already washed off is slower, costs more and can draw attention from regulators.

When people look into this

A project will clear or grade close to an acre or more.
A lot is part of a subdivision or larger plan.
Bare soil is washing into a ditch, culvert or stream.
Ground has been cleared and will sit bare through a wet season.
A road or driveway sheds muddy water onto a neighbor's land or a public road.
Clearing for a building site was done with forest practices rules involved.

What the work usually looks like

Measure the disturbed area. Count the whole project, including staging areas, haul roads and borrow areas.
Find where water goes. Walk the lot to see where runoff leaves the site.
Plan the controls. Pick buffers, covers, check dams or sediment traps that suit the slope.
Check the permit question. If the project reaches an acre, ask who holds Ecology's permit.
Put controls in before digging. Controls go in before bare soil is exposed.
Inspect and repair. Controls are checked and fixed after storms.

How to prepare

Before work starts, it helps to settle these points:

Estimate how many acres will be cleared, graded or stockpiled, including staging areas.
Note where water enters and leaves your lot, and where the nearest ditch, creek or lake is.
Ask whether the project is part of a larger plan that would reach one acre.
Ask which company will be the operator responsible for any permit.
Settle who pays for erosion controls and who maintains them.
Ask how bare ground will be covered or seeded afterward.
Get the scope and price in writing, with controls listed.

What affects the cost

Excavation is commonly priced by the hour for operator and machine, or as a set price for a defined scope. Erosion control is part of the price, not an extra that appears afterward.

Size of the disturbed area. Larger sites need more controls and more inspections.
Slope and soil. Steep or erodible ground needs more protection.
Weather. Wet seasons raise the demand for controls and repairs.
Permit duties. Sites at an acre or more carry inspection and sampling duties.
Cover and seeding. Straw, mulch or seed add material and time.
Maintenance visits. Repairs after storms add machine time.
Distance to water. Work near a creek or lake often means more controls.

Why the plan matters before the first cut

The cheapest erosion control is the one that is installed before soil is exposed. Once a slope is bare and a storm arrives, every option is a repair. Controls that are put in first, such as leaving a vegetated strip along a ditch or creek, keeping stockpiles away from drainage paths and limiting how much ground is open at one time, cost little compared with fixing washed-out ditches or answering a complaint.

It also helps to treat the plan as part of the written scope. A scope that lists where controls will go, who maintains them and what is done when ground is left bare for a season is much easier to hold to than a promise to keep the site tidy.

Local rules and sources

Ecology's permit. Ecology's Construction Stormwater General Permit covers clearing, grading, excavating and stockpiling that disturbs one acre or more of land, and smaller sites that are part of a larger plan that will ultimately disturb an acre or more, when stormwater could run off to surface waters or into a storm system that drains to them. The acreage counts the whole project, including off-site staging yards, borrow areas and haul roads. Ecology can also require coverage at a site of any size that it finds to be a significant source of pollution.

Monitoring. Ecology's summary says sites that disturb at least one acre but less than five acres need weekly inspections, weekly turbidity or transparency sampling, and pH sampling, and the inspections must be done by a certified erosion and sediment control lead.

Near water. Washington law requires a Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA) from the Department of Fish and Wildlife before work in or near state waters that will use, divert, obstruct or change the natural flow or bed of fresh or salt water, including work above the ordinary high-water line. WDFW lists stream bank protection and bulkheads, culverts, pond construction, dredging and utility crossings among the work that needs one. A person who is unsure can request a preapplication determination, and WDFW must answer in writing within 21 calendar days (RCW 77.55.400). Working without an HPA can bring a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation.

Registration. Washington contractors are checked on the state Department of Labor & Industries “Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business” page.

Reasons to trust this page

Most rules on this page name their public source, such as a Washington statute or a county office.
Cost factors are explained in plain terms, and this site does not quote prices.
The email address is shown at the top of every page, and the Privacy page says what a quote request collects.

Common questions

When does dirt work in Washington need a stormwater permit?

Ecology's Construction Stormwater General Permit applies to clearing, grading, excavating or stockpiling that disturbs one acre or more, or less than an acre if it is part of a larger plan that will reach an acre, when stormwater could run off to surface waters or a storm system. Count the whole project, including staging areas.

Do off-site staging areas count toward the one acre?

Yes. Ecology says the total disturbed acreage includes off-site areas disturbed as a direct result of the project, such as equipment staging yards, material storage areas, borrow areas and haul roads, unless those areas are covered by their own permit coverage. Ask the company how the total was counted for your project.

What does the permit require on sites of one to five acres?

Ecology's summary says sites that disturb at least one acre but less than five acres need weekly site inspections, weekly sampling with a turbidity meter or transparency tube, and weekly pH sampling, and the inspections must be done by a certified erosion and sediment control lead. Ask who will do that on your project.

Can Ecology require a permit for a smaller site?

Yes. Ecology can require coverage for a site of any size that it determines to be a significant contributor of pollutants to state waters, or that it reasonably expects to cause a violation of a water quality standard. That is one reason to plan erosion controls on any job near a creek or lake.

Who should handle erosion control on my job?

Settle it in writing before work starts: who plans the controls, who installs them, who inspects them after storms and who holds any permit. Excavation is commonly priced by the hour or as a set price for a defined scope, so confirm that erosion control is listed in the scope rather than assumed.

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