What are BMPs on a construction site?
BMPs are the erosion, sediment, pollution-prevention and dewatering controls the permit requires you to describe, install and maintain — perimeter barriers, stabilized entrances, inlet protection, slope protection, washout areas and the rest.
Four groups, one requirement each
Erosion and sediment controls (Part 2.2) keep soil where it is and catch what moves. Pollution prevention (Part 2.3) covers the things on site that are not soil — washout, fuelling, waste storage. Construction dewatering (Part 2.4) covers water you pump. For each control you select, Part 7.2.6a asks for a description, a design specification, a maintenance specification and an installation schedule.
Selecting is not designing
Choosing a silt fence for a downslope perimeter is a fact about the site. Sizing a sediment basin is engineering. SwpppDraft does the first and refuses the second, which is also why an engineered basin is a question the state gate reads: in Oregon it moves the project to the licensed-professional side.
Questions people ask
- Which controls does almost every site need?
- A perimeter sediment barrier on every downslope edge, a stabilized construction entrance wherever vehicles reach a paved road, and inlet protection for any storm drain that can receive site runoff. Those three are pre-ticked in the questionnaire.
- Do I have to install everything I list?
- Yes — the plan is a description of what will actually be on the ground, and the inspection regime checks exactly that. Listing a control you do not install is worse than not listing it.
The states this question turns on
- Oregon SWPPP requirements — Oregon small sites can self-prepare by default; a stamp by a CPESC, CPSWQ, PE, RLA or CEG is required only when the site disturbs 20 acres or more, when a non-standard buffer compliance option is used because water is within 50 feet, or when an engineered sediment basin or erosion management plan is built.
- Texas SWPPP requirements — Texas requires the SWP3 to be developed and implemented by the primary operator; the permit contains no PE, CPESC or licensing language for preparation.
- Arizona SWPPP requirements — Arizona requires a "qualified person", defined to include the operator's own employees as well as outside personnel.
The documents this affects
Other questions
- Who can prepare a SWPPP?
- Which states require a licensed professional to prepare a SWPPP?
- Which states make you take a course before writing a SWPPP?
- Does my site need a licensed professional even though my state allows self-preparation?
- What acreage thresholds change SWPPP requirements?
Check your state and build a draft
The questionnaire and the generator run in your browser. Checkout is not open, so nothing can be charged.
Source: EPA 2022 Construction General Permit (as modified), Part 2.2 to Part 2.4, read 2026-08-04. County and city rules are not covered.
What we are, and what stays your responsibility
- SwpppDraft is a document generation tool. It does not provide engineering services, legal services, or compliance consulting, and no engineer or attorney reviews what it produces.
- Everything in the document is built from the site facts you enter. Checking that those facts are right, and that the resulting plan fits your project, is yours to do.
- We do not file anything on your behalf, we do not certify or endorse your compliance, and we accept no liability for what happens when you use the document.
- State-level requirements carry the date we verified them. County and city rules are not covered — some local jurisdictions require a licensed preparer even where the state does not, and you have to check that yourself.
- When the product opens, our total liability will be capped at the amount you paid us. Today that amount is zero, because nothing is for sale.