SwpppDraft

Utah SWPPP requirements (2026)

Can I write my own SWPPP in Utah?

Utah can go either way: whether you may prepare the plan yourself depends on your site's conditions, so we have to ask first. Basis: UPDES UTRC00000 (effective 2024-07-01), Part 7.2.

Source: UPDES UTRC00000 (effective 2024-07-01), Part 7.2Verified

Who may prepare the plan in Utah

A "qualified" SWPPP writer must write or certify SWPPPs for all projects disturbing greater than 5 acres, including small construction projects (1 to 5 acres) having a perennial surface water within 50 feet of the project, or having a steep slope (70% or 35 degrees or more)

UPDES UTRC00000 (effective 2024-07-01), Part 7.2 — verbatim permit text, read 2026-08-03

Our reading of UPDES UTRC00000 (effective 2024-07-01), Part 7.2:Utah requires a qualified SWPPP writer for a 1–5 acre site only when perennial surface water sits within 50 feet or the site has a slope of 70% (35 degrees) or steeper.

How Utah differs from the federal baseline

States with no NPDES authorisation of their own run on the EPA 2022 Construction General Permit, whose "qualified person" definition is a knowledge and skill threshold that the operator's own staff can meet — it names no licence. Utah sits at that baseline until a site condition fires, at which point it requires a credential the federal permit never asks for. The conditions are listed below; they are facts about your site, not judgement calls.

Federal baseline: EPA 2022 CGP (no state NPDES authorisation), Appendix A definitions.

What that means for a 1–5 acre site

Utah decides by site condition rather than by acreage alone. Answer the questions below before assuming either outcome.

Below one disturbed acre, federal construction general permit coverage is usually not required at all unless the site is part of a larger common plan of development. Check whether you need a SWPPP before you pay for one.

Above five disturbed acres you are outside the 1–5 acre range this tool was built for. Several states change their preparer requirements above five acres, so re-read your state permit before relying on a self-prepared plan.

County and city rules are not covered here. This page answers the state-level question only; a local authority can require more, and that is for you to check.

The questionnaire asks this before it will build anything:

Utah SWPPP questions

Can I write my own SWPPP in Utah?
Utah can go either way: whether you may prepare the plan yourself depends on your site's conditions, so we have to ask first.
When exactly does Utah require a licensed professional?
Utah requires a qualified SWPPP writer for a 1–5 acre site only when perennial surface water sits within 50 feet or the site has a slope of 70% (35 degrees) or steeper. The clause is UPDES UTRC00000 (effective 2024-07-01), Part 7.2, read on 2026-08-03.
Which acreage counts — the whole site or the disturbed part?
Disturbed area is what these clauses measure, and it is what the questionnaire asks for — a 40-acre parcel with 1.5 disturbed acres is a 1.5-acre project for this purpose. Total site area is asked for separately and does not decide the answer.
Does Utah run its own permit, or the federal one?
On its own. Utah issues the construction general permit or implementing regulation this page was read from — UPDES UTRC00000 (effective 2024-07-01), Part 7.2. The federal permit still sets what a SWPPP has to contain; the state document is what decides who may write it here.
What does a SWPPP cost in Utah?
A consultant-prepared SWPPP for a small site is commonly quoted at around $497 — a market figure inherited from our own competitor review, which we have not re-verified. SwpppDraft intends to charge $99 for the plan and $149 with the forms pack, and is not open for sale yet, so nothing can be bought here today. Utah's permit does not require you to buy anything in order to prepare the plan — what it costs you is the time to answer questions about your own site.
Do county or city rules apply on top of this?
They can, and this page does not cover them. The scan behind it answered the state-level question only, so a county or municipality in Utah may require more — a stamped plan, a local permit, or a different form — even where the state permit does not. Ask the authority that will receive your paperwork before you write the plan, not after.
What would put my Utah site on the licensed-professional side?
These site facts: Is there perennial surface water within 50 feet of the site? Does any part of the site slope at 70% (35 degrees) or steeper? Every one of them is something you can read off the drawings, and the wizard records which answer the determination rested on.
Is there anything else to know about Utah?
Whether Utah's "Registered SWPPP Writer" credential is open to register for has NOT been verified. If it turns out to be open, Utah becomes a course-first state rather than a screened one.

Build a SWPPP for a site in Utah
The questionnaire and the generator run in your browser and produce a watermarked draft. Checkout is not open, so nothing can be charged.

Related questions

Source and verification

UPDES UTRC00000 (effective 2024-07-01), Part 7.2. Read the source document State-law information on this page was verified on 2026-08-03. County and city rules are not covered. Utah in context:its row in the 50-state table.

What we are, and what stays your responsibility

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.