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EPA's 2027 Construction General Permit: what changes for your SWPPP

EPA's 2022 Construction General Permit expires at 11:59 p.m. on February 16, 2027. EPA proposed its replacement on August 3, 2026. The biggest change for a SWPPP: your Notice of Intent would have to include the SWPPP itself, a web link to it, or its site map and signed certification. Sites already covered get a deadline to update their plan and file a new NOI.

Updated November 13, 2026, from the Federal Register notice of August 3, 2026, EPA's proposed 2027 CGP page (last updated August 21, 2026) and the 2022 permit as modified. The final permit had not been published when we checked.

Who this affects

Only sites where EPA, not a state, is the permitting authority: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Pacific island territories, most Indian country, Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction, and federal facilities in a few states (Colorado, Delaware, Vermont and Washington among them), and Oklahoma discharges outside the state agency's authority, mainly oil and gas. If your site is in Texas, California, Florida or any other state that runs its own program, your state permit governs and keeps its own schedule.

The dates

EPA says it intends to issue the final permit before the 2022 permit expires, for a five-year term. Its notice cites 40 CFR 122.6, the rule behind the limited extension: a site that got 2022 coverage before expiry stays covered while it reviews the new permit, updates its SWPPP and files the new NOI, as long as it meets the deadline.

What the proposal changes

1. Your SWPPP goes in with the NOI

Today the SWPPP must exist before the NOI, but EPA only sees it on request or at an inspection. Proposed Part 1.4.1 would require one of three things with the NOI: the full SWPPP, a URL where it can be viewed for as long as you're covered, or the site map plus the signed certification. Confidential business information and other restricted information may be withheld, and EPA says it won't review, approve or judge compliance on that copy. In practice: keep the SWPPP as a clean digital file and have the site map ready to upload.

2. "Meet water quality standards" becomes specific conditions

After the Supreme Court's March 2025 ruling in City and County of San Francisco v. EPA, EPA proposes to drop the general limit that discharges be "controlled as necessary to meet applicable water quality standards" and replace it with narrative indicators of a water quality problem. Those conditions already applied to sites on Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction after the April 2025 modification; the proposal extends them to every permittee. Expect corresponding wording changes in Part 3 and in the corrective action triggers.

3. Sediment basins must be stabilized before first use

EPA saw basins discharging sediment because they were used straight after excavation. The proposal requires stabilizing the embankment, side slopes, conveyances and discharge points before water is first directed into the basin. The method, vegetative or not, is up to you.

4. Less paperwork in four places

• Perimeter controls only where stormwater from disturbed areas can reach them, not around the whole property.
• Arid and semi-arid stabilization deadlines rewritten into one simpler rule.
• Sudden snow or frozen ground can suspend the stabilization clock while the conditions last.
• Notice of Termination photos: after-stabilization photos only, no "before" photos.

EPA also asked for comment on two turbidity options for dewatering sites, weekly instead of daily monitoring when continuous dewatering runs longer than three days and the first three days average under the benchmark, and letting one operator report for a group. Those are questions, not yet proposals. EPA estimates the changes cut operators' total costs by about $25,383 a year, so expect a modest relief, not a rewrite.

An update checklist for a SWPPP written under the 2022 permit

1. Read the final permit when it's published, and Part 9 for your state, tribe or territory.
2. Re-read Part 3 of your SWPPP and your corrective action triggers against the new indicator conditions.
3. Get the SWPPP into one current digital file, or post it at a stable URL; make sure the site map shows every Part 7.2.4 feature.
4. If you have a sediment basin, add the stabilization step before first use to your controls and schedule.
5. Trim perimeter controls the map shows no stormwater reaching, and say why.
6. Update the permit copy in your appendices, re-sign the certification, and log the amendment.
7. File the new NOI in NeT before the existing-site deadline, then post the new NPDES ID on your site sign.

New sites that start after the 2027 permit takes effect follow the normal order: SWPPP first, NOI at least 14 days before work starts, then a 14-day review. The NOI guide walks through that filing, and the requirements checklist covers every SWPPP item the new permit keeps.

If you'd rather start from a draft than from EPA's blank template, ePlan fills in the permit area, receiving water and soils for a site address and drafts the SWPPP and then the NOI; drafts are free to read and each is $49 to download (ePlan's SWPPP page). Check any draft against the final 2027 text once EPA publishes it.

Questions

When does EPA's Construction General Permit expire?

The 2022 CGP's cover page says it expires at 11:59 p.m. on February 16, 2027. EPA's Federal Register notice and its webinar slides say February 17, 2027. Plan on the earlier date.

Do I need a new SWPPP for the 2027 permit?

Not a new one, an updated one. EPA's notice says existing sites get time to review the new permit, update their plans to match any new requirements, and file a new NOI. Under the 2022 permit, a SWPPP from an older permit had to be reviewed and updated before the new NOI (Part 7.1).

Does the 2027 permit change inspection frequency?

The proposal doesn't change the 7-day or 14-day-plus-storm schedules for site inspections. The open questions are about turbidity monitoring for long dewatering discharges.

Related guides

• SWPPP template: which one your permit wants, and how to fill it in
• SWPPP notice of intent: how to file the NOI, in order
• SWPPP requirements: the checklist your permit holds you to

About this page

This guide is published by Winding AI, Inc., the company that makes ePlan, one of the ways to get a SWPPP drafted that this site compares. We make money when someone pays ePlan to download a document or subscribes; we earn nothing from links to agencies or other products, and links to ePlan carry a tag so ePlan can count visits from here. Every fact on this page was read from the source it links to on the date shown above.