TPDES General Permit: Coverage, SWP3, and Compliance

A Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) general permit is the authorization the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issues to control stormwater and wastewater discharges from broad categories of activity, most commonly construction sites, industrial facilities, and municipal storm sewer systems. If your work disturbs soil or exposes materials to rainfall in a way that could carry pollutants into a Texas river, lake, or stream, you almost certainly need coverage under one of these permits. Operating without it, or ignoring the conditions once you have it, exposes you to administrative penalties of up to $25,000 per day per violation under the Texas Water Code.

Who Needs Coverage

TCEQ issues three main stormwater general permits, each tied to a specific type of operation. Figuring out which one applies to you is the first step, because the fees, forms, and ongoing duties differ.

Construction Sites

The Construction General Permit (TXR150000) covers any construction project that disturbs one or more acres of soil and discharges stormwater to surface water. Small construction activities disturb at least one acre but fewer than five. Large construction activities disturb five acres or more. Projects that are part of a larger common plan of development meeting those thresholds also qualify, so phasing a big project into smaller pieces will not get you out of the permit.¹

There is one off-ramp for small sites. Projects with low rainfall erosivity may qualify for a Low Rainfall Erosivity Waiver instead of full permit coverage. Eligibility depends on a calculated erosivity factor for the project location and timeframe, and the waiver form is filed through STEERS rather than through a Notice of Intent.¹

Industrial Facilities

Industrial facilities that expose materials, equipment, or byproducts to rainfall are regulated under the Multi-Sector General Permit (TXR050000). Covered operations include manufacturing plants, transportation terminals, mining sites, and recycling facilities. Your Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code determines which industrial sector you fall under and what monitoring or control measures apply.

A facility that keeps every material and activity completely sheltered from rain may qualify for a No Exposure Certification instead of full permit coverage. The certification is filed with TCEQ, and if the facility discharges into a municipal storm sewer, you must also provide a copy to the MS4 operator and allow site inspection.² A single exposed industrial material or activity disqualifies you, and you must obtain full permit coverage.

Municipal Storm Sewer Systems

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) are the drainage networks that collect stormwater from streets, parking lots, and other developed surfaces. Phase II small MS4s are regulated under General Permit TXR040000. The operator must develop a Stormwater Management Program addressing the permit’s control measures before submitting a Notice of Intent with a $400 application fee, and must submit annual reports in hard copy. If the MS4 has a public website, the annual report must also be posted online within 30 days of the due date.³

The SWP3 You Need Before You File

You cannot file for coverage without a completed Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWP3). It is the technical backbone of compliance, and it must be finished and signed before any regulated activity begins on the site. A copy has to stay physically accessible at the project location throughout operations.

Under the current Construction General Permit, the SWP3 must include at a minimum:⁴

A site description covering the nature of the construction activity, total acreage of the property and of the disturbed area, potential pollutant sources, and the schedule for soil-disturbing phases.
A detailed site map showing property boundaries, drainage patterns and slopes before and after grading, locations of planned erosion controls and buffers, areas of soil disturbance, nearby surface waters (with any impaired waters flagged), and vehicle exit points onto paved roads.
Identification of the water bodies at or near the site that could receive stormwater runoff from disturbed areas.
Descriptions of structural and non-structural best management practices such as silt fences, sediment basins, inlet protection, and stabilization methods for exposed soil.
A copy of the general permit itself, either physical or an electronic version with a current link to the permit on the TCEQ website.

Industrial facilities under TXR050000 need a similar plan tailored to their operations, with sector-specific monitoring benchmarks and descriptions of how exposed materials are managed.

Filing for Coverage

TCEQ requires electronic submission of permit forms through STEERS (State of Texas Environmental Electronic Reporting System) unless you have obtained a specific electronic reporting waiver.⁵ You create a STEERS account, then submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) with the required fee.

The NOI itself requires precise site information: latitude and longitude coordinates, a description of the project boundaries, and the name of the first water body that will receive stormwater runoff from the site.⁶ You also list contact information for every operator associated with the site. Industrial applicants must identify their SIC code so the application routes to the correct sector requirements.

Fees

Fees depend on the permit type and whether you file electronically or on paper. For the Multi-Sector General Permit (TXR050000), the electronic NOI fee is $100 and the paper NOI fee is $200.⁷ MS4 applications run $400.³ Beyond the initial application, expect an annual water quality fee of $200 each year your permit coverage is active on September 1.⁸

When You Can Start Work

You do not have to wait for a formal certificate before beginning. Provisional coverage under the Construction General Permit begins 48 hours after TCEQ receives the NOI, whether submitted electronically or on paper.⁹ Once the agency processes the application, you receive a formal acknowledgment letter that serves as your certificate of coverage. Keep a copy on site at all times.

Staying Compliant After Coverage Starts

Getting the permit is the easy part. Staying compliant is where most operators run into trouble, because the permit imposes active duties that do not pause when the job gets busy.

Inspections

Under the Construction General Permit, site inspections must occur at least once every 14 calendar days and within 24 hours after any storm event that produces half an inch or more of rain.⁴ When that 24-hour window falls entirely outside normal working hours, the inspection must happen by the end of the next business day. For multi-day storms producing half an inch or more on consecutive days, inspect within 24 hours of the first qualifying day and within 24 hours after the last.

Frequency drops to once a month for areas that have reached final or temporary stabilization and for sites where frozen or drought conditions make runoff unlikely. Every inspection must be documented in the SWP3 records, including any deficiencies and corrective actions.

Monitoring and Reporting

Some industrial sectors under TXR050000 must perform water quality sampling and submit Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) tracking specific pollutant levels. A DMR is still due during periods with no discharge if your permit requires one for that reporting period.

When Something Goes Wrong

Any noncompliance that could endanger human health, safety, or the environment must be reported orally or by fax to the appropriate TCEQ Regional Office within 24 hours of becoming aware of it. A written follow-up must be submitted to both the Regional Office and the TCEQ Enforcement Division within five working days. Violations that exceed permitted limits by more than 40% trigger a separate written report on the same five-day timeline.

Operator Changes and Site Changes

TPDES construction general permits are not transferable. If the site changes operators, the outgoing operator must file a Notice of Termination (NOT) and the incoming operator must submit a new NOI. The new operator’s NOI must be filed no later than 10 days before the change in operator status takes effect.¹⁰ This is a common stumbling point on projects where ownership changes mid-construction. If the new operator starts work without filing, they are operating without coverage and exposed to penalties.

For changes that do not involve a new operator, such as updated site boundaries, revised discharge points, or changes in responsible personnel, operators submit a Notice of Change (NOC) form through STEERS. The NOC cannot be used to change the operator itself.¹⁰

Ending Coverage

Permit obligations end only when the site achieves final stabilization and you file a Notice of Termination. Under the Construction General Permit, final stabilization means all soil-disturbing activities are complete and a uniform perennial vegetative cover has been established at a density of at least 70% of the native background vegetation for the area on all unpaved surfaces not covered by permanent structures. Equivalent permanent measures such as riprap or gabions can substitute where vegetation is not practical.⁴

Residential construction has a different path. A homebuilder can satisfy the requirement for an individual lot by either achieving full stabilization or establishing temporary stabilization before transferring ownership, as long as the buyer is informed of the need for permanent cover. Agricultural land disturbed by construction such as pipeline crossings can meet the standard by returning the land to its pre-construction agricultural use.

Once final stabilization is reached, submit the Notice of Termination through STEERS.⁵ Filing the NOT ends your legal responsibility for the site and stops the annual water quality fee from accruing. Delaying the filing costs real money and keeps you on the hook for inspection and reporting duties that no longer serve any purpose.

Penalties for Noncompliance

Texas does not treat permit violations as paperwork issues. Under the Texas Water Code, the baseline maximum administrative penalty is $25,000 per day for each violation. That ceiling rises to $40,000 per day when three conditions align: the violation involves an actual release of pollutants at levels harmful to human health or the environment, the operator has a prior violation of the same type, and the TCEQ determines the violation was reasonably foreseeable and avoidable.¹¹

Separately, Texas law prohibits discharging pollutants into state waters without authorization. Any person who discharges sewage, municipal waste, industrial waste, or other pollutants from a point source without a permit violates the Texas Water Code, and that violation is enforceable regardless of whether the discharge causes measurable harm.¹² Each day a violation continues counts as a separate violation, so penalties compound quickly on operators who ignore the problem.

Enforcement actions most commonly target operators who begin construction without filing an NOI, fail to develop or maintain a SWP3, skip required inspections, or continue operating after permit conditions have changed. The TCEQ has broad discretion in setting penalty amounts and considers the severity of the violation, the operator’s compliance history, and any good-faith efforts to correct the problem.

1
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Stormwater General Permit for Construction Activities
2
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Conditional No Exposure Exclusion from Permit Requirements
3
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. General Permit TXR040000 for Phase II (Small) MS4s
4
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. 2023 Construction General Permit TXR150000
5
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Submitting Stormwater General Permit Forms and Fees Electronically
6
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Notice of Intent for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activity under TPDES General Permit TXR150000
7
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. TXR050000 General Permit
8
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Assistance Tools for Industrial Stormwater General Permit
9
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. TPDES Construction General Permit TXR150000 Fact Sheet
10
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Notice of Change to an Authorization for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activity under TPDES General Permit
11
State of Texas. Texas Water Code Section 7-052 – Maximum Penalty
12
Texas Public Law. Texas Water Code Section 26.121 Unauthorized Discharges Prohibited