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NPDES Permit For Construction Activities

Important NOI Notice

Permit Renewal Notification: The General NPDES Permit for Construction Site Activities has been renewed as of September 22, 2023. All permittees are required to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) for renewal no later than 150 days after the General Permit is reissued. Beginnng September 22, 2023 permittee’s shall submit their renewal NOI through the Central Data Exchange platform  Failure to submit a renewal NOI within 150 days after reissuance of the General NPDES Permit for Construction Site Activities will result in termination of permit coverage.

Construction activities can include road building, construction of residential houses, office buildings, industrial sites, or demolition.

Land Disturbance means exposed soil due to clearing, grading, or excavation activities.

Larger common plan of development or sale describes a situation in which multiple construction activities are occurring, or will occur, on a contiguous area.

An operator is the person or persons with either operational control of construction project plans and specifications, or day-to-day operational control of activities necessary to ensure compliance with storm water NPDES permit conditions.

Under Phase I, operators were required to obtain permit coverage for construction activity that resulted in a total land disturbance of 5 acres or more or less than 5 acres if they were part of a "larger common plan of development or sale" with a planned land disturbance of 5 acres or greater. Phase II reduces that project size to 1 acre or more.

Do I Need a Construction Site Permit?

How Do I Apply for Permit Coverage?

The following resources are available to you for registering for an account and for submitting your NOI through the NeT system.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) in compliance with the Federal Electronic Reporting Rule has transitioned all General Storm Water Permits for Construction Site Activities to the central Data Exchange (CDX).

The CGP Electronic Filing User's Guide will provide detailed instructions on registering for a CDX account:

For Assistance setting up an account in CDX:

CDX User Training

To introduce and acclimate stakeholders to CGP NeT, EPA will conduct a series of live webinar trainings. The live webinar training sessions will be held for current and future CGP operators. Please refer to website for training dates and times:

All operators associated with your construction site who seek coverage under the 2018 CGP must submit an NOI and are encouraged to attend. Anyone who currently is or will be responsible for preparing an NOI is also encouraged to attend. These webinars will cover how to register with CDX, submit a NOI, change an NOI and submit a Notice of Termination (NOT). Each session is the same so you need only to attend one.

Construction Permit Requirements

Forms Required to Submit your NOI via CDX

    • An electronic copy of a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP)
    • A copy of your Historic Preservation Office approval letter (SHPO)
    • A copy of your Eco CAT approval letter.

Once you have successfully uploaded the forms above, you will be able to certify and submit the NOI for review. After you certify your NOI, you will be able print the payment form and submit a copy with a check (payable to "Illinois EPA") to the following address

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Water Pollution Control
Attention: Permit Section
Post Office Box 19276
Springfield, Illinois 62794-9276

Initial application fee schedule

  • Projects with less than 5 acres, the fee is $250.
  • Projects with 5 acres or more, the fee is $750.
  • Projects that are owned by an Active MS4 Community are exempt from a fee

The following resources are available for assistance using NeT: