Erosion and Sediment Permitting

The law requires that prior to initiating any activity that disturbs more than 5,000 square feet or involving more than 100 cubic yards of earth, an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan be submitted to, and approved, by the local Soil Conservation District.

If you are building or harvesting timber in Garrett County, Maryland, you will need a Grading Permit. A Grading Permit combines approval for Storm Water Management and Erosion and Sediment Control. 

You will apply for the Grading Permit at the Garrett County Permits & Inspections Division at the Garrett County Courthouse. After you apply, they will send your plan for Storm Water Management and Erosion and Sediment Reviews.

Immediately after applying for the Grading Permit, you will need to pay for the Erosion and Sediment Review separately. You can do so through this website with a debit or credit card, or you can mail (or bring) a check or money order to Garrett Soil Conservation District, 1916 Maryland Hwy, Ste C, Mt. Lake Park, MD 21550. (We are open Mon-Fri, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm). We cannot start the E&S review until the fee is paid. Please be advised that there is a small extra processing charge for debit and credit card payments. (You will not need to send us your plan. Permits & Inspections will send it to us.)

After we receive your plan and paid permit fee, we will review your plan to see if it needs any changes. If so, we will contact you. You will need to pay a Revisions Fee for re-review of plans if we need to send them back to you for changes. To avoid paying a Revisions Fee, please be sure to include all necessary elements in your plan when it is first submitted. You can find more information throughout this website.

In particular, please read the “About” and “Information“ sections of this website before submitting your plan for a Grading Permit.