Zoning › State preemptions › North Carolina

NC Stormwater Management Program — Post-Construction & Coastal (15A NCAC 02H .1000) (NC)

Tracked preemption from the North Carolina overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
2008-10-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:NC
Other North Carolina preemptions
NC S.L. 2024-43 (HB 250) — Public Safety / Other Changes Omnibus (placeholder — zoning provisions unverified)NC S.L. 2023-108 (HB 409) — Statewide By-Right ADU MandateNC GS §160D-907 — Family Care Homes as Residential UseNC GS §160D-910 — Manufactured Housing Anti-ExclusionNC GS §160D-914 — Residential Solar Collector ProtectionNC GS §160D-921 — Tree Ordinance Local-Act RequirementNC GS §160D-903 — Bona Fide Farm Exemption from County ZoningNC HB 130 (2021) — Vested Rights Protections for Permit Applications

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

OR
  • AND
    • city.in_phase_ii_ms4 == True
    • project.land_disturbance_acres ≥ 1
  • city.in_coastal_stormwater_county == True
  • parcel.in_orw_hqw_basin == True

Preempted fields

4 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
base_districts[*].stormwater_treatment_requiredrequirescm_treating_1_inch_runoff_85_pct_TSSPhase II post-construction: SCMs treating first 1.0 inch of runoff with 85% TSS removal; built-upon area thresholds trigger requirements
base_districts[*].impervious_surface_max_pctcap_at24Coastal stormwater (15A NCAC 02H .1019): within ½ mile of SA waters, ≤24% BUA low-density or high-density option with controls
base_districts[*].impervious_surface_max_pctcap_at12Coastal stormwater within 575 ft of SA waters: ≤12% BUA low-density or stricter high-density controls
review_typerequirestate_or_delegated_stormwater_permitNPDES Phase II permits issued through delegated local MS4 program or NC DEQ DEMLR Stormwater Permitting; coastal stormwater permit covers 20 CAMA counties

Citation

Authority source
15A NCAC 02H .1000 (NC Stormwater Management); 15A NCAC 02H .1019 (Coastal Stormwater); N.C.G.S. §143-214.7; S.L. 2008-211 (Coastal Stormwater)
§ 15A NCAC 02H .1001 – .1023
https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/energy-mineral-land-resources/stormwater

Research notes

NC Stormwater Program operates three regimes: (1) Phase I/II MS4 (Federal CWA 402(p) — Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham, Fayetteville, Asheville, Wilmington, Cary, plus ~120 small Phase II MS4s); (2) Coastal Stormwater Rules for 20 CAMA counties (denser BUA caps near SA Class waters); (3) Post-construction stormwater required for projects in HQW/ORW, water-supply watersheds, and nutrient-sensitive basins. Express stormwater rules (S.L. 2008-211, amended S.L. 2019-22) override earlier piecemeal rules. Federal conflict check true — CWA NPDES is federal floor, NC EMC + 02H .1000 layer additional state requirements.