Soil erosion and sedimentation control
Identify the Part 91 enforcing agency for the parcel through EGLE's agency list, then confirm the current threshold, application, and inspection requirements directly with that office.
Michigan site work planning
Site Work Permits
Find the agency for your parcel first. Soil erosion, road approach, and water review are separate approvals with separate offices.
Requirements are set by the agency for your parcel, and they change. Confirm before you dig.
(734) 476-1098Plan the next conversation
Use the guide below to organise questions, then confirm the details for the actual parcel and scope.
Explore excavation servicesA soil erosion permit michigan search usually turns up the state program, which is only part of the answer. Michigan's soil erosion and sedimentation control program is administered locally, so the office that reviews your earth change depends on the parcel rather than on a statewide counter.
Site work commonly touches more than one approval. An earth change may need erosion control, a new drive may need a road approach permit, work near water may need state review, and the building itself has its own permit through the municipality.
This site work permits guide shows how to identify the agencies for a parcel and the order they usually come in, so a project is not held up by an approval discovered late. Site work permits guide.
Start with jurisdiction, not with the requirement
Michigan's soil erosion and sedimentation control requirements come from Part 91 of the state's environmental law, but enforcement is delegated. Depending on the location, the enforcing agency may be a county agency, a municipality authorised to administer the program, or another designated agency. EGLE publishes a list of Part 91 agencies, which is the practical way to find out who reviews your parcel.
Road work has its own authority. A new or modified driveway approach at a public road is reviewed by the road authority for that road: a county road commission, a city or village, or the state for a trunkline. Michigan law provides for county road commission permits for work in the right of way, and each authority publishes its own application process and details.
Work in or near regulated water is a third track. Inland lakes, streams, and wetlands are subject to state programs administered by EGLE, and proximity is not always obvious from the ground. Where a parcel has a channel, a seasonal wet area, or a connection to a drain, resolve the question before earthwork rather than after.
Agency lookup for a parcel
Municipal building and zoning
The city, village, or township handles building permits, zoning setbacks, accessory structure rules, and sometimes its own site-plan or grading review.
Road approach
The road authority for the fronting road reviews driveway approaches, culverts, and any work in its right of way. Determine whether that is a county road commission, a municipality, or the state.
Water and wetland review
Work in or near an inland lake, stream, or wetland can require an EGLE permit. Check the site's status before planning excavation near any water feature.
County drain
Where a parcel borders or drains to a county drain, the drain office may have jurisdiction over discharge, crossings, and work within an easement.
Septic and well
The county health department handles onsite sewage and well permitting, which on a rural parcel often has to be resolved before the site plan is finalised.
A workable application sequence
1. Define the project on paper
Address, parcel number, what is being built or changed, approximate disturbed area, and proximity to water. Most agency conversations start with these facts.
2. Identify every agency
Work through the list above for the specific parcel. Write down the office, contact, and the question you asked, with the date.
3. Resolve the gating approvals first
Septic feasibility and any water or wetland question can change the site plan itself, so they belong before drawings are finalised.
4. Apply in parallel where you can
Erosion control, road approach, and building permits often proceed independently. Knowing which are independent keeps the schedule realistic.
5. Keep the record current
If the scope changes, go back to each agency rather than assuming the earlier answer still applies. Requirements and thresholds do change.
Limits of this guide
This guide describes how to find the responsible agency, not what your permit will require. Thresholds, fees, application contents, inspection steps, and permit durations are set by each agency and are revised over time, so confirm current requirements with the office that governs your parcel.
West Branch Builders is a contractor, not a regulator or a certified evaluator. Nothing here is an approval, a determination that a permit is or is not required, or a substitute for the agency's own instructions.
No fee or cost figures are published here. Where a cost matters to your decision, obtain the current figure from the agency's own schedule rather than from a general article.
Official sources — confirm current requirements with the office named for the parcel.
- EGLE soil erosion and sedimentation control overview — Part 91 earth-change thresholds and program scope
- EGLE Part 91 agency list — Locating the enforcing agency for a parcel
- EGLE inland lakes and streams permits — Water and wetland review for work near regulated waters
- MCL 224.19b, county road right-of-way permits — Statutory basis for driveway and culvert permits in a county road right of way
- Washtenaw County soil erosion program — County soil erosion permitting contact
- Wayne County soil erosion and sedimentation control — County soil erosion permitting contact
Turning this into a project conversation
If you would rather work through this on a real project than a checklist, send the parcel address and what you intend to build. The useful first conversation is about what the site can support and which approvals gate the schedule.
Where an approval belongs to a licensed or credentialed specialist, such as county septic installation, that arrangement is named in the project scope rather than implied.
Related pages: Excavating Contractor, Grading And Leveling, Contact Us.
Questions to carry into the review
Who issues soil erosion permits in Michigan?
Not a single statewide office. Part 91 is administered by enforcing agencies designated at the local level, which may be a county agency or an authorised municipality. Use EGLE's Part 91 agency list to find the agency for your parcel, then confirm current requirements with that office directly.
Does a small residential project need an erosion control permit?
It depends on the size of the earth change and its proximity to water, measured against the current threshold applied by the enforcing agency for your parcel. Because those thresholds and local rules can differ, the reliable answer comes from the agency rather than from a general description of the program.
Do I need a permit to put in a new driveway?
Where the drive connects to a public road, the road authority almost always requires a permit covering the approach, culvert, and restoration. Identify whether that road is under a county road commission, a municipality, or the state, and apply through that authority before construction.
How do I find out whether my property has wetlands?
Start with EGLE's inland lakes, streams, and wetland program information and ask about the site specifically. Mapping tools are a starting point rather than a determination, and where a project is close to a wet area, a formal determination or a qualified consultant's assessment is the dependable route.