What the EPA construction permit asks you to photograph.

Who it covers

Coverage turns on the eligibility conditions in Part 1.1. The size test is one or more acres of land disturbed, or less than an acre where the site is part of a common plan of development or sale that will ultimately disturb one or more acres.

Puerto Rico has no delegated commonwealth NPDES program: EPA Region 2 issues these permits directly. Appendix B lists the areas where coverage is available, and the Commonwealth appears there as area PRR100000. For a project on the island, the federal permit text is the operative rulebook.

How often you inspect

Part 4.2.2 sets out two schedules, and the operator picks one — 4.2.2a and 4.2.2b:

“At least once every seven (7) calendar days; or”
“Once every 14 calendar days and within 24 hours of the occurrence of: A storm event that produces 0.25 inches or more of rain within a 24-hour period.”

Both are equally valid. Your stormwater plan names the one you are on, and that is the cadence that governs your site.

Part 4.3.1 tightens it for a defined set of sites: any portion discharging to a sediment or nutrient-impaired water, to a water identified as Tier 2, Tier 2.5 or Tier 3 for antidegradation purposes, or to receiving waters within Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction inspects every seven days and within 24 hours of a qualifying storm — both, rather than either.

Part 4.4 opens a door in the other direction. Areas that have met the stabilization steps of Part 2.2.14a move to twice a month, then monthly, until coverage ends. If construction resumes there, the frequency returns to Parts 4.2 and 4.3 immediately.

How the 24-hour clock runs

Footnote 68 carries three details worth more than most of the body text around them.

The clock is continuous. It “is counted as a continuous passage of time, and not counted by business hours.” A storm that qualifies on Friday evening runs its 24 hours straight through the weekend.

Inspections sit inside working hours (footnote 67), which is a ceiling rather than a schedule. Where the two collide, the permit resolves it: if the 24-hour window “occurs entirely outside of normal working hours, you must conduct an inspection by no later than the end of the next business day.”

A multi-day storm earns two inspections, not one per day. One within 24 hours of the first qualifying day, and one within 24 hours after the last day that produces 0.25 inches or more — in the permit’s own words, “only two inspections would be required for such a storm event.”

What gets photographed

A routine inspection produces a report, and Part 4.7.1 sets the clock on it:

“You must complete an inspection report within 24 hours of completing any site inspection.”

That report carries the inspection date, the names and titles of the people who inspected, weather information, and the condition of the controls. It is produced by a qualified person, and Part 4.1 is precise about what that means: the inspector may be staff or a third party you hire, and the operator is responsible for ensuring that person “is a ‘qualified person’ … someone who has completed the training required by Part 6.3.” A remote pilot certificate is a separate qualification entirely.

Photographs are named in two places. Dewatering inspections under Part 4.6.3 call for photographs of the water before and after treatment, of the dewatering controls themselves, and of the point of discharge. And closeout carries the one that matters most.

The closeout requirement, and the window inside it

To terminate coverage, Part 8.2.1 requires documentation that the site met the final stabilization standards of Part 2.2.14c. The permit names the format outright:

“you must take either ground or aerial photographs that show your site’s compliance with the Part 2.2.14 stabilization requirements and submit them with your NOT.”

Aerial imagery is written into the permit as accepted evidence. Then comes the line that decides whether a project closes cleanly:

“Take photographs both before and after the site has met the final stabilization criteria in Part 2.2.14c.”

Before and after. The “after” set is easy — the site is finished and someone walks it with a camera. The “before” set exists only while the site is still unstabilized, and a team reading this clause for the first time at closeout has already passed that window.

Three conditions travel with those photographs: each must be clear and in focus, in the original format and resolution; each carries the date it was taken; and each carries a brief description of the area shown. The permit’s own example is specific — “photo shows application of seed and erosion control mats to remaining exposed surfaces on northeast corner of site.”

Representative coverage is acceptable: photographs of some areas suffice so long as the conditions shown are substantially similar to the areas left unphotographed.

How long the records live

Part 4.7.3 keeps inspection reports at the site or somewhere immediately accessible, so they can be produced on request by EPA. Part 4.7.4 sets the shelf life:

“You must retain all inspection reports completed for this Part for at least three (3) years from the date that your permit coverage expires or is terminated.”

A file that outlives the project is the point: the people who ask to see it usually arrive after everyone has moved on. The corrective action log carries the same three years (Part 5.4.4).

Dates worth knowing

The 2022 Construction General Permit, as modified in April 2025, expires at 11:59pm, February 16, 2027.

EPA has proposed a replacement, and the two halves move differently. The inspection cadence carries through the draft with wording changes only. The closeout photography changes in substance: EPA proposes to drop the “before” set and accept post-stabilization photographs alone, reasoning that comparing before and after has proved unnecessary to substantiate compliance, and to add a requirement that each photograph indicate which stabilization criterion it demonstrates.

Until that permit issues, the 2022 permit governs — and the “before” set is still required. Any site closing out under current coverage needs it.