Stream Encroachment

Encroachments or obstructions into a stream, wetland, floodway, or body of water are regulated under PA DEP’s Chapter 105 program. 

Please be advised: Effective February 18, 2022, the Lancaster County Conservation District has terminated its Chapter 105 delegation agreement with the DEP and is no longer administering the Chapter 105 program. The information on this page is provided solely as a resource for potential applicants of Chapter 105 General Permits. Questions on Chapter 105 permitting may be directed to the DEP Southcentral Regional Office Waterways and Wetlands Program.

Per condition of Chapter 105 General Permits,  the applicant must provide an E&S Plan to be reviewed and deemed appropriate by the appropriate DEP Regional Office or delegated District in which the activities are proposed prior to construction. E&S Plans for the GPs below may be submitted to the LCCD using the “District Application and Fee Schedule” linked below.

GP Categories and Permit Links

GP-1: Fish Habitat Enhancement Structures

Structures consisting of deflectors, low flow channel structures, channel blocks, mud sills, boulders, felled shoreline trees, special tire structures, brush structures, rubble reefs, half-log structures, elevated boulder structures and spawning/nursery structures placed in streams, lakes, ponds or reservoirs as developed and approved by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

GP-2 Small Docks and Boat Launching Ramps

SMALL DOCK – A single floating, cantilevered or pile structure constructed within a waterway or other body of water and located on lands or adjacent to riparian lands which are owned or leased by the dock owner. Small docks authorized under this General Permit are classified in four categories based on the proposed use and type of ownership. These categories are (1) private recreational dock, (2) public access facility, (3) public service facility and (4) other private and commercial facilities.

BOAT LAUNCHING RAMP – A sloping stabilized roadway constructed in and along a stream or lake for the purpose of launching boats from vehicular trailers, including associated walkways for boarding boats and on-grade improvements for access, turning and parking.

GP-3 Bank Rehabilitation, Bank Protection and Gravel Bar Removal

BANK REHABILITATION AND BANK PROTECTION – To restore and/or protect the bank of a stream, lake, pond or reservoir against erosion, scour or sloughing by utilizing any of the following: slope protection, dumped rock protection, cribbing, walls, channel deflectors, vegetative stabilization techniques.

GRAVEL BARS – Alluvial deposits in stream channels, including accumulations of gravel, glacial till, sediment, silt and flood debris, which obstruct and redirect flow, and which are thereby associated with stream bank erosion.

GP-4 Intake / Outfall Structures

Any intake or outfall in or along a stream or body of water which includes such structures as endwalls, headwalls, splash pads, riprap, ditches, conduits, diffusers, and diversions.

GP-5 Utility Line Stream Crossings

UTILITY LINE – Any pipe or pipeline for the transportation of a gaseous, liquid, liquifiable or slurry substance or, any cable, conduit, line or wire for the transmission of electrical energy, telephone, telegraph, radio, or television signals, including cathodic corrosion protection.

GP-6 Agricultural Crossings and Ramps

AGRICULTURAL CROSSING – The stabilization of the bed or banks of a stream to provide protection of the bed and banks from livestock and agricultural equipment use.

GP-7 Minor Road Crossings

MINOR ROAD CROSSING – A road constructed across a wetland where the length of the crossing is less than 100 feet and the total wetland area disturbed is less than 0.1 acre, or a road constructed across a stream and an adjacent wetland utilizing a bridge, culvert or ford crossing where the watershed drainage area is 1.0 square mile or less and the total wetland area disturbed is less than 0.1 acre.

GP-8 Temporary Road Crossings

TEMPORARY ROAD CROSSING – A road installed for a period of time not to exceed one year across a wetland or across or along a stream utilizing a pipe culvert or a series of culverts, a bridge, a causeway or a ford.

GP-9 Agricultural Activities

AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES – Grassed or lined waterways, terraces, diversions, waste storage facilities, spring development and minor drainage that supports these activities and is necessary for contour strips when engaged in as a part of an existing agricultural operation and shall only be implemented as part of a conservation plan consistent with the 25 PA Code Chapter 102 (relating to Erosion Control) and approved by the County Conservation District.