What is the AZPDES Notice of Termination and final stabilization at the end of a build?

Every stormwater permit issued at the start of a build has to be closed at the end, and the filing that does it is the Notice of Termination (NOT). It formally ends your ADEQ stormwater permit, but only once your site reaches final stabilization. That means the ground you disturbed during construction has been permanently stabilized, so it no longer sheds sediment into runoff, usually through re-established native vegetation or permanent cover like pavement and landscaping. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is direct about the sequence: "Once final stabilization is in place, an NOT can be submitted in myDEQ, terminating stormwater coverage." Until you file an NOT that ADEQ approves, your permit stays active and you keep owing the annual permit fee. So the NOT is the back-end bookend of the stormwater permit, the same way the SWPPP and Notice of Intent are the front end.

This page explains what the NOT is, what final stabilization requires, why an unterminated permit keeps costing you money, and how to close the permit out cleanly. It is the closing companion to the pages on the dust-versus-stormwater permits and the grading sequence.

What the Notice of Termination is

The Notice of Termination is the document that closes your coverage under the AZPDES Construction General Permit (CGP). That is ADEQ's stormwater permit for construction, currently AZG2025-001. When you started, you developed a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and filed a Notice of Intent (NOI) to get covered. The NOT is the mirror image at the end. ADEQ explains that "NOIs are active until a notice of termination (NOT) has been submitted and ADEQ approves the NOT," or until the permit itself expires on Aug. 28, 2030, whichever comes first.

That word "approves" matters. Filing the NOT is not self-executing. ADEQ states your NOI is "effective until you submit an NOT and ADEQ approves the NOT." So coverage and its duties run until the agency signs off, not just until you hit submit. You file the NOT in ADEQ's online myDEQ portal, the same system where you filed the NOI.

There is one wrinkle on permit renewals worth knowing. When the prior permit expired, ADEQ rolled active sites onto the 2025 CGP. Operators who were continuing work simply obtained a new NOI. ADEQ noted "there is no need to submit a separate notice of termination (NOT)" in that transition. The NOT is for ending coverage, not for moving between permit versions.

What final stabilization means

Final stabilization is the on-the-ground condition you must reach before you can file the NOT. It means the disturbed soil is permanently stabilized, so it no longer needs the construction permit's controls. ADEQ ties the permit's whole life to it. Coverage is required "from the commencement of construction activities" until "final stabilization." The CGP covers stormwater from active construction, not the finished site. ADEQ explains "the CGP covers stormwater discharges from construction activities, not post-construction." Once final stabilization is in place, the NOT can close it out.

In practice, final stabilization on a desert custom-home lot is reached by one of two routes, often a mix:

• Re-established vegetation. Disturbed areas are revegetated so a permanent, perennial cover holds the soil. On native desert lots this often means restored or seeded native plants taking hold.
• Permanent stabilization measures. Hardscape that permanently covers the ground also counts. Think the home's footprint, driveways, paving, decorative rock, and established planting.

ADEQ adds a useful detail for a phased or partly finished site. When reporting acreage, "only enter the acreage that still has ongoing construction activity and has yet to complete final stabilization." So stabilization is measured area by area. The permit ends only when all the ground you were responsible for has reached that permanent condition. The precise definition and any vegetative-cover criteria live in the current permit text. Confirm the final-stabilization standard in AZG2025-001 for your site rather than assuming a single number.

Why an unterminated permit keeps costing you

If you finish the house but never file the NOT, the stormwater permit stays open and the annual fee keeps coming. This is the most common and avoidable cost at the back end of a build. ADEQ is explicit that there are "annual fees (billed on the anniversary month of the NOI), until the permittee submits a notice of termination (NOT) and ADEQ approves the NOT." It repeats the point on the close-out side: "until your NOI is terminated, you will continue to be responsible for the annual fee."

That is the trap. The SWPPP and NOI get plenty of attention at the start of a build, because they gate the dozer. The NOT gets forgotten. By the time a site reaches final stabilization, the crew has moved on and the owner has moved in. The permit, though, does not close itself. An NOI left active racks up an annual fee every anniversary month, for a permit that no longer protects anything, on a site that is already a finished home.

There is a second reason to close it promptly. While the permit is active, the operator still carries the permit's duties on paper. That includes the duty to keep records and respond to ADEQ. Filing the NOT once final stabilization is genuinely reached ends both the fee and the lingering compliance status. The fix is simply to treat the NOT as a real punch-list item, not an afterthought.

How to close out the stormwater permit cleanly

You close out the permit by confirming final stabilization across the whole site, then filing the NOT in myDEQ and confirming ADEQ approves it. Run it as a sequence:

• Verify final stabilization on every disturbed area. Walk the site and confirm each area you were responsible for is permanently stabilized by re-established vegetation or permanent cover. ADEQ measures this area by area.
• Do a final SWPPP inspection and document it. Confirm controls did their job and the site is stable, and keep the records that support termination.
• File the NOT in myDEQ. Submit the Notice of Termination in the same portal you used for the NOI.
• Confirm ADEQ approval and the fee stop. Coverage and the annual fee run until ADEQ approves the NOT, so verify the approval and that billing has ended.

This is the closing bracket on the earthwork sequence that opened the build. For the front-end gates, see the difference between a dust control permit and a stormwater SWPPP permit and whether you need a grading or earthwork permit and a SWPPP before you break ground. The NOT is where that whole stormwater chain ends.

ADEQ's permit version, fee amounts, and final-stabilization criteria can change. So confirm the current NOT process and the final-stabilization standard with ADEQ and the active CGP before you rely on a specific step or figure. On a managed build, your general contractor tracks the stormwater permit from the NOI to the NOT, so it does not sit open after move-in. At Jematell Homes, closing the AZPDES permit is part of the project's final close-out. The permit ends when the site is stable, and the annual fee stops with it.

The Jematell Homes approach

Permitting and code compliance are part of our full-service project management. Every project is different, so we will confirm the specifics for your parcel and budget with you directly.

Sources

• ADEQ: Construction General Permit (CGP) FAQs (Notice of Termination, final stabilization, annual fee until NOT approved)
• ADEQ: AZPDES Construction Activity General Permit (CGP) for Stormwater
• ADEQ: AZG2025-001 Construction General Permit (final stabilization; coverage period)