Illicit Discharge Model Ordinance: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The purpose of this ordinance is to provide for the health, safety and general welfare of the community through the regulation of non-stormwater discharges into the storm drainage system. This ordinance establishes methods for controlling the introduction of pollutants into the storm sewer system in order to comply with requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit process.
The model ordinance provides language communities can use to protect the municipal stormwater sewer system from harmful discharges. The ordinance is broken into twenty-three sections. The ordinance first introduces the purpose of the regulation and defines appropriate terms. The ordinance then discusses what cannot be discharged into the municipal sewer system and the requirements regarding the monitoring of the sewer system. The ordinance ends with provisions for enforcement of the ordinance and an appeals process for offenders.
This document provides exact ordinance language for local governments interested in controlling the introduction of pollutants into the storm water sewer system in their community. The ordinance is designed to be flexible so that any local government can use the language once the appropriate “blanks” are filled with the authorized enforcement agency and other technical details related to the enforcement of the ordinance. It should be noted that this ordinance is not an exhaustive listing of all the language needed for a local ordinance, but represents a good base that communities can build upon and customize to be consistent with the staff resources available in their locality.
