Arlington Heights, IL Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Section 22-501, Purpose, states the Article exists 'to provide for the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the Village of Arlington Heights through the regulation of non-stormwater discharges to the storm drainage system to the maximum extent practicable as required by federal and state law,' implementing the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit process. Section 22-502 names the Director of Public Works and/or the Director of Engineering, or a designee, as the 'Authorized Enforcement Agent.' Section 22-507, Prohibitions on Discharges, bars discharging any pollutant into the storm drainage system or a watercourse other than stormwater, with narrow listed exceptions such as landscape irrigation, dechlorinated pool water, and firefighting activity. Section 22-508 separately prohibits illicit connections, including any past connection that routes sewage into the MS4, regardless of whether it was legal when made.

Section 22-510 requires anyone with an industrial or construction-activity NPDES stormwater permit to comply with all of that permit's terms, and Section 22-511 lets the Authorized Enforcement Agent enter and inspect regulated facilities as often as necessary, install monitoring equipment, and, if access is refused, seek a search warrant. Section 22-513, Watercourse Protection, requires property owners through whose land a watercourse passes to keep it free of trash, debris, and excessive vegetation and to maintain any structures in or near it. Section 22-514 requires anyone who learns of a spill that could reach stormwater to immediately notify emergency responders for hazardous releases, or the Authorized Enforcement Agent by the next business day for non-hazardous ones, with written confirmation due within three business days and records kept for at least three years.