Bessemer, AL Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Chapter 50, Article II governs the city's municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). Section 50-41 requires a permit or an Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) NPDES authorization before any land-disturbing activity that could send sediment into the MS4, though home gardening, landscaping on an existing residential lot, and minor driveway grading are exempted under section 50-41(b)(4) and (5). 75-inch rainfall. Section 50-104 is the enforcement backbone: it declares any stormwater discharge made in violation of the article, or of a permit condition, a public nuisance subject to correction or abatement, while carving out landscape irrigation, foundation and footing-drain water, spring discharge, lawn watering, and firefighting runoff as allowable.

Violations move through section 50-108's notice of violation, compliance order, and cease-and-desist sequence before the city escalates. Section 50-109 makes noncompliance a misdemeanor, and section 50-110 lets the stormwater official sue in any court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive relief or damages to public stormwater facilities. Anyone cited can appeal to the Building Appeals Board under section 50-134, or petition that board for a variance under section 50-135 if strict compliance would create unnecessary hardship.