Boca Raton, FL Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Article IX of Chapter 17, Sections 17-251 through 17-258, is titled the City of Boca Raton Initial Stormwater Control Ordinance and implements federal and state water-quality law at the local level. Section 17-254 bars any discharge into the stormwater system that violates federal, state, county or municipal law, and lets the city manager set maximum pollutant levels or require industrial activity permits; any holder of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit must give the city a copy within 60 days of the ordinance's effective date or the permit's issuance.

Section 17-255 is the core illicit-discharge rule: any discharge that is not composed entirely of stormwater is prohibited unless it falls into a listed exception, such as firefighting flows, potable water line flushing, landscape irrigation and lawn watering runoff, rising groundwater, air conditioning condensation, individual residential car washing, or dechlorinated swimming pool water, and the city manager can still disallow even a listed discharge if it is not properly managed. The section also bans illicit connections retroactively, reaching connections made in the past regardless of whether they were legal when installed.

Section 17-256 requires anyone with knowledge of a spill that could cause an illegal discharge to contain and clean it up immediately, call 911 for a hazardous material release, and notify the city manager by phone or email for a non-hazardous release, confirmed in writing within 3 calendar days; commercial and industrial establishments must also keep an onsite written record of the discharge and corrective action. Section 17-258 gives authorized city officials the right to inspect any property for compliance, with a search warrant available if entry is refused.