Escondido, CA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Section 22-22 makes it unlawful to discharge or contribute to a discharge into the MS4 of sewage, gas station or auto-repair wash water, mobile car-wash or power-washing runoff, hosing of parking lots and sidewalks, chemical or hazardous material runoff, unneutralized pool or fountain water, pet waste and landscape clippings, restaurant kitchen wash water, or overspray from potable irrigation. Section 22-23 carves out limited exceptions: true stormwater, permitted NPDES discharges, diverted stream flows, dechlorinated pool water that is pH-neutral and free of algaecide or filter backwash (saline pool water must instead go to the sanitary sewer with desalination and city notice), air-conditioning condensate directed to landscaped areas, and residential vehicle washing directed to pervious surfaces when feasible.

Under § 22-26, the director can require any business with outdoor maintenance, storage, manufacturing, vehicle loading or cleanup activity to prepare a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) with an employee training component. Parking lot and impervious-surface owners must sweep frequently so residue never enters a gutter; no vehicle leaking oil or fluids may be parked on a public street; trash, recycling, and organic-waste storage must sit in a roofed, four-sided enclosure with a grade break at the entrance and no storm drain inlet inside it, and dumpster lids must stay closed when not in use.

Construction sites are barred from discharging retained stormwater exceeding 500 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), and dischargers under any general NPDES industrial, construction, or dewatering permit must comply with all of that permit's terms. Section 22-27 requires anyone who learns of a pollutant release that could reach the MS4 to immediately contain it and notify the city as soon as practical. Section 22-29 requires owners of priority development projects to record a stormwater control facility maintenance agreement with the city, binding on their heirs and successors, before occupancy is granted.