Monterey Park, CA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing agency
- Public Works Director or designee
- Adopted
- Ordinance No. 2100, 2013
- BMP trigger
- Parking lots with 25+ exposed spaces
- Penalty
- Infraction or misdemeanor
- Cost recovery
- Lien recorded at LA County recorder
Summary
In the City of Monterey Park, Municipal Code Chapter 6.30 bans non-stormwater discharges into the city's municipal separate storm sewer system, the MS4. Adopted by Ordinance No. 2100 in 2013, it lists prohibited discharges, requires best management practices at larger parking lots, and gives the public works director authority to inspect, cite, and recover enforcement costs from violators.
The following activities are unlawful: (a) To allow, contribute to, or otherwise assist in discharge of non-stormwater runoff from private or public property to or through the MS4 unless such discharge complies with the municipal NPDES permit or is authorized by a separate NPDES permit or fully complies with a SWPPP. Examples include, without limitation: ... (13) Throwing, depositing, placing, leaving, maintaining, or permitting to be thrown, deposited, or placed, any refuse, rubbish, garbage, or any other discarded or abandoned objects, articles or accumulations, in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, storm drain, inlet, catch basin conduit or drainage structure, or upon any public or private plot of land in the city, so that the same might become a pollutant, except in containers, recycling bags, or other lawfully established waste disposal facilities.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 6.30 of the Monterey Park Municipal Code regulates the MS4, the city-owned network of storm drains, catch basins, and channels that carries runoff to receiving waters. Section 6.30.030 makes a long list of activities unlawful, including discharging untreated wastewater from auto repair or mobile washing operations, dumping pool backwash, washing out concrete trucks into the drain system, and throwing refuse into any storm drain, inlet, or catch basin. Section 6.30.040 requires industrial and commercial parking lots with more than twenty-five spaces exposed to stormwater to be swept regularly, and requires leaking machinery to be relocated so drips do not reach the MS4.
The authorized enforcement officer, defined as the public works director or designee, may inspect commercial and industrial property, take samples, and require monitoring reports under Section 6.30.080. When a violation is not corrected by a reinspection date the city may recover its enforcement costs, including inspection time, printing, mailing, and attorneys' fees, under Sections 6.30.100 through 6.30.140, and unpaid costs can be recorded as a lien with the Los Angeles County recorder's office and collected through a collection agency. Responsible parties may appeal enforcement costs to the city manager within ten days of a cost summary notice under Section 6.30.170. The chapter's remedies, criminal prosecution, nuisance abatement, and cost recovery, are cumulative and can be pursued together.
Violations & Fines
Violating Chapter 6.30 can be prosecuted as an infraction or misdemeanor at the city attorney's discretion under Section 6.30.090, abated as a public nuisance, or enjoined as an unfair business practice. The city may also recover its full enforcement costs, including inspection, administrative, and legal fees, and place a judgment lien on the responsible party's property through the Los Angeles County recorder's office if costs go unpaid.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Monterey Park's stormwater ordinance prohibit?
Who enforces stormwater violations in Monterey Park?
Can the city put a lien on my property for a stormwater violation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Monterey Park
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Stormwater Management in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Los Angeles County handle stormwater management.