Montgomery, AL Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Montgomery City Code § 12-205 bars anyone from spilling, dumping, draining, or otherwise discharging any pollutant, or water containing a pollutant, into the city's MS4 or a watercourse unless it's storm water or one of the section's listed exceptions, such as water line flushing, landscape irrigation, air conditioning condensate, or dechlorinated pool discharges. The same section separately prohibits illicit connections, including a line carrying sewage tied into the storm system, and that prohibition reaches connections made in the past regardless of whether they were once permitted.

Owners and operators subject to an NPDES industrial, general, or construction permit must give the city engineer a copy of the permit, the storm water pollution prevention plan, and all monitoring data submitted to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) under § 12-207, plus a copy of the notice of intent to discharge, mailed or delivered to the City Engineer's office at 25 Washington Avenue or P.O. Box 1111. Operating a facility that discharges storm water tied to industrial or construction activity without an NPDES permit and NOI on file is itself an offense.

The city official can enter and inspect any regulated premises during normal business hours under § 12-208, install monitoring equipment, and, if refused entry, seek a search warrant from the municipal court. Anyone with knowledge of a release that could reach the MS4 must report a hazardous release to 911 and the city official within 24 hours, and a non-hazardous release to the fire department and city official on the same 24-hour clock, under § 12-210. Enforcement and fines run through the same Division 3 that governs Montgomery's erosion-control rules: warning notices and compliance orders under § 12-221, misdemeanor charges under § 12-223, and fines of $60.00 for a first violation and $150.00 for a second within 30 days under § 12-224, appealable within 14 days to Montgomery County Circuit Court.