Palm Beach Gardens, FL Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

The city's stormwater system, defined in Section 74-61 as the conveyances the city owns for collecting, storing, and transporting stormwater, is protected by a general illicit-discharge ban. Section 74-64(a) prohibits any discharge into the system that violates federal, state, county, municipal, or other law, rule, regulation, or permit, and lets the director of public works, the section's named "director," impose stormwater quality limits on sites of industrial activity through permits. Section 74-65(a) goes further, banning any discharge to the system that is not composed entirely of stormwater unless it falls under a listed exception, such as firefighting flows, potable water line flushing, landscape irrigation runoff, or dechlorinated pool water, or is authorized by a valid NPDES permit. Subsection (b) separately bans discharges containing sewage or industrial waste outright.

Enforcement runs through Section 74-62: a violation is subject to injunctive relief where necessary to protect public health, safety, or welfare, and each day a violation continues is a separate offense. The director can issue notices of violation, file court actions, or refer a case to the code enforcement board. Authorized officials can also inspect any property, building, or facility under Section 74-63 whenever there is reasonable cause to believe a violation exists, including monitoring discharges from sites of industrial activity and requiring periodic reports. A related illicit-connection ban in Section 74-65(d) applies retroactively to any connection to the stormwater system made in the past, regardless of whether it was permitted when built.