Palm Springs, CA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

70, Stormwater Management and Discharge Controls, adopted by Ordinance 1543 in 1997 to implement the federal Clean Water Act, regulates what can reach the city's municipal separate storm drain system, defined broadly to include streets, curbs, gutters, catch basins and both natural and artificial channels. 050 prohibits any illicit discharge, meaning anything other than stormwater, with a list of exempted routine flows such as landscape irrigation, air conditioning condensate, water line flushing, dechlorinated pool discharges and residential car washing. 060 separately bars discharging waste, yard waste, hazardous waste or infectious waste, or depositing refuse, rubbish, garbage or abandoned vehicles, into the storm drain system or onto any public or private property in the city, except through licensed disposal channels.

080 requires commercial and industrial sites storing hazardous substances such as motor vehicle grease or oil to install spill containment, which the city, county or Regional Board can mandate. The chapter is administered by the Director of Transportation, who can inspect any private premises on 24 hours' notice, or with no notice when exigent circumstances exist, to check for illicit connections, sample runoff or soil, and review a facility's stormwater pollution prevention plan and hazardous materials records. A violator must immediately begin investigating, assessing and remediating any pollutant released, and reimburse the city for its investigation, cleanup and legal costs.

The rule applies citywide but does not reach parcels held in trust for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, whose land is interwoven through much of Palm Springs and is regulated separately from city stormwater code.