Pawtucket, RI Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger threshold
- Over 300 sq ft new impervious surface
- Pollutant reduction target
- 80% TSS removal
- Storm events controlled
- 2-, 10-, 25-, 100-year events
- Daily fine
- $100 per day unrepaired
- Approving body
- City Planning Commission
- Adopted
- Ch. No. 2793, 12-22-2005
Summary
Pawtucket requires a stormwater management plan for development triggering site plan review, and for any project adding more than 300 square feet of impervious surface, under City Code § 410-92.16. Plans must cut post-development pollutant runoff by 80% and control peak discharge through the 100-year storm, per § 410-92.17.
§ 410-92.16. Applicability. ...No person shall engage in land development activities without receiving approval from the City Planning Commission or the Department of Planning and Redevelopment. Development that does not require development plan review in accordance with § 410-15.1, but does increase the amount of impervious surface on a parcel, but more than 300 square feet must demonstrate compliance with § 410-92.19 below. § 410-92.17...A. Performance standards. Stormwater management plans shall incorporate best management practices for water quality control, which in combination are demonstrated to reduce the average annual total suspended solids in post-development runoff by 80%. § ... 410-92.22...may also order a fine of $100 per day that the violation goes unrepaired.
Full Breakdown
Added December 22, 2005 by Ch. No. 17, requiring "best management practices for water quality control, which in combination are demonstrated to reduce the average annual total suspended solids in post-development runoff by 80%," with stricter standards where a project sits in a drinking-water watershed or an impaired 303(d)-listed watershed. Plans must also control peak discharge rates for the two-year, ten-year, twenty-five-year, and one-hundred-year storm events to predevelopment levels, and size conveyance systems to handle a twenty-five-year storm without erosive flows. 19 layers on calculation and narrative requirements, from subbasin impervious-surface area to a full site description and BMP justification.
20 don't end at construction: facilities need a written maintenance agreement recorded in the City's land evidence records, a maintenance schedule naming the responsible party, and regular City inspections.
Violations & Fines
A stormwater facility that isn't built, operated or maintained as approved can draw a written notice of violation; if uncorrected within 30 calendar days after a five-day temporary-fix window, the City may summon the owner to Municipal Court for a fine of $100 per day the violation continues, plus a lien on the property for remediation costs, under § 410-92.22.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Pawtucket require a stormwater management plan?
What water quality standard must a Pawtucket stormwater plan meet?
What happens if a stormwater facility isn't maintained?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pawtucket
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Stormwater Management in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle stormwater management.