Richmond, VA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Section 14-333 of the Richmond Erosion and Stormwater Management Program Ordinance makes long-term upkeep of permanent stormwater facilities, ponds, wetlands, bioretention areas, and other best management practices, a recorded legal obligation rather than a one-time construction requirement. Before final approval of a stormwater management plan, the permittee must sign and record in the City's land records an instrument, on the Administrator's current form, that runs with the land, grants access for maintenance and regulatory inspection, requires inspection and maintenance reports, and is enforceable by every appropriate government body.

If the permittee will not own the completed facility, it must obtain that recorded commitment from the future owner instead. The Administrator, the Director of Public Utilities or a designee, can waive the recorded-instrument requirement for facilities that treat runoff primarily from a single residential lot, so long as future maintenance is addressed through some other enforceable mechanism; in that case the City instead relies on periodic inspections, homeowner outreach, or similar tools under its own maintenance strategy, and those lots skip the Administrator's inspection requirement.

For every other facility, § 14-334 requires the Administrator to inspect at least once every five years, and the Administrator can also enter the property at reasonable times to confirm facilities are performing as designed, to enforce the article, or to take corrective action under a performance bond, cash escrow, or letter of credit after proper notice and an unaddressed deadline. The Administrator can also demand any application materials, plans, specifications, or other information needed to judge a discharge's effect on State waters. This maintenance duty sits inside the same permit program that covers erosion and sediment control under §§ 14-324 through 14-332 and carries the same enforcement and fee structure.