Worcester, MA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Chapter Five of the Revised Ordinances of 2008, Sewers and Storm Water Management, keeps the sanitary and storm systems separate and forbids mixing them. Section 17 prohibits discharging storm water, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process water into any public sanitary sewer, and bars connecting any of those to the combined sewer unless the commissioner of public works and parks approves it. Section 18 directs that storm water and other unpolluted drainage go to a drain specifically designated as a storm drain, an approved combined sewer, or a natural outlet approved by the commissioner; industrial cooling water and unpolluted process water may use the same outlets with the commissioner's approval.

Section 12 extends the ban to roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, areaway drains and basement sump pumps, none of which may connect, directly or indirectly, to a building sewer that ties into a public sanitary sewer. Anyone needing to discharge treated or contaminated groundwater or surface water to the public sewer on a temporary basis, such as during a site cleanup, must first get a temporary discharge permit under Section 19, file a written application with supporting plans, have the flow metered continuously and read monthly by the department, and pay a sewer use charge based on metered volume, billed semi-annually; a qualifying groundwater treatment system tied to a Massachusetts Contingency Plan cleanup can get its sewer use fee cut to fifty percent of the standard rate for up to three years.

Homeowners are shielded from personal liability for an illicit storm-to-sanitary cross-connection installed under a validly issued sewer or plumbing permit; under Section 7(b) and (c) the licensed drainlayer or plumber who did the work must fix it at their own expense. The commissioner enforces the chapter through inspection powers under Section 30 and written violation notices under Section 33 that set a deadline for correcting the problem.