Environmental Rules in Arizona (2026)

Arizona regulates stormwater discharges through the AZPDES program under ARS Title 49, requiring permits for…

Gilbert enforces stormwater management through Ordinance 1590 and the Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System…

Avondale bans releasing pollutants into its public storm drain system in amounts that could violate a water quality…

Goodyear bans discharging anything but stormwater into its municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). City Code §…

Peoria bans discharging anything but stormwater into its municipal storm drain system and prohibits illicit connections…

Sedona bans altering natural drainage or dumping anything but clean stormwater into its storm drain system without the…

Surprise bans discharging anything but storm water into its public storm drain system under City Code § 58-491, naming…

Tempe bans discharging anything but storm water into the public storm drain system under Chapter 12, Article VI of the…

Tucson Code § 26-40 bans any discharge that contributes a pollutant to stormwater, including illicit connections…

Yavapai County bans dumping anything but stormwater into its MS4 storm drain system in the urbanized unincorporated…

In Buckeye's Rural zoning district, the Development Code bars grading or building within any natural drainage area…

Chandler requires new development to submit a stormwater retention plan and adopts Maricopa County drainage standards…

Coconino County's zoning ordinance requires a preliminary storm drainage report for any permit that goes to public…

Glendale bans any non-storm water discharge into the public storm drain system unless it's exempted or covered by a…

New development in Maricopa must provide on-site storm water retention as a required public facility improvement, and…

Grading and drainage plans need Drainage Administrator clearance before development in unincorporated Maricopa County…

Mesa's storm sewer pollution ordinance bars anyone from releasing any substance, directly or indirectly, into the…

Phoenix bans releasing anything but stormwater into public storm drains, rights-of-way, or retention basins, treating…

New development in unincorporated Pima County must reduce peak or volumetric storm water runoff, using the county's…

In the urbanized unincorporated county, it is illegal to introduce anything but stormwater into the county's MS4 or…

Queen Creek's MS4 stormwater permit bars dumping anything but stormwater into the Town's storm drains, under Town Code…

Sahuarita requires detention or retention systems for new development that reaches three units per acre, larger…

Scottsdale's Stormwater Regulation article applies citywide, not just inside mapped floodplains, and requires…

Every new lot, plot or parcel in Yuma must hold its own storm runoff on-site: Chapter 192 sets a 8,000-square-foot…

Arizona bans discharging pollutants to protected waters without an AZPDES permit under A.R.S. § 49-255.01. Construction…

Any Avondale construction project disturbing one acre or more of land must prepare and follow a stormwater pollution…

Buckeye adopted the 2024 International Building Code, including Appendix J: Grading, as its uniform building code under…

Chandler subdivision developers must provide proper and adequate stormwater drainage for both graded private lots and…

Coconino County's Landscaping chapter doubles as its erosion-control standard: Section 4.4.C.1.C requires any site…

The Town of Gilbert lets developers start preliminary on-site grading before their improvement plans are fully…

Any Glendale construction project that disturbs one acre or more, or a smaller site that's part of a larger…

Goodyear requires every subdivision's retention basins, channels and drainage facilities to be built to…

Before the city approves any new development, its storm drainage design must conform to Maricopa's engineering…

Unincorporated Maricopa County requires a drainage clearance from the county Drainage Administrator before grading…

Grading on private property in Mesa requires a separate onsite grading permit before work starts whenever the site sits…

Peoria requires a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan before it issues a grading permit for any site subject to…

Phoenix requires a grading permit before any building permit for work in a watercourse, drainageway or flood hazard…

Unincorporated Pima County requires Flood Control District review and approval of a grading plan before any site…

Unincorporated Pinal County requires a stormwater site plan and department approval before disturbing an acre or more…

The Town of Queen Creek requires every construction site to be revegetated with native species after grading, weeded of…

Sahuarita requires every graded site to control erosion during and after construction under Town Code Section…

In Scottsdale's Environmentally Sensitive Lands (ESL) Hillside Landform, Zoning Ordinance Sec. 6.1070.C requires all…

Sedona requires a permit before any grading, excavation, filling, or earthwork on private property, and its Grading and…

Surprise requires anyone conducting significant construction activity, defined as one acre or more of land disturbance…

Anyone doing construction work in Tempe must use temporary and permanent best management practices to keep pollutants…

Any site in Tucson that has been graded must control erosion under UDC Technical Standards Manual § 2-01.11.0: cut and…

Yavapai County's Grading Ordinance, adopted as Ordinance No. 2007-9 for the unincorporated county, requires every cut…

Yuma requires a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan with an erosion and sediment control plan for any site disturbing…

Coconino County is landlocked high country, so 'coastal' rules mean floodplain and watercourse protection. Under ARS…

Arizona statutorily delegates floodplain regulation to counties and flood control districts, setting uniform minimum…

The Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCDMC) manages floodplain regulations for unincorporated areas and 14…

Any construction or development within an Avondale special flood hazard area, including placing a manufactured home…

Any development in a mapped flood hazard zone within Buckeye needs a floodplain use permit from the Flood Control…

Any construction or development inside a Goodyear special flood hazard area needs a development permit from the…

Peoria requires a Development Permit from the Floodplain Administrator before any construction, fill, or manufactured…

Any construction, fill, or development within a mapped special flood hazard area in Phoenix requires a floodplain…

Scottsdale adopts FEMA's flood insurance study and rate maps by reference to draw its Special Flood Hazard Areas, with…

In Sedona's Oak Creek (OC) zoning district, the Land Development Code permanently protects the Oak Creek floodway and…

Any grading, construction, fill, or manufactured-home placement inside a Special Flood Hazard Area shown on Tempe's…

Building, filling, grading or altering a watercourse in a Tucson floodplain or erosion hazard area requires a…

Yuma regulates all construction and land disturbance inside FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas under City Code…

Chandler doesn't run its own floodplain permitting desk. City Code § 43-5.1 hands floodplain management for…

Glendale requires a development permit before any construction, fill, or manufactured-home placement in a mapped…

New construction and substantial improvements in Maricopa's special flood hazard areas must have the lowest floor…

Mesa has left floodplain management authority with the Flood Control District of Maricopa County rather than…

Pima County requires a floodplain use permit for new structures, improvements over $7,500, or any development in FEMA…

Anyone building, placing a manufactured home, filling, or putting up a wall or fence inside a regulatory floodplain or…

The Town of Queen Creek regulates floodplain development by naming the Maricopa and Pinal County flood control…

Any construction or development in Sahuarita's mapped floodplains needs a floodplain use permit before work begins, per…

Surprise did not set up its own floodplain program. The city adopts Maricopa County's Floodplain Regulations and Flood…

Unincorporated Yavapai County defers floodplain regulation to a dedicated agency: the Yavapai County Flood Control…

Unincorporated Coconino County requires defensible space around structures inside the Wildland/Urban Interface whenever…

In Scottsdale's Natural Area Open Space (NAOS), Sec. 6.1100.B.6 allows homeowners in Wildland/Urban Interface and…

Any landscape plan submitted under Yavapai County's Section 547 has to account for Defensible Space, the single…

Avondale City Code Section 23-62(e) caps diesel vehicle idling at five consecutive minutes for any registered highway…

Diesel trucks over 14,000 pounds are barred from idling more than five consecutive minutes anywhere in Maricopa County…

When a large scale retail establishment (over 80,000 square feet) in unincorporated Pima County sits next to a…

Sahuarita bars deliveries, loading, unloading and idling at large retail sites next to homes between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m…

Tucson bars trucks from idling between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. at Large Retail Establishments, stores over 100,000…

Yuma bars idling, standing or parking heavy vehicles, trucks over one-ton payload, buses, motor homes, RVs and trailers…

Goodyear's idling limit isn't citywide, it targets Transfer Company/Trucking Terminal facilities specifically. Zoning…

Sedona lets the city council designate areas where a parked passenger bus cannot run or idle its engine, and once the…

Avondale requires new construction and substantial improvements in a flood hazard area to have their lowest floor…

Yuma requires one foot of freeboard above FEMA's base flood elevation: City Code section 151-04 sets the Regulatory…

New or substantially improved residential structures in Glendale's Special Flood Hazard Areas must have their lowest…

Goodyear defines its regulatory flood elevation as one foot of freeboard above the base flood elevation, and City Code…

New homes and substantial improvements in Maricopa's special flood hazard areas must set the lowest floor at least one…

Unincorporated Maricopa County requires livable buildings to elevate finished floors at least one foot above the…

Peoria's floodplain code defines the base flood elevation as the computed 100-year flood level, then adds a one-foot…

New homes in Phoenix flood zones must sit at least one foot above the base flood elevation, the city's built-in…

In unincorporated Pima County's floodway fringe and other regulatory floodplain areas, Code § 16.26.030(A) requires new…

Unincorporated Pinal County requires new construction and substantial improvements inside a regulatory floodplain to…

Sahuarita's floodplain code sets a one-foot freeboard above base flood elevation as the town's "regulatory flood…

Scottsdale requires one extra foot of freeboard above the FEMA base flood elevation for new and substantially improved…

Sedona requires nonconforming structures that increase flood damage potential to be floodproofed or elevated to at…

Tempe requires new construction in a Special Flood Hazard Area to sit at or above the Regulatory Flood Elevation (RFE)…

In Tucson's floodway fringe, new construction must set the lowest floor, including any basement, at least one foot…

Yavapai County subdivision plats crossing the 100-year floodplain must show the base flood elevation and a regulatory…