Environmental Rules in Minnesota (2026)

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency administers the federal NPDES MS4 general permit under Minn. Stat. Ch. 115…

Olmsted County bans dumping anything but storm water into its MS4 storm drainage system and watercourses under Chapter…

In unincorporated Anoka County land within 1,000 feet of a lake, pond or flowage, or 300 feet of a river or stream…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, development cannot send surface runoff onto adjacent property, and Apple Valley…

Blaine City Code § 34-290 requires an approved stormwater management plan for any new development, redevelopment or…

Blue Earth County Code Sec. 6-621 bans discharging pollutants, other than stormwater, into the county's storm sewer…

Brooklyn Park requires a stormwater management plan for every subdivision, conditional use permit or grading permit…

Carver County requires stormwater management plans for new development to control both the rate and quality of runoff…

In the City of Coon Rapids, every parcel pays a quarterly storm water drainage fee under Coon Rapids City Code §…

Unincorporated Dakota County shoreland caps impervious surface coverage at 25% of a lot and requires new development to…

Under Minnesota Statutes Section 444.075 and its own charter authority, the City of Duluth runs a stormwater utility…

New development and redevelopment in Eagan that creates 10,000 square feet or more of impervious surface must retain…

In the City of Eden Prairie, no one may dump pollutants into the storm sewer system or use an illicit connection to…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, City Code section 7-16-3 bans illegal dumping and illicit discharges into the…

Projects in Maple Grove that create or fully reconstruct one acre or more of impervious surface must develop a full…

Disturbing more than half an acre in Minneapolis requires a city engineer-approved stormwater management plan…

In the City of Minnetonka, Minnesota (Hennepin County), Minnetonka City Code § 1205.015 bars any person from…

In the City of Plymouth, Minnesota, City Code Sections 725.14 through 725.17 ban dumping anything but storm water into…

Rochester regulates what may enter its municipal storm sewer system under City Code Chapter 6-4, adopted to meet…

Disturb more than a quarter acre in Saint Paul and trigger site plan review, or clear an acre or more for construction…

Countywide, Section 6.19 of Zoning Ordinance 62 lets stormwater management proceed without a separate permit only if a…

Stearns County requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan for new development in the unincorporated area that adds…

New subdivisions in Washington County cannot increase runoff: Development Code Chapter Three, Section 10.3 caps…

Woodbury bars developing or redeveloping land for residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional use without…

MPCA's NPDES Construction Stormwater General Permit, authorized under Minn. Stat. Ch. 115, applies statewide to…

Anoka County requires a grading and filling permit for any unincorporated shoreland work moving more than 10 cubic…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, construction that disturbs soil needs a natural resources management permit and…

In the City of Blaine, any land-disturbing project bigger than 20,000 square feet must get city approval for a grading…

In unincorporated Blue Earth County, section 24-304 requires an approved stormwater management plan before any new…

Every preliminary plat in the City of Brooklyn Park must address erosion and sediment control: staged construction…

Carver County requires an erosion control permit for any construction activity of one acre or more, or smaller projects…

In the City of Coon Rapids, anyone applying for a building permit, subdivision approval or a grading permit for…

Dakota County requires grading and filling on unincorporated shoreland to expose the smallest amount of bare ground for…

Any land-disturbing activity inside a Duluth shoreland triggers a mandatory erosion and sediment control requirement…

Eagan requires an approved land disturbance plan with erosion and sediment control measures before grading, excavation…

In the City of Eden Prairie, erosion control systems such as silt fence must be installed before any land alteration…

Right-of-way permit holders in Hennepin County must use Best Management Practices to control erosion, sediment, and…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, development must follow erosion and sediment control best management practices…

Maple Grove requires all land-disturbing and land-filling work, including new home lot prep, to be done in a way that…

Minneapolis requires an erosion and sediment control permit for any land-disturbing activity that moves more than 5…

In the City of Minnetonka, Minnesota (Hennepin County), the Minnetonka City Council requires a grading and erosion…

Olmsted County's zoning ordinance limits soil loss from construction and land clearing to five tons per acre per year…

In the City of Plymouth, any subdivider disturbing earth must get an erosion control plan approved by the City Engineer…

Rochester requires a grading permit before any grading work and ties new-building permits to completed erosion and…

Saint Paul requires a grading permit before moving more than fifty cubic yards of fill, and every grading job must…

Any land alteration within 300 feet of a lake or river in unincorporated St. Louis County, whether or not it needs a…

Stearns County requires an erosion and sediment control plan before construction of a new plat, or a commercial or…

Washington County requires erosion and sediment control on construction sites under Development Code Chapter Three…

Every site under active land disturbance in Woodbury must install and maintain erosion and sediment controls under City…

Development along Minnesota's Lake Superior shoreland outside Duluth must meet the standards in the North Shore…

Scott County has no coast. Development near the lakes and the Minnesota River follows MN DNR shoreland rules (MN Rules…

Wright County has no coast. Development near the lakes and the Mississippi River follows MN DNR shoreland rules (MN…

Minnesota Statutes sections 103F.101 to 103F.155 require all communities with mapped flood hazard areas to adopt…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, Chapter 156 adopts the Dakota County FIRM panels dated December 2, 2011 as the…

In the City of Blaine, the Floodplain Overlay Districts under Sec. 125-19 through 125-31 divide the city's flood hazard…

The City of Brooklyn Park regulates Floodway, Flood Fringe, and General Flood Plain overlay districts under City Code §…

Carver County overlays Floodway, Flood Fringe, and General Floodplain Districts on mapped land under § 152.144-152.149…

Coon Rapids regulates the Mississippi River and Crooked Lake floodplains through three overlay districts: Floodway…

Any construction, fill, fence, deck or watercourse work inside a Duluth Special Flood Hazard Area needs a floodplain…

In the City of Eagan, all FEMA-mapped floodplain land falls under the Floodway (FW) or Flood Fringe (FF) overlay…

Hennepin County will not permit a subsurface sewage treatment system located in a floodway, and floodplain siting must…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, land within the FW Floodway, FF Flood Fringe, or GFD General Floodplain overlay…

Maple Grove restricts development inside its mapped floodway, flood fringe, and general floodplain districts to uses…

Building, filling, or grading in a mapped Floodway or Flood Fringe District requires a zoning permit, and structures…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, Section 300.24 of the City Code regulates development in flood…

The City of Plymouth regulates construction, fill placement, and land-use changes inside the mapped Floodway, Flood…

St. Louis County Floodplain Ordinance No. 69 requires a permit from the Director before any building, fence, pool…

Stearns County overlays a Floodplain Overlay District on the floodway, flood fringe and general floodplain areas of the…

Washington County regulates development in mapped floodplains across its unincorporated areas under Development Code…

Woodbury's floodplain chapter applies to any land the official zoning map shows inside a floodway or flood fringe…

In unincorporated Blue Earth County, a zoning administrator permit is required before building, filling, fencing, or…

Unincorporated Dakota County splits its floodplain into Floodway, Flood Fringe and General Floodplain Districts based…

In the City of Eden Prairie, City Code § 11.45 regulates development inside the Floodway, Flood Fringe and General…

Olmsted County participates in the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program and administers floodplain rules through…

Saint Paul's floodplain management overlay, Chapter 68, covers every parcel the FEMA flood insurance rate map places in…

Anoka County has no floodplain ordinance of its own. The County Board repealed its 1980s/1990s Floodplain Management…

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board bars boats from landing, launching, docking, mooring, or anchoring along…

Stearns County caps docks on subdivision common-access lots in its shoreland zoning: Ordinance 439 Section 10.2.12.C…

Docks wider than eight feet on unincorporated Dakota County shoreland need a shoreland building permit from the Zoning…

In the City of Duluth, a resident's own boat dock is a permitted accessory use with no limit on how many boats the…

In the City of Eagan, private seasonal docks on city lakes are limited to one per lakeshore parcel and capped in size…

In the City of Eden Prairie, City Code § 9.60, Subdivision 7 ties every dock, watercraft lift, slip structure, platform…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, Section 300.25 of the City Code permits docks, boat lifts and…

Olmsted County's shoreland zoning code caps water-oriented accessory structures like docks, boathouses and watercraft…

In the City of Plymouth, no one may build, install, or maintain a dock, wharf, or similar structure on park property or…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, piers and docks in the S, Shoreland district are exempt from the ordinary high…

Carver County's shoreland code does not regulate permanent or seasonal docks or private boat ramps. Under § 152.114(C)…

Maple Grove prohibits idling or testing a vehicle engine loudly enough to be plainly audible at the property line or 50…

Minneapolis caps vehicle idling at three consecutive minutes per hour under Chapter 58, with longer limits for…

Saint Paul declared a climate emergency and adopted CARP in 2019, setting carbon-neutrality by 2050 and shaping…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, the regulatory flood protection elevation is no lower than one foot above the…

In the City of Blaine, the regulatory flood protection elevation under Sec. 125-20(d) requires two feet of freeboard…

In the Flood Fringe District, Carver County requires the lowest floor of every structure, including accessory…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, new construction in the floodplain overlay district must be built to the…

In the City of Plymouth, the Zoning Ordinance's Floodplain Overlay District requires new and substantially improved…

In unincorporated Washington County, new and improved structures in the flood fringe must be built with their lowest…

Where floodplain regulatory elevations don't already control, Anoka County's Shoreland Management Ordinance requires…

Blue Earth County requires new construction in the flood fringe district to be elevated to the regulatory flood…

Brooklyn Park's Flood Hazard Overlay requires every structure in the Flood Fringe District, including accessory…

Coon Rapids sets its regulatory flood protection elevation (RFPE) at two feet above the regional flood elevation, the…

In the unincorporated Flood Fringe District, Dakota County requires new structures to be built on non-settling fill…

Anything built in a Duluth floodplain must clear the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation, and critical facilities…

Eagan requires structures in the Flood Fringe District to sit at least two feet above the "regulatory flood protection…

In the City of Eden Prairie, new construction and additions inside the Floodway, Flood Fringe or General Floodplain…

Maple Grove requires new floodplain structures to sit at least one foot above the base regional flood elevation, the…

New and substantially improved structures in Minneapolis's Flood Fringe District must be elevated on fill so the lowest…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, new principal structures, attached garages and additions near a…

Saint Paul defines the 'regulatory flood protection elevation' as at least 2 feet above the regional (100-year) flood's…

St. Louis County sets its Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation (RFPE) at one foot above the base flood elevation, plus…

Stearns County requires new and substantially improved structures in the Floodplain Overlay District to sit at or above…

Woodbury requires one foot of freeboard above the regional (100-year) flood elevation. City Code Sec. 25-6 sets the…