Environmental Rules in New York (2026)

New York Environmental Conservation Law and the SPDES program impose uniform statewide stormwater discharge permit…

Broome County municipalities enforce SPDES MS4 General Permit (GP-0-24-001) under DEC. Disturbances over 1 acre require…

Islip operates MS4 permit under NY SPDES GP-0-15-003. Town Code Chapter 58 requires stormwater pollution prevention…

Mount Vernon is an MS4 community regulated under NYS DEC SPDES GP-0-15-003. City Stormwater Management Program…

Oneida County participates in NYSDEC MS4 stormwater program. Construction sites disturbing 1+ acre require SPDES…

Suffolk County is covered by NY SPDES MS4 general permit. All disturbances over 1 acre require SWPPP; Peconic Estuary…

Stormwater management in Ulster County is regulated by NYS DEC SPDES general permits and local MS4 programs in Kingston…

Westchester County bans any non-stormwater discharge into its municipal separate storm sewer system countywide, with…

Yonkers is an MS4 community under NYS DEC SPDES General Permit GP-0-15-003. Illicit discharges to storm drains are…

Albany City Code § 133-85 bars dumping anything but rainwater into the city's storm sewer system, with narrow…

Clarkstown requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan before approving any land development activity disturbing…

Greece requires a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan approved by the Stormwater Management Officer before any site…

Huntington bans dumping anything but stormwater into the Town's MS4 storm sewer system under Town Code Chapter 170…

Oyster Bay requires a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for any land-disturbing activity of one acre or more before…

Saratoga County bans discharging anything but stormwater into its municipal separate storm sewer system, with limited…

Smithtown requires a Town-approved stormwater pollution prevention plan before any land development activity gets a…

Albany County municipalities comply with NY DEC SPDES MS4 permit. New development over 1 acre requires stormwater…

Amherst requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan before approving any land development activity, reviewed by a…

The Town of Babylon requires land development to meet state stormwater design manuals and bars any increase in…

Brookhaven requires a Stormwater Management Officer-approved pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) before any land…

Every building connected to the City sewer must have properly constructed and maintained eaves troughs and rain leaders…

Cheektowaga requires a Town Engineer-approved stormwater pollution prevention plan before any land development activity…

The Town of Colonie requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan before any land development activity gets approved…

Glen Cove requires a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for most land development disturbing an acre or more under…

Greenburgh requires a stormwater management control permit from the Town Engineer for any land development activity…

The Town of Hempstead bans dumping anything but stormwater into its municipal storm sewer system (MS4) under Chapter…

Rochester and Monroe County towns are NYS MS4 permittees. NY DEC SPDES GP-0-20-001 requires SWPPP for 1+ acre…

New Rochelle is an MS4 community under NYS DEC SPDES MS4 General Permit. Illicit discharge detection and elimination…

New York City requires a stormwater construction permit from the Department of Environmental Protection before any…

North Hempstead regulates stormwater runoff from land development under Chapter 46A, requiring designs that meet state…

The City of Oneida, Madison County, New York requires every site plan reviewed under City Code Chapter 143 to include a…

Orange County bars dumping anything but stormwater into its municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) under Local Law…

No board in Ramapo can approve a land development project until the applicant files a stormwater pollution prevention…

Rochester requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan and City approval for land-disturbance projects of five acres…

Rockland County's Drainage Agency runs a countywide stream maintenance program under Chapter 53 of the County Code…

Schenectady's municipal separate storm sewer system may carry only stormwater; § 148-24 bars discharging any other…

Under Syracuse's Property Conservation Code, every property owner must drain storm water away from basements and…

White Plains is a regulated MS4 under the NYS SPDES General Permit. Illicit discharges to storm drains (soap, paint…

Nassau County's Board of Supervisors may direct the Department of Public Works to build dams, culverts, ditches, and…

New York's Environmental Conservation Law makes it unlawful to discharge stormwater pollutants to state waters from a…

Erosion and sediment control per NY Standards and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control (Blue Book) required…

Clarkstown's Chapter 249A, Article II caps active construction disturbance at five acres at a time and requires a…

Greenburgh's Steep Slopes law bars leaving disturbed slope soil bare and exposed between December 15 and April 15, and…

Huntington requires a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan before any building permit, site plan or subdivision is…

Any regrading, fill placement, wall installation, dumping, excavating or mining in Islip is governed by the Subdivision…

Any land development activity in the Town of Oyster Bay disturbing an acre or more needs a Stormwater Pollution…

Smithtown caps active soil disturbance at five acres at a time absent an approved plan, requires a qualified…

Albany requires an approved stormwater pollution prevention plan with an erosion and sediment control plan before any…

Albany County enforces NYS DEC SPDES General Permit GP-0-20-001 for construction sites disturbing 1+ acre. Erosion and…

Amherst's erosion and sediment control rules bar disturbing more than five acres of a construction site at one time…

Any land development activity in the Town of Babylon needs an approved stormwater pollution prevention plan with…

Brookhaven ties every construction site's erosion and sediment control work to two named technical manuals: the state's…

Cheektowaga caps land disturbance at five acres at a time on projects without an approved stormwater plan and requires…

The Town of Colonie requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan with an erosion and sediment control component…

Glen Cove's stormwater management chapter requires site-specific erosion and sediment controls on any land-disturbing…

Greece requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan approved by the Stormwater Management Officer before disturbing…

Hempstead's illicit-discharge law makes construction-site erosion and sediment control a matter of state permit…

Construction sites in Mount Vernon can't disturb more than five acres at once without an approved plan. City Code §…

New York City requires a written Department of Transportation permit before grading, clearing, filling, or excavating…

Chapter 46A requires an approved stormwater pollution prevention plan before a construction project disturbing…

Any development that needs site plan approval in the City of Oneida, Madison County, New York must submit a detailed…

Grading permits required from Oneida County town code enforcement for cuts/fills over 50 cubic yards in most towns…

Grading permits required by town building departments for earthwork over 500 cubic yards typical. Drainage must not…

Ramapo caps active soil disturbance on a construction site at five acres at a time and forces every regulated project…

Rochester requires a site preparation permit before grading, filling, stripping vegetation or excavating beyond set…

Schenectady bars starting any land development activity without an approved stormwater pollution prevention plan…

Westchester County requires anyone holding an industrial or construction SPDES stormwater permit that discharges into…

When a Yonkers development site has more than 5,000 square feet with a slope over 15%, City Code § 43-105B imposes…

New York Executive Law Article 42 and the Coastal Management Program require state and local agency actions in…

Monroe County has 42 miles of Lake Ontario shoreline. NYS Coastal Erosion Hazard Area law applies. Rochester, Greece…

Hudson River waterfront development in Yonkers is governed by the city's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP)…

Not applicable. White Plains is an inland Westchester County city with no coastline, tidal waters, or NYS DEC Coastal…

New York Environmental Conservation Law and the Uniform Code require all municipalities participating in the National…

Albany County has significant FEMA-mapped floodplains along the Hudson River, Mohawk River, and Normans Kill. All…

Suffolk County has extensive FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas along Atlantic coast, Long Island Sound, Great South Bay…

Any construction, filling, grading or excavation within Amherst's mapped area of special flood hazard needs a…

Town of Babylon requires a floodplain development permit before any construction or land-disturbing work in a FEMA…

Buffalo requires a floodplain development permit for any construction, fill, excavation, or other development in a…

Clarkstown requires a floodplain development permit for any construction, filling or grading in FEMA-mapped special…

Greenburgh requires a floodplain development permit before any construction, filling, grading or excavation in an area…

Any construction, filling, grading, dredging or excavation in one of Islip's FEMA-mapped special flood hazard areas…

Rockland County Code Ch. 353 bars building, filling, excavating or placing obstructions within the one-hundred-year…

Yonkers bars any construction, filling or excavation in a FEMA-mapped special flood hazard area without a floodplain…

Albany's FP-O Floodplain Overlay requires new construction and substantial improvements in FEMA-mapped flood hazard…

Any construction or development inside Brookhaven's mapped areas of special flood hazard needs a floodplain development…

Cheektowaga defines its flood zones using FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps and requires a Town Engineer-issued permit…

Any construction, filling, or land disturbance in a Town of Colonie area of special flood hazard requires a floodplain…

Glen Cove requires a floodplain development permit before any construction in an area of special flood hazard, per City…

No one may fill, grade, build or otherwise develop land inside a Greece special flood hazard area without a floodplain…

Any construction, filling, grading, or excavation within a Huntington special flood hazard area requires a floodplain…

Mount Vernon's zoning code flatly bars new construction in any designated floodplain unless the project first satisfies…

New Rochelle requires a floodplain development permit for any construction or development in an area of special flood…

New York City's Department of Buildings cannot approve construction documents for building, altering, excavating or…

North Hempstead requires a floodplain development permit before any construction, filling or other development in a…

Before any construction, fill, grading, or other development begins within a mapped area of special flood hazard in the…

The Town of Oyster Bay requires a floodplain development permit before any construction, filling, grading or excavation…

Any construction, fill, or other development within a Ramapo flood hazard area shown on FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Map…

Any construction, fill, excavation or other development inside a mapped area of special flood hazard in Rochester…

No construction, filling, or excavation may begin in Schenectady's FEMA-mapped flood hazard area without a floodplain…

Smithtown requires a floodplain development permit before any construction, filling, grading or other development can…

Brookhaven Code § 81-4 treats building, replacing, or removing a dock, bulkhead, or piling within a wetland or its…

No dock, pier, bulkhead, seawall, jetty or other marine structure may be built or reconstructed over town-owned…

Building a dock, pier or wharf in New Rochelle's coastal erosion hazard area requires a coastal erosion management…

North Hempstead requires a Town Clerk-filed structure permit before building, enlarging or altering any dock, pier or…

Smithtown requires a Town permit before anyone builds, rebuilds, removes or repairs a dock, pier, wharf, bulkhead, dam…

Tying a boat to any Town of Babylon bulkhead, dock, pier or wharf requires a permit from the Commissioner of Parks…

Anyone repairing, renewing, altering or building a dock in Buffalo's harbor, or along the Buffalo River, Cazenovia…

Anyone mooring a boat in Glen Cove Harbor needs a permit from the Harbormaster under City Code § 109-7. Permits are…

Before building a dock, pier, mooring pile, spile or bulkhead over, on, into or adjacent to a Town waterway, Hempstead…

The Town of Islip requires a valid permit before anyone anchors, moors, docks or ties a boat at a Town marina under…

Mount Vernon bars new construction within 25 feet of any tidal or freshwater wetland boundary in the city's Chapter 267…

NYC zoning treats a private boat dock or mooring as an accessory use to a home, and caps how much of it can be rented…

Anyone building or modifying a dock, pier, mooring, bulkhead or float on Town waterways in unincorporated Oyster Bay…

Yonkers zoning caps private piers, docks and boathouses on waterfront residential lots: piers may run no more than 50…

Albany City Code bars idling a motor vehicle's engine for more than five minutes while parking, standing, or stopping…

The Town of Babylon caps engine idling on heavy-duty vehicles over 8,500 pounds GVWR at 15 consecutive minutes when not…

Brookhaven's Noise Control chapter caps stationary vehicle idling at three minutes per hour on public streets and…

Broome County's Air Pollution Control law caps engine idling at three minutes. The rule reaches every gasoline- or…

Glen Cove limits engine idling on standing trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight to 10 minutes when they sit…

Huntington's Traffic Code makes it unlawful to park, stand or leave a vehicle idling on any sidewalk, walkway, median…

New Rochelle caps engine idling at three consecutive minutes for a parked or stopped motor vehicle under City Code §…

New York City bars idling a parked, standing or stopped motor vehicle's engine for more than three minutes citywide…

Every use permitted in North Hempstead's Industrial B District must minimize engine idling under § 70-189.2C(9)…

Rockland County bans idling a motor vehicle engine for more than three consecutive minutes when the vehicle is not in…

Yonkers caps engine idling at three minutes for any parked, standing, or stopped motor vehicle under City Code §…

Cheektowaga has no flat clock-based idling cap. Instead, its Noise Law bans stationary idling of any engine, car…

Ulster County caps engine idling at five minutes for County-owned vehicles and personal vehicles on County property: a…

New construction and substantial improvements in Yonkers' mapped Zones A1-A30, AE and AH must have the lowest floor…

Albany's floodplain ordinance requires new construction and substantial improvements in Zones A1-A30, AE, and AH to…

New construction and substantial improvements to a home in one of Amherst's mapped special flood hazard areas must sit…

New and substantially improved homes in Town of Babylon's flood-hazard zones must sit at least two feet above base…

Under Chapter 33, any new home or substantially improved structure in a Zone A1-A30, AE or AH flood hazard area on…

In Buffalo's mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas, new construction and substantial improvements must have their lowest…

Beyond the two-foot residential freeboard standard, Cheektowaga requires flood-zone utility equipment and above-ground…

In Clarkstown's mapped special flood hazard areas, new construction and substantially improved homes must set the…

New and substantially improved homes in Colonie's Zones A1-A30, AE, and AH must have the lowest floor, including any…

Outside Glen Cove's coastal high-hazard zones, new and substantially improved homes in a special flood hazard area must…

New and substantially improved homes in most Greece flood zones must have their lowest floor, including any basement…

In Zones A1-A30, AE and AH, Greenburgh forces new construction and substantial improvements to raise the lowest floor…

Anyone building or substantially improving a structure in a Huntington flood hazard zone must document the actual…

Islip requires new construction and substantially improved homes in FEMA Zones A1-A30, AE and AH to elevate the lowest…

New Rochelle requires two feet of freeboard above the base flood elevation for new construction in its most common…

New York City's Building Code requires new construction and substantially improved buildings in FEMA flood hazard areas…

New and substantially improved homes in North Hempstead's mapped flood zones must sit at least two feet above the base…

New construction and substantial improvements to residential structures in the City of Oneida's mapped flood hazard…

New and substantially improved homes in Oyster Bay's mapped flood zones must have their lowest floor, including any…

New construction and substantial improvements in Ramapo's mapped flood zones, Zones A1-A30, AE and AH, must have the…

New and substantially improved residential structures in Rochester's A1-A30, AE and AH flood zones must have the top of…

New construction and substantial improvements to residential structures in Schenectady's mapped flood hazard zones must…

In Smithtown's mapped special flood hazard areas, new and substantially improved homes must have their lowest floor…