Environmental Rules in Pennsylvania (2026)

The Pennsylvania Storm Water Management Act (Act 167 of 1978) requires counties to prepare watershed-based stormwater…

Bensalem Township regulates stormwater under Chapter 196, requiring a site plan and permit for most land development…

In Bristol Township, Bucks County, Chapter 173 requires regulated activities in the Delaware River South Watershed to…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, regulated activities need an approved stormwater management (SWM) site plan…

In Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, no regulated activity may begin until the township approves a…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, no regulated activity can start until the Township issues written…

Scranton's Stormwater Management Ordinance, Chapter 405 Part 3, requires an approved SWM site plan before most…

Abington Township requires a written stormwater management (SWM) site plan approval before subdivision, building…

Every Allegheny County subdivision or land development affecting stormwater runoff must include a management plan…

Allentown regulates land development, subdivision, and new impervious surfaces over 10,000 sq ft under Chapter 538…

Bethlehem regulates land development, subdivision and earth-moving activity across its Lehigh River, Catasauqua Creek…

Chapter 26, Part 1 of the Bristol Borough Code, the Bristol Borough Stormwater Management Ordinance, regulates land…

Delaware County's stormwater chapter is the 1989 Ridley Creek ordinance: it applies only inside the Ridley Creek…

Erie regulates stormwater runoff and land-disturbing construction under Article 946, the Stormwater Quality Management…

Franklin Township's Stormwater Management Ordinance, Chapter 19 (Ord. 2023-01, 4/19/2023), regulates new development…

Lehigh County's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance requires a site drainage plan for every covered subdivision…

Chapter 121 requires every land development, subdivision, new building, or added impervious surface in Lower Merion…

In Lower Paxton Township, Pennsylvania, a Township stormwater management permit is required for 5,000 square feet or…

Pennsylvania's Stormwater Management Act (Act 167) drives Monroe County's rules: the county adopts watershed plans and…

Development in Penn Hills cannot increase peak stormwater discharge rates: post-development runoff for the 1- through…

Any zoning or building permit for earth-disturbing development in Philadelphia requires Water Department approval of a…

Pittsburgh requires a City-approved SWM Site Plan before any project disturbs 10,000+ sq ft of earth or adds 5,000+ sq…

Pottstown regulates stormwater runoff under the Borough of Pottstown MS4 Stormwater Management Ordinance, Chapter 9…

Reading regulates stormwater under its Watershed Stormwater Management Ordinance, Chapter 505, which applies to…

Upper Darby Township requires an approved Stormwater Management (SWM) site plan under Chapter 465 before any regulated…

Before any grading, excavating or vegetation removal begins on a proposed Bensalem subdivision or land development…

Bethlehem requires an approved Erosion and Sediment Control Plan before any regulated earth-disturbance activity can…

In Bristol Township, Bucks County, regulated activities in the Delaware River South Watershed cannot start until the…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, earth disturbance requires written erosion and sediment control plans, plan…

Abington Township's Stormwater Management Ordinance requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan for…

When a municipality has no grading ordinance of its own, Allegheny County's subdivision code sets fallback grading…

Any land development in Allentown that exceeds the code's disturbance thresholds needs an approved erosion and sediment…

Bristol Borough requires a plan showing how erosion and sediment will be controlled whenever land is permanently…

Delaware County's subdivision ordinance does not set its own numeric erosion and sediment control standards; it sends…

Every major subdivision built in the City of Erie needs a soil erosion and sedimentation control plan before grading…

Franklin Township bars any regulated construction activity from starting until the applicant documents an erosion and…

In Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, anyone who grades, fills, strips or paves land needs a permit…

Lehigh County's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance bars earth-moving or soil disturbance on covered projects…

Lower Merion Township caps bare, unvegetated ground during construction at 25% of the site and requires stabilization…

In Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, any earth disturbance over 5,000 square feet (agriculture excepted) needs an…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, every development site needs an erosion and sedimentation plan…

Monroe County's steep Pocono slopes make grading and drainage high-stakes. Townships require grading and erosion…

Construction and other earth-disturbing work in the Municipality of Penn Hills must use erosion and sediment control…

Before Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections will issue a building permit for site clearing, grubbing…

Pittsburgh requires erosion and sediment control BMPs on every earth-disturbance activity under its Stormwater…

Pottstown requires a grading permit before any construction, land disturbance or drainage change on more than 499…

Reading requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan before any regulated earth disturbance can start, tying…

Scranton requires erosion and sediment control best management practices on every earth-disturbing construction site…

Before any earth disturbance begins, Upper Darby Township requires a PADEP-approved erosion and sediment control plan…

Monroe County has no coast; the analog is the Delaware River and its creeks. Pennsylvania's Flood Plain Management Act…

The Pennsylvania Floodplain Management Act (Act 166 of 1978) requires identified flood-prone municipalities to adopt…

In Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, no construction, development, fill or other placement of an obstruction can take…

Lower Merion Township overlays a Floodplain Overlay District on every lot subject to the base flood, mapped from FEMA's…

Monroe County's flood history is brutal: Hurricane Diane's August 1955 Brodhead Creek flood killed about 100 people…

Phila. Code §14-704(4) establishes flood protection standards. The L&I Commissioner serves as Floodplain Administrator…

Pittsburgh participates in the National Flood Insurance Program and enforces floodplain development regulations for…

Abington Township regulates development within floodplains and flood-prone areas under Zoning Code § 146-42 of the…

Allentown requires a Floodplain Manager permit before any construction or development in an identified floodplain area…

Bethlehem bans ordinary development inside the Floodway District overlay established by Article 1327 unless the effect…

In Bristol Borough, no one may undertake construction or development anywhere in the Borough without a permit from the…

In Bristol Township, Bucks County, PA, Chapter 68 of the Township Code makes it unlawful to undertake any construction…

Anyone building, filling, grading or otherwise developing land within Erie's identified floodplain area must first get…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Floodplain Overlay District covers every area on the City's Floodplain Map…

Lehigh County's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance bans placing new buildings or structures inside the 100-year…

In Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, no one can undertake construction or development without a permit from the…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, the identified floodplain is every special flood hazard area on the…

Penn Hills bars new construction within 50 feet of any watercourse's top-of-bank inside a mapped floodplain unless the…

Pottstown overlays a Floodplain Conservation District on any FEMA-mapped Zone A or AE area under Chapter 8 of the…

Any construction or development anywhere in Reading needs a floodplain zoning permit from the Floodplain Administrator…

Upper Darby requires a Floodplain Administrator permit before any construction or development begins inside a mapped…

Bensalem Township requires a permit from the Floodplain Administrator before any construction or development anywhere…

Delaware County's Floodplain Protection Ordinance, Chapter 62, blocks subdivision or land-development approval that…

In Franklin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, the Board of Supervisors adopted its Flood Hazard District under…

Scranton requires a permit from the Floodplain Administrator before any construction or development anywhere in an…

Bethlehem restricts boating and docking on park waters to locations the Director designates, and bars anyone from…

Reading's Zoning Ordinance lists boat docks, wharves and marinas as an allowed use only inside the Riverfront…

Private pleasure boats may dock free at City-owned wharves and riverbanks except the Allegheny and Monongahela Wharves…

Allegheny County bans heavy-duty diesel trucks from idling longer than reasonably needed to reach normal operating…

Allentown's zoning code doesn't set a citywide idling limit for all vehicles, but every off-street loading space in the…

Bristol Borough bans running or idling the engine of a parked truck within 300 feet of a residential zone or district…

Bristol Township Code § 129-3 G bars running a stationary motor vehicle, or auxiliary equipment attached to it, for…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the engine of a heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicle cannot idle for more than…

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

Reading limits parked vehicle idling to 15 minutes per hour within 150 feet of a residence when it creates a noise…

Scranton limits how long a tractor-trailer can idle on residential property under its zoning code's vehicle-parking…

Upper Darby's noise chapter bars a commercial motor vehicle from idling unnecessarily while loading or unloading, or…

Philadelphia targets a 30 percent tree canopy citywide under Philly Tree Plan (2023) and Greenworks. Heat Response and…

Any structure in Bethlehem's Flood Fringe District used to produce, store, or maintain listed hazardous substances must…

Allentown's flood code defines the regulatory flood elevation as the FEMA base flood elevation plus a 1.5-foot…

Bristol Township, Bucks County, PA requires new construction and substantial improvements in AE, A1-30 and AH flood…

In Erie's mapped AE, A1-30 and AH flood zones, new construction and substantial improvements must have their lowest…

Lower Merion Township defines base flood elevation as the 100-year flood elevation, and in the Schuylkill River…

New construction or substantial improvement inside an Upper Darby floodplain is prohibited outright unless a variance…

Abington Township's subdivision code defines flood elevation as the 100-year-flood elevation plus a 1.5-foot freeboard…

New construction or substantial improvement in Bensalem Township's AE, A1-30 and AH flood zones must have its lowest…

In Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania, new construction and substantial improvement in the identified floodplain must put…

Delaware County's floodplain code sets the "regulatory flood elevation" at the one-hundred-year flood elevation plus a…

In Franklin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, new construction and substantial improvements in the Flood Hazard…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the regulatory flood elevation is the base flood elevation plus a freeboard…

In Haverford Township, the lowest floor, including the basement, of any new construction or substantial improvement…

Lehigh County's SALDO ties floodplain design to a Regulatory Flood Elevation drawn from the municipal FEMA flood…

In Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, new construction or substantial improvement in AE, A1-30 and AH flood zones…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, new construction or substantial improvement in AE, A1-30 and AH flood…

Penn Hills requires new or substantially improved structures in flood zones to elevate their lowest floor to the base…

New or substantially improved buildings in Philadelphia's flood hazard areas must be elevated above the base flood…

In AE flood zones, Pittsburgh requires new construction and substantial improvements to sit at least 1.5 feet above…

Pottstown requires new construction and substantial improvements in the floodplain to sit above the base flood…

Reading requires new construction and substantial improvements in the Zone AE Without Floodway Subdistrict to elevate…

Scranton's Zoning Code requires new construction and substantial improvements in the AE, A1-30 and AH flood zones to…