Environmental Rules in Wisconsin (2026)

Wisconsin's NR 151 sets statewide performance standards for construction site and post-construction stormwater runoff…

Chapter 24 of the Beloit Code bars anyone from discharging anything but stormwater into the City's municipal separate…

Burlington requires a stormwater management permit from the City Engineer before any land development or redevelopment…

Green Bay requires a Director of Public Works permit before any land-disturbing project meeting Chapter 16's size…

Once a project trips the permit thresholds in Chapter 37, Madison requires an engineer-sealed stormwater management…

Mosinee regulates non-stormwater discharges into its municipal storm sewer system under Code of Ordinances Sec. 68-31…

Outagamie County requires a post-construction runoff permit before any land-disturbing construction, with exemptions…

Wausau requires a post-construction runoff permit from the Stormwater Management Administrator before any…

Appleton requires a post-construction runoff permit before any land-disturbing construction activity, with one- and…

Ashwaubenon requires a post-construction stormwater permit under Section 5-9-771 before any non-exempt land disturbing…

New developments in unincorporated Brown County disturbing 20,000+ square feet of impervious surface must cut…

Dane County requires a stormwater management permit before land-disturbing development that adds 20,000 square feet or…

De Pere bans putting anything but stormwater into its municipal storm sewer system (MS4) under City Code Sec…

Fitchburg requires a stormwater control permit once a project adds 20,000 square feet of impervious surface, involves a…

New development in unincorporated Fond du Lac County that splits a parcel into five or more lots or adds 20,000 square…

Kenosha runs a dedicated Stormwater Utility under Chapter VIII of its Code, billing every property an Equivalent…

Kenosha County requires a stormwater permit from the Division of Planning and Development (P&D) before land disturbance…

The Village of Little Chute funds stormwater and drainage management through a dedicated utility that bills every…

Marathon County requires every major subdivision built on unincorporated land to have its stormwater management plan…

Middleton requires a Storm Water Runoff Control permit for new development that creates 20,000 square feet or more of…

The City of Milton regulates post-construction runoff under Chapter 10, Article VII, Division 2 of its municipal code…

Milwaukee requires a storm water management plan before any development disturbing one acre or more, or adding a…

Milwaukee County bans illicit discharges into its storm sewer system and prohibits illicit connections to it, under…

Neenah requires an erosion-control permit for any construction site disturbing 4,000 square feet or more of land, and…

New Berlin regulates post-construction runoff under City Code § 275-55.1, adopted under Wis. Stat. § 62.234. The…

New Oneida County land divisions crossing a watercourse must include a stormwater easement or drainage right-of-way…

New subdivisions in Racine County must build stormwater drainage facilities sized to hydraulically handle the design…

New development in Rothschild must cut post-construction runoff pollution by 80 percent and control peak flows for the…

Sun Prairie requires a stormwater management permit from the city engineering department before any development adds…

Walworth County's Storm Water Management Ordinance, Chapter 26 Article I, requires a permit from the Land Conservation…

Washington County requires a stormwater management plan for qualifying land development that holds post-development…

Waukesha requires a storm water permit from the Director of Public Works before land disturbance meeting size…

Waukesha County requires a Storm Water Permit before any land-disturbing project on unincorporated land clears 3,000…

Wauwatosa runs a citywide stormwater management system funded by a mandatory quarterly user fee charged to nearly every…

Winnebago County requires an erosion-control permit for construction disturbing 4,000 square feet or more, or moving…

Wisconsin requires erosion control practices on construction sites under NR 151 and SPS 321. State standards apply…

Land-disturbing construction of an acre or more in Appleton needs an erosion and sediment control plan and permit…

Any construction site disturbing one acre or more of land in the City of Beloit needs a City Engineer-approved erosion…

Waukesha County Code Sec. 14-333 requires a stormwater permit before any land-disturbing project in the unincorporated…

West Allis requires a Building Inspector-approved control plan and permit before any construction site disturbs 4,000…

The Village of Ashwaubenon regulates erosion and sediment control on every construction site under Section 5-9-770…

Land-disturbing construction or grading in unincorporated Brown County needs a Chapter 40 permit and $100 fee from the…

Burlington requires a City Engineer-issued permit and an approved erosion and sediment control plan before any…

Development in Dane County that adds 20,000 square feet of impervious surface since August 22, 2001, or that requires a…

Anyone starting land-disturbing construction in De Pere needs an erosion and sediment control permit from the building…

Fitchburg requires an erosion control permit before almost any real land disturbance: more than 4,000 square feet, more…

Land-disturbing construction on 4,000 square feet or more of unincorporated Fond du Lac County requires an erosion and…

Green Bay requires permitted construction sites to cut sediment-laden runoff by 80 percent under an approved erosion…

Kenosha requires an Erosion Control Permit before any land-disturbing construction activity begins, and no Building…

Little Chute requires a permit and an approved erosion and sediment control plan before any land-disturbing…

Madison requires an erosion control permit before most land-disturbing activity of 4,000 square feet or more, or that…

Marathon County requires developers disturbing more than one acre during a land division to prepare a DNR-approved soil…

Middleton requires an Erosion Control Plan and land disturbing permit for construction disturbing more than 4,000…

Milton requires a city permit and an erosion and sediment control plan before land-disturbing construction of one acre…

Milwaukee requires a city permit before filling or grading any lot beyond 100 cubic yards, and bars blocking natural…

City of Mosinee requires a permit and city-approved erosion and sediment control plan before any land-disturbing…

Neenah requires new subdivision lots to grade so runoff flows to a right-of-way, drainage way or storm sewer, with…

New Berlin requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan and City permit before any covered land-disturbing…

Every new Oneida County land division must be designed to minimize soil erosion and manage surface water drainage under…

Filling or grading near a navigable water in unincorporated Outagamie County needs a county permit once it crosses…

Racine County requires engineer-prepared erosion and sedimentation control plans, reviewed by the Land Conservation…

Rothschild requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan and a permit from the Administrator of Public Works…

Sun Prairie requires an erosion control permit before disturbing 4,000 square feet or more of land, grading on slopes…

Walworth County requires a construction site erosion and sediment control permit before most land-disturbing…

Washington County requires an erosion and runoff control permit before any land-disturbing construction activity that…

Waukesha requires an erosion control plan for qualifying land-disturbing construction, capping sediment discharge at 5…

Wausau requires an erosion and sediment control permit before any land-disturbing construction, enforced by the city's…

Wauwatosa requires an erosion control permit and plan for any land-disturbing construction activity of 4,000 square…

Winnebago County requires a stormwater management permit before grading or land development that disturbs one acre or…

Wisconsin's NR 115 sets minimum shoreland zoning standards along navigable waters, and the Public Trust Doctrine…

Wisconsin requires every county, city, and village with mapped floodplains to adopt floodplain zoning meeting NR 116…

The City of Appleton participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and regulates floodplain development…

The Village of Ashwaubenon Floodplain Zoning Ordinance is Chapter 14 of the Municipal Code, adopted under Wis. Stat…

Brown County Code Chapter 23 (Floodplains), revised 02-15-2023, regulates development in unincorporated areas under…

Kenosha County regulates development in FEMA-mapped floodplains under County Code § 12.37.010, banning virtually all…

The Village of Little Chute participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and regulates floodplain…

Milton (NFIP CID 550026) participates in the National Flood Insurance Program. Floodplain development in Rock County is…

The City of Neenah participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and regulates floodplain development in…

The City of Oshkosh administers floodplain and shoreland zoning within its corporate limits through Chapter 30 of the…

Wis. Stat. §87.30 requires every Wisconsin city, village, town, and county with FEMA-mapped floodplain to adopt a…

Wisconsin Statute 87.30 requires every county and municipality with FEMA-mapped floodplain to adopt a floodplain zoning…

Wauwatosa participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and enforces a Floodplain Ordinance that meets…

The City of West Allis participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and regulates floodplain development…

The City of Beloit regulates development in flood-prone areas through its own Floodplain Zoning Ordinance, Zoning Code…

Burlington's Floodplain Zoning Ordinance divides regional floodplain land along the Fox River into Floodway…

Dane County regulates every Zone A, AO, AH, A1-30 and AE area on the Flood Insurance Rate Map under Chapter 17 of its…

Unincorporated land mapped in the floodway of Fond du Lac County is limited to open-space uses like farming, parks and…

Any structure, fill, or land-use change within Madison's mapped floodplain needs a zoning certificate from the Zoning…

The City of Mosinee's floodplain zoning article, adopted under Wis. Stats. §§ 61.35, 62.23 and 87.30, requires every…

Walworth County's Floodplain Overlay District under Code § 74-173 covers every zone A, AO, AH, A1-30, and AE area on…

New construction in Green Bay's floodfringe must sit on fill with the lowest floor at or above the flood protection…

Milwaukee requires a floodplain development permit for any new construction, fill, or substantial improvement within a…

New Berlin regulates every floodway, floodfringe and general floodplain district mapped on the FEMA Flood Insurance…

Oneida County requires a zoning permit before any new development, repair, modification, addition or use change inside…

Any new development, building repair, or change in use within Outagamie County's floodplain districts needs a land use…

In the unincorporated towns of Washington County, Wisconsin, Chapter 275's floodplain article regulates all land shown…

The City of Waukesha participates in the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program and administers a Floodplain Zoning…

Winnebago County regulates development in the unincorporated area covered by the regional or base flood shown on…

Madison requires Park Commission authorization before anyone builds or maintains a pier, boat hoist, or boat storage…

Within Appleton's Shoreland-Wetland Zoning District, a pier, dock, walkway, observation deck or trail bridge built on…

In shoreland areas along Burlington's waterways, City Code § 315-12.1.B(2) exempts piers, boat hoists and boathouses…

Dane County bars boats from tying up at county-owned piers on navigable waters without authorization, and bars docking…

Anyone building, rebuilding, altering or repairing a dock on Milwaukee's navigable waterways must get Board of Harbor…

Within shoreland areas of unincorporated Walworth County, only boathouses, boat hoists, and piers are permitted inside…

In unincorporated Waukesha County towns where the Shoreland Protection Ordinance applies, marinas and boat liveries…

Building or maintaining a pier, dock, or walkway on pilings within the shoreland-wetland district of unincorporated…

Winnebago County's zoning code sets no dock design standards of its own, a boat dock must simply comply with state DNR…

In the Village of Ashwaubenon's shoreland-wetland zoning district, most new development needs a permit from the Zoning…

Diesel-powered commercial motor vehicles in unincorporated Dane County cannot idle more than five minutes in any…

Madison caps engine idling at five consecutive minutes while a vehicle is stopped, standing, or parked on any street…

Sun Prairie bans letting a parked vehicle's engine idle for more than five consecutive minutes on any public street…

De Pere's zoning ordinance caps truck engine idling at loading docks: every commercial loading space must be posted…

Milwaukee adopted the Climate and Equity Plan in 2023, committing to 100% renewable city operations by 2030 and…

Kenosha County requires the lowest floor of any rebuilt or elevated structure in the floodplain, including the…

Appleton requires new and moved residential structures in the Floodfringe District to set their lowest floor at or…

The Village of Ashwaubenon requires two feet of freeboard above the regional flood elevation on any new home…

The City of Beloit's Floodplain Zoning Ordinance requires new construction in mapped floodway, floodfringe and general…

In unincorporated Brown County, Wisconsin, any habitable structure near a mapped floodplain must set its lowest opening…

Burlington requires new construction in the floodfringe to sit at or above the flood-protection elevation, defined as…

Dane County's floodplain zoning ordinance requires two feet of freeboard above the regional flood elevation before a…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin requires new and substantially improved residential structures in the floodplain to sit at or…

In the floodway, floodfringe and general floodplain districts of unincorporated Fond du Lac County, new residential…

Green Bay bars building the first habitable floor of any structure below the City's current flood elevation and…

Little Chute requires new and substantially improved structures in the floodfringe district to have their lowest floor…

New construction in Madison's AO floodplain zone must elevate its lowest floor at least two feet of freeboard above the…

Middleton's Floodplain Zoning Ordinance requires the lowest floor of new and substantially improved residential…

Chapter 79 of the Milton Code sets a two-foot freeboard above the regional flood elevation as the city's flood…

New construction and substantial improvements in Milwaukee's flood fringe overlay zone must have the lowest floor built…

The City of Mosinee requires new construction in the flood fringe to sit at or above the flood protection elevation…

Wisconsin's mandatory floodplain program requires Neenah's flood-fringe construction to sit at or above the 'flood…

New homes and substantial improvements built in New Berlin's Floodfringe District must have their lowest floor raised…

Oneida County requires two feet of freeboard above the regional flood elevation for new construction in its mapped…

Outagamie County requires two feet of freeboard above the regional flood elevation, the 'flood protection elevation'…

Racine County's floodplain zoning ordinance requires new and substantially improved homes in the floodfringe to raise…

In Rothschild's floodfringe zoning district, new homes and substantial home improvements must have their lowest floor…

In the City of Sun Prairie's mapped floodfringe, new and substantially improved residential structures must have their…

Walworth County requires two feet of freeboard above the regional flood elevation for structures in floodplain…

Washington County, Wisconsin defines flood protection elevation as 2.0 feet of freeboard above the regional flood, and…

New construction and substantially improved homes in Waukesha's Flood Fringe District must have the lowest floor built…

In unincorporated Waukesha County's floodfringe areas, new and substantially improved residential structures must have…

West Allis requires new and substantially improved structures in mapped floodplains to elevate their lowest floor at…

Winnebago County requires new and substantially improved homes in the floodfringe district to sit at or above the flood…