*** PWD’s Updated Stormwater Regulations Effective Today (7/1) ***

Greetings, Philadelphia Development Community:

July 1 signals the start of a new month and a new City fiscal year; more significantly, PWD’s updated Stormwater Regulations go into effect today, accompanied by the release of a revised Stormwater Management Guidance Manual.

PWD’s Updated Stormwater Regulations Now in Effect

Effective July 1, the Philadelphia Water Department:

  • Is exempting Small Residential Development from Post-Construction Stormwater Management requirements. Small Residential Development is a project that proposes less than 1-acre earth disturbance, consisting of buildings used exclusively as one- or two-family dwellings.
  • Has expanded Public Health and Safety (PHS) Release Rate areas. Projects in these updated PHS Release Rate areas must comply with a set maximum release rate for the one-year through 10-year storm events.
  • Now requires the approval of Erosion and Sediment (E&S) Control Plans for projects proposing earth disturbances of 5,000 SF and greater.

To view PWD’s updated Stormwater Regulations, click this link.

Stormwater Management Guidance Manual version 3.4 released

Accompanying today’s updated Stormwater Regulations, Development Services has published the latest iteration of the Philadelphia Stormwater Management Guidance Manual, version 3.4.

The Manual’s most notable updates include:

  • A new map illustrating the expanded Public Health and Safety (PHS) Release Rate areas (link)
  • The reclassification of Porous Pavements to Porous Surfaces
    • Porous Asphalt, Porous Concrete, and Resin-bound Aggregate will be removed from the Manual
    • Permeable Pavers, Reinforced Turf, Artificial Turf, and Porous Play/Safety Surface remain, though under the category of “Porous Surfaces”

These newly added SMPs, as well as the reclassification of acceptable Porous Surfaces, are reflected in PWD’s revised “SMP Hierarchy” below.

PWD’s revised SMP Hiearchy (effective 07.01.2026)

Want to know more? A webinar discussing these changes was conducted May 19th and the recording (approx. 45 minutes) remains available for review (link).

Questions concerning updates to both the Stormwater Regulations and the associated Manual should be directed to Development Services’ Plan Review staff via PWD.PlanReview@phila.gov or tel. 215-685-6387.

Plan Review Portal Updates

In late spring, Development Services updated the Plan Review Portal’s dashboard. Users now see discrete tabs for our three types of project reviews, plus a fourth for sharing files. And all applicants may request a meeting before submitting their project.

Beyond dashboard changes, today the Portal’s ERSA application reflects the regulatory and Manual updates mentioned above. Thus, some residential proposals (i.e., “Small Residential Development”) are now exempted from Post-Construction Stormwater Management requirements. And Public Health and Safety (PHS) Release Rate requirements will be more predictable from the outset for project submissions.

Visit the updated Plan Review Portal via this link.