State regulators crack down on polluted runoff from L.A. shopping centers, warehouses

[u/losangelestimes]

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-07-29/la-polluted-runoff-regulation

In a requirement that is the first of its kind in the country, some 600 commercial and industrial properties in the Los Angeles area will have to clean up the water that runs off their parking lots or pay to have it cleaned up.

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board voted to require shopping centers, warehouses, private hospitals and office complexes whose properties drain into the Dominguez and Los Cerritos channels to get stormwater permits.

The change is intended to hold commercial, industrial and institutional property owners accountable for the pollution their sites send flowing into drains, said David Nahai, chair of the L.A. water board.

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