Palo Alto staff outline new fats, oils and grease and stormwater rules; secondary containment proposed for fryer oil

City of Palo Alto public works staff told the Retail Committee on June 18 that they will return to the City Council this summer with four ordinance updates to separate and clarify sewer, stormwater and hauled-waste rules affecting food businesses and other commercial properties.

The staff presentation said the package will include a revised sewer-use ordinance (pretreatment), a stormwater ordinance aligned with the Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit, a new fats, oils and grease (FOG) ordinance, and a hauled-waste ordinance for septic haulers. “We’re creating two new ordinances,” Assistant Public Works Director Cara North said, and said the changes are intended to simplify compliance for restaurants and haulers.

Why this matters: staff said the changes are intended to reduce sanitary sewer overflows and prevent pollutants from reaching San Francisco Bay, while giving businesses clearer, enforceable standards. The proposal would change what devices restaurants must install or maintain, require secondary containment for outdoor fryer oil, add trash-control responsibilities for properties with on-site storm drains, and add best-management-practice requirements for mobile businesses.

Key details

- Ordinance package and schedule: Staff said they will bring the full packet to council in August and are requesting comments from businesses by July 15. The four-chapter update will include: revisions to the sewer-use ordinance,…