STORMWATER CLEANWATER PROTECTION PROGRAM
ACTIONS...What you can do!

Permeable Interlocking  Concrete Pavements (PICP)

• PICP in all exterior hardscape areas is an innovative cost-effective approach to stormwater management. Permeable pavements are an engineered stormwater management system designed to trap first flush pollutants, provide detention under parking lots, promote ground water recharge and minimize land set aside for water retention. 
• PICP can be easily maintained for infiltration and can be removed and reinstated for underground utility repairs or installation of new pipes and lines. Interlocking pavements prove to be less expensive then asphalt over the life of the pavement when the cost of maintenance is included in the cost.
• PICP systems have been approved by the federal EPA as a post-structural BMP in compliance with NPDES Phase II rule.
• PICP can obtain LEED and Green Globes credit to site designs that utilize PICP and it has become a cornerstone of LID design and regulations.
• PICP has been used in Europe since the 1980s and is currently used throughout the country including in Chicago’s municipal “Green Alleys”. It is a superior choice for high traffic areas.
• PICP offers many advantages and benefits over pervious concrete and porous asphalt.
• PICP can reduce temperature and heat and the need for nighttime lighting conserving electricity. PICP can promote cooling encouraging tree growth, and can be made with cement substitutes to reduce the carbon footprint and subsequent global warming.
• PICP can meet ADA design guidelines that require that surfaces in pedestrian access routes be firm, stable and slip resistant and can be colored to indicate pedestrian access routes as well as parking stalls (as well as being combined with traditional interlocking pavements.)
• The Senate Committee on Local Government unanimously approved AB2219 water-conservation measure which gives homebuilders credit during the entitlement process for water-saving measures adopted as part of a new subdivision. Assemblyman Krekorian introduced AB2013 which would require the use of water permeable pavement in any exterior paved surface of a dwelling unit, hotel, motel or lodging house.