NYC Puts AI to Work on Stormwater Permit Reviews

Arcadis and NYC DEP are piloting AI tools to speed stormwater permit reviews in what may be a US regulatory first

2 Jun 2026

New York City is running its first serious test of artificial intelligence in stormwater permitting. Arcadis launched a six-month pilot in April 2026 alongside the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, targeting one of the most labor-intensive stages in any regulatory workflow: screening submitted Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans for completeness and potential non-compliance before human reviewers ever see them. Agency staff retain all final decisions.

What distinguishes this initiative is the evidence it is designed to produce. Born from Arcadis' AI for Water Innovation Challenge, which drew more than 40 internal submissions before narrowing to five funded client pilots, the NYC project is among the first to move into live field testing. Early work has centered on mapping existing permitting workflows, benchmarking multiple AI platforms against agency templates, and sharpening how AI prompts align with DEP's compliance standards.

Utilities facing rising regulatory volume and intensifying climate-driven stormwater pressure have little patience for experiments that stall before deployment.

CEO Heather Polinsky framed the program around accountability. "By co-creating and testing solutions in partnership with our clients, we can turn disruption into a positive force for resilience, efficiency, and long-term economic value," she said.

NYC DEP administers permits under the city's Unified Stormwater Rule, part of a broader flood-resilience strategy for a system already processing close to one billion gallons of drinking water daily. Introducing AI into that environment, even within a carefully bounded scope, signals a genuine shift in how public water regulators view automation: as a practical tool rather than an institutional risk.

More Arcadis client pilots are expected before year-end. Findings from the NYC project will feed directly into guidance on responsible AI adoption across the US water sector, at a moment when the gap between regulatory demand and review capacity keeps widening.