While many companies and government agencies are doing a good job following the Construction Stormwater Permit requirements, we still see CSW permit violations when MPCA staff visit a construction site. Here are the top five noncompliant items we found in 2024.

1. Failure to conduct and record construction stormwater inspections weekly and after a 1/2" rainfall. CSW permittees need to conduct site inspections every seven days and within 24 hours after a rainfall event of 1/2" or more. CSW inspectors regularly review a contractor's inspection reports when they conduct inspections. 

2. Failure to stabilize exposed soils. CSW permittees need to stabilize exposed soils within 14 or 7 days, depending on the site. If exposed soils, including soil stockpiles have volunteer weeds growing on them, they they are often out of compliance. 

4. Failure to install a vehicle tracking BMP.         If vehicles track mud off of a construction site and onto pavement, that sediment can wash down storm drains and pollute local waterways. It can also make roads slippery, leading to a driving safety hazard.

5. Failure to install redundant sediment controls for projects within 50 feet of a public water. Permittees must preserve a 50-foot natural buffer or, if a buffer is infeasible on the site, provide redundant (double) perimeter sediment controls when a surface water is located within 50 feet of the project's earth disturbances and stormwater flows to the surface water. Permittees must install perimeter sediment controls at least 5 feet apart unless limited by lack of available space.

Did you know that chloride from de-icing salt, water softeners, fertilizer and dust suppressants is toxic to freshwater fish, insects and plants and damages our infrastructure? Sixty-eight lakes and streams in Minnesota are currently impaired by chloride. You can check out your local water’s chloride conditions and be a part of the solution by attending the MPCA Smart Salting for Community Leader’s workshop.

Nine Mile Creek Watershed District is partnering with the MPCA Chloride reduction program to offer the free virtual 2-hour workshop. Learn about chloride impacts and action steps for policy changes that reduce salt pollution in your community.

This workshop is geared for:

• City council members, county commissioners, and other elected officials
• Members of sustainability and environmental commissions
• Board members of housing associations, neighborhood associations, or watershed districts
• Other local decision makers

Thursday, April 17 11am-1pm - Register

MPCA's Smart Salting for Community Leaders is an introductory workshop and is not a replacement for the MPCA’s Property Management, Roads, or Parking Lot and Sidewalks Certification Trainings, it does not meet MS4 training requirements. Visit Smart Salting training for more info or contact [email protected] to host a workshop.

Did you miss the MECA annual conference in January? You can find the latest updates about the TMDL portion of the  MS4 annual reporting e-service here: Guidance for completing the TMDL reporting form - Minnesota Stormwater Manual

Link to a copy of the presentation here: https://stormwater.pca.state.mn.us/images/a/a9/TMDL_MS4_Annual_Report_Update_Jan2025.pdf

Any questions about TMDLs and associated reporting? Please contact Anna Bosch at [email protected] or 218-316-3929.

MPCA staff is in the process of moving the Minnesota Stormwater Manual to a new platform. The new website should go live in August or September 2025.

Q:   Will I be able to access the stormwater wiki after the new website goes live?

A:    Unfortunately, once the new site goes live, URL addresses associated with the wiki will be transferred to the new website. This means that the wiki will no longer be available online. But never fear, the entire contents of the stormwater wiki have copied are living safely in a development environment on an MPCA server.

Q:   Will links to my favorite pages in the stormwater manual work with the new site?

A:    Yes/No - Page URLs will migrate along with manual page content; however some amount of content restructuring is unavoidable. We expect that some links to pages or resources in the manual will need to be updated when the new site goes live.

Q:   Should I expect to see changes in technical content when the new site goes live?

A:    Yes/No - All technical content in the stormwater wiki will be preserved, and we may be able to include new content that we are currently developing on stormwater residuals management, Low Salt Design guidance, GSI, and other topics

Q:   How will I find my old favorites on the new stormwater manual website?

A:    The website will have new navigation menus similar in structure to the existing wiki index categories, and the many internal links in the stormwater wiki will largely be preserved. As with the wiki, the new page will also include a key word search function.

The University of Minnesota Erosion and Stormwater Management Certification Program is offering their Regulatory Enforcement class on April 30, 2025 at Glacial Valley Park Building in Cottage Grove. This full-day course provides a mix of classroom presentations and exercises in the morning and field inspection exercises in the afternoon. The course provides a discussion forum for questions throughout the day. 

This course is for people who are responsible for inspecting construction sites for compliance through a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System entity (MS4) and is a great opportunity to "calibrate" with other inspectors, to share experiences and tips, and to meet people who have the same job role as you do.

For more information visit https://erosion.umn.edu/courses-registration/ms4001-regulatory-enforcement

Register at https://learning.umn.edu/portal/events/reg/participantTypeSelection.do?method=load&entityId=51593509 

The MPCA is looking for partners to bring Smart Salting trainings to their staff, community or businesses to learn about deicing salt reduction practices and resources and meet MS4 annual winter maintenance training requirements to protect water resources

The MPCA Smart Salting Training program provides certifications for winter maintenance crews, supervisors and property managers to improve the effectiveness of their winter maintenance activities that keep pavement surfaces safe while saving money and preventing excess salt from entering our lakes, rivers and wetlands. MPCA Smart Salting certification trainings have allowed organizations to reduce their salt use up to 70%.

Smart Salting certification trainings that are available:

• Roads
• Parking lots & sidewalks
• Property management
• Rural roads * available soon.

Smart Salting refreshers for those with a current certification:

• Liquid deicer
• Weather for winter maintenance
• Salt & snow storage
• 101

For training details visit: www.pca.state.mn.us/smartsalting

Trainings can be in-person at your facility, in a community location, or online and we collaborate to choose a date that works best for your organization. We encourage offering a couple of training types to fit the needs of your community or organization. Training is available privately or offered to the public.

Please email the MPCA Chloride reduction program at [email protected] for more information about hosting a Smart Salting training.