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Minnesota Stormwater Manual

Smart Salting (S2) training information
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Did you ever think about what happens to the tons of salt that goes on our roads, parking lots, and sidewalks each winter? Most of it ends up in our lakes, streams, wetlands, and groundwater. As a result, clean water in Minnesota is in jeopardy.

The MPCA’s Smart Salting trainings provide suggestions to improve operator effectiveness and for reducing chloride pollution while keeping the roads, parking lots, and sidewalks safe. Many organizations that have participated in the Smart Salting training have been able to reduce their salt use by 30-70%!

Learn how you and your organization can become Smart Salting certified.

Because of the initial success of the pilot project, Fortin Consulting has received a 319 grant to conduct additional training sessions in Minnesota. The following training schedule is changed periodically as training events are completed/added.

Updated training schedule for Level 1 and 2 attached

MPCA Smart Salting Level 1 Certification: Snow and ice control best practices

Through education and outreach, applicators of road salt can learn best practices and significantly reduce their use while maintaining road safety. There are two types of Smart Salting Level 1 training classes. The first is for high/low speed snowplow drivers (roads class), and the second is for anyone maintaining private/public walkways and/or parking lots and service roads (parking lot/sidewalk class).

Who should participate?

  • State, city and county road maintenance staff
  • Contractors
  • Staff maintaining private/public walkways and/or parking lots
  • Property managers writing contracts, distributors of anti-icing/de-icing products
  • Other snowplow drivers—those who make it happen

Why Is it important? This class will help:

  • Save you money
  • Keep our parking lots and sidewalks safe
  • Protect our water
  • Get you certified

Level 1 - Training schedule

The following training schedule is changed periodically as training events are completed/added.

Because of the expanded training schedule, we no longer maintain the schedule in the stormwater manual. The training calendar can be accessed here.

  • File:Winter Parking Lot and Sidewalk Maintenance.pdf (October 2010) - applicators attending training will be given a clip board containing critical information. The hope is that this clip board will be a useful tool for applicators to keep in there their vehicles during storm events.

MPCA Smart Salting Level 2 Training

Audience: Winter maintenance supervisors and leadership

Purpose:

  • Explore the Winter Maintenance Assessment tool (WMAt) with guided instruction
  • Demonstrate how the WMAt can be used to assist with planning and prioritizing implementation of salt reducing BMPs
  • Show how the WMAt can help organizations show progress already made and additional opportunities for reducing salt use to improve water quality and potentially save money
  • Discuss how the WMAt can be used to gain support from the public, local decisions makers, and others to implement salt reducing BMPs

Level 2 - Training schedule

The following training schedule is changed periodically as training events are completed/added.

Because of the expanded training schedule, we no longer maintain the schedule in the stormwater manual. The training calendar can be accessed here.

Smart Salting Level 2 Voluntary Certification

This is an organizational certification. This means a private or public entity. The organization can include one assessment submittal for the whole organization or multiple submittals for an organization as long as each submittal has a unique address (e.g. the City of Medina, MNDOT’s Plymouth truck station).

To become Smart Salting Level 2 certified an organization must:

  • Use the WMAt to complete the BMP and salt savings assessments for the most recent fully completed winter maintenance season. For example, if you are filling out the BMP and salt savings assessment report on January 1, you will have to answer based on the previous season.
  • Submit the following items to MPCA:
    • Application sheet for Smart Salting Level II Certification
    • Summary of BMP question responses for current report
    • BMP question responses: Summary Charts Report, and
    • Salt Savings Summary 1 Report.

Reports should be for at least current and future time periods and include all of the surface type(s) in which you are involved, not a separate report for each surface type.

  • Submit reports to:
    • Email Brooke Asleson
    • Mail to:
      • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
      • Attn: Andy Ronchak
      • 520 Lafayette Road N
      • St. Paul, MN 55155-4194


Related Documents:

It does not matter what the reports say, you can have poor practice, and you may have increased salt use. Becoming Smart Salting Level 2 Certified does not require you or people from your organization to be Level 1 certified. You do not need to attend a Level 2 training to become Level 2 certified.

What will MPCA do for you?

  • Post your organizations name as being Level 2 certified on the MPCA website
  • Send you a certification by email to be printed out or by mail

Please note: The organization certification period will be indefinite as long as the organization updates and resubmits the Best Management Practices and Salt Savings reports. We are hoping for a shift in positive practices and salt savings, depending on where you are in your operations this may or may not be possible. You may want to comment on your situation. If you have any salt saving numbers from a change in practice, please share to help make the tool the best it can be.

Model Snow and Ice Policies

Example Snow and Ice Policies


Additional Winter Maintenance Resources

Related pages

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