Determine whether the bioretention practice must comply with the MPCA Construction Stormwater General (CSW) Permit. Check with local officials, Watershed management Organizations (WMOs), and other agencies to determine if there are any additional restrictions and/or surface water or watershed requirements that may apply.

Warning: If the bioretention practice must comply with the CSW permit, the following prohibitions apply:
  • areas that receive discharges from vehicle fueling and maintenance;
  • areas with less than three (3) feet of separation distance from the bottom of the infiltration system to the elevation of the seasonally saturated soils or the top of bedrock;
  • areas that receive discharges from industrial facilities which are not authorized to infiltrate industrial stormwater under an NPDES/SDS Industrial Stormwater Permit issued by the MPCA;
  • areas where high levels of contaminants in soil or groundwater will be mobilized by the infiltrating stormwater;
  • areas of predominately Hydrologic Soil Group D (clay) soils unless allowed by a local unit of government with a current MS4 permit;
  • areas within 1,000 feet up‐gradient, or 100 feet down‐gradient of active karst features unless allowed by a local unit of government with a current MS4 permit;
  • areas within a Drinking Water Supply Management Area (DWSMA) as defined in Minn. R. 4720.5100, subp. 13., unless allowed by a local unit of government with a current MS4 permit; and
  • areas where soil infiltration rates are more than 8.3 inches per hour unless soils are amended to slow the infiltration rate below 8.3 inches per hour or as allowed by a local unit of government with a current MS4 permit.