Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition Part 5 Standard Operating Procedures September 26, 2013 Community Innovation Challenge Grant 2013
Dec 14, 2015
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
Part 5
Standard Operating Procedures
September 26, 2013
Community Innovation Challenge Grant2013
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
Objectives of the Task
Original: • Develop a standard approach for actions each
community should be doing to create a “common benchmark”.
Expanded: • Integrated forms into the online mapping and
inspection platform. • Created training presentations on key tasks. • Clarified parts of the MS4 Permit that are tricky to
navigate.
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
SOPs Developed
1. Dry Weather Outfall Inspection*
2. Wet Weather Outfall Inspection*
3. Catch Basin Inspection and Cleaning*
4. Spill Response and Cleanup Procedures
5. Construction Site Inspection
6. Erosion and Sedimentation Control
7. Fuel and Oil Handling Procedures
8. Managing Private Carwash Events
9. Inspecting Constructed BMPs*
10.Locating Illicit Discharges
* = Form has been incorporated into PeopleGIS
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
SOPs Developed (continued)
11. Oil/Water Separator Maintenance
12. Storage and Use of Pesticides and Fertilizer
13. Water Quality Screening in the Field*
14. Municipal Vehicle Washing
15. Private Drainage Connections
SOPs are not intended to replace a Town’s existing program, just provide guidance
where none existed previously.
* = Form has been incorporated into PeopleGIS
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
Table of Contents
shows which SOPs are related
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
SOPs 1 & 2: Dry/Wet Weather Outfall
Goal: Describe process for performing inspections at outfalls (pipes or ditches) during dry or wet weather conditions.
• Dry weather: best for identifying illicit discharges
• Wet weather: best for capturing “first flush”
• Inspection forms incorporated into PeopleGIS; link to Water Quality Sampling (SOP 13).
• Include instructions for collecting a water sample.
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
SOP 3: Catch Basin
Goal: Use catch basin cleaning activities as an opportunity to collect water quality information.
• Quantify volume of material removed.
• Collect water quality information to help identify illicit discharges.
• Evaluate structural and physical condition.
• Connects to numeric goals of pending new MS4 Permit (e.g: sump no more than 50% full)
• Inspection forms incorporated into PeopleGIS; link to Water Quality Sampling (SOP 13).
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
SOPs 8 & 14: Vehicle Washwater
Goal: Inform (or remind) Towns that discharge of vehicle washwater to the MS4 is prohibited.
• MS4 Permit: “individual resident car washing” is OK
• Not permitted:
- Washwater from carwash fundraisers on private property (SOP 8).
- Washwater from municipal vehicles (SOP 14).
• SOPs are realistic; suggest ways to minimize noncompliance.
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
SOP 10: Locating Illicit Discharges
Goal: ID’s can be observed from many activities. Some sources are obvious, but other sources are harder to track.
• Reviews ways to trace illicit discharges to source.
• Move upstream from where ID was observed.
• Incorporates fields for resident complaint or hotline.
• Document, document, document.
• Enforcement suggestions assume that Town has ID prohibition in Bylaw.
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
SOP 13: Water Quality Screening
Goal: WQ monitoring can be expensive. Get the most out of the field kits and meters by knowing how to use them to prioritize where you collect full samples.
• How to select a WQ kits and meters for screening.
• Benchmark field concentrations: how to know when to collect a sample for analysis at the lab.
• How to document screening results and decision.
• Inspection forms incorporated into PeopleGIS; link to SOPs 1, 2, 3, and 10
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
Additional SOP’s
• SOP 4: Spill cleanup; info to be collected in event of a spill; minimum spill materials to keep on site; reviews good housekeeping.
• SOP 5: Instructions and form for inspecting construction sites.
• SOP 7: Guidance for observing delivery of fuels (bulk or drummed) and loading waste oil to prevent a spill.
• SOP 9: Inspection needs for eight common BMPs, from rain gardens to constructed wetlands.
Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition
Additional SOP’s
• SOP 11: Refresher on maintaining an oil/water separator, including what materials shouldn’t enter (detergents) and how to perform inspections.
• SOP 12: How to safely store and use pesticides and fertilizers to minimize stormwater pollution. Reviews MA-specific registration for applicators.
• SOP 15: Similar to the Sump Pump Policy, but for foundation /footing drains and area drains.