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.