The Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP)  has several upcoming paint-related events and trainings:

Industrial paint webinar series: The webinars offer short presentations on changes you can make to improve your painting processes, by industry practitioners and suppliers with first-hand experience to share. Remaining sessions:

Wednesday, February 18, 2015, 1:00 - 1:45 p.m. – Powder Coating Considerations - Will it work for you? Can you make the system more efficient?

Minnesota Paint and Powder Coating Expo: The Expo will include a vendor show and hands-on demonstrations and technical seminars related to new technologies and processes, powder and liquid coating, cleaning pretreatment, cost savings, waste reduction, energy conservation, coating optimization, and case studies.

Wednesday and Thursday, March 18-19, 2015, Century College, White Bear Lake.

In conjunction with the Expo, the Iowa Waste Reduction Center will provide industrial painter training on March 18 at the Expo location. Trainers will work with attendees to improve finishing techniques on virtual reality spray equipment. Two half-day sessions are planned, so sign up for a morning or afternoon class. The training will cover the fundamentals of spray application and focus on best practices to optimize spray technique to improve productivity, reduce rework and defects, and decrease air emissions.  Registration and updates for both the expo and painter training can be found on the expo’s website. 

It’s time for the annual industrial stormwater permit Annual Report requirement. The 2014 Annual Report is now available, which is due March 31, 2015 for general permit holders.

Individual wastewater permittees: read your permit language for your due date as they vary by facility. This requirement is for permittees only; it is not required of no exposure certifiers.

The Industrial Stormwater Permit requires employee training. As a courtesy, the Minnesota Erosion Control Association is offering training for industrial stormwater permittees, consultants, local government/watershed districts and interested others. This opportunity is open for registration:

MECA Conference, pre-conference training-

Tuesday, March 10, 2015, 10 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., Duluth Convention Center, Duluth MN.  View and download the registration form.  

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today its proposal for a revised National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground-level ozone. EPA proposes to strengthen the standard to within a range of 65 to 70 parts per billion (ppb), while taking comments on a level as low as 60 ppb. A 90-day public comment period on the proposal will open once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, probably in the next few weeks. EPA plans to finalize the standard in the fall of 2015. More information is available on the EPA’s website.

Minnesota is in danger of violating these new standards depending on where the final standard is set. The MPCA has taken steps to voluntarily lower VOC emissions in an effort to stay in compliance and avoid costly regulations. More than $400,000 was awarded in grant funding for small businesses. Trainings and webinars are being held to help businesses lower their VOC emissions and save money. Visit the MPCA’s small business VOC reduction webpage for more information on what businesses can do.

This workshop is beginning-level training designed for operators of businesses that generate a hazardous waste, permitted facilities, consultants, local units of government, and anyone else who may need to understand how to comply with the Minnesota hazardous waste rules. During the training session, MPCA staff will explain the 10 steps to compliance.

Fee: $80

April 14, 2015, MPCA Brainerd regional office,7678 College Road, Ste. 105, Baxter, MN 

September 17, 2015, MPCA Mankato regional office, 12 Civic Center Plaza, Ste. 2165, Mankato, MN

Registration contact: Diane Belanger at 651-757-2072

High-level overview training is also offered online to make it more accessible. Note: it is a high-level overview and may not include all regulations that are specific to your facility. Online Training Directions - 10 Steps to Hazardous Waste Compliance

What you or a contractor put on paved parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks around your facility can have a big impact on water quality.  Whether its seal coat applied to asphalt, or salt spread to prevent ice, storm and melt water carry the resulting contaminants to surrounding soil and water.

Coal tar-based pavement seal coats contain very high levels of cancer-causing chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which evaporate, run off, and then build up in ponds or lakes. These products have been applied to asphalt driveways, parking lots, and some recreational trails to protect the underlying asphalt. The chloride in winter salt contaminates ponds, lakes, and streams, and affects aquatic life.

Cleaning up these pollutants is costly for your community and its taxpaying businesses and residents. MPCA is promoting voluntary use of better salt-spreading practices and has enacted a recent ban on seal coat use.

The Minnesota Legislature banned the sale and use of coal tar-based sealants on January 1, 2014. For more information, go to the MPCA sealant webpage

For Property Managers: Salt application

Properly-trained and certified contractors can reduce excessive application of salt around your facility in the winter. For more information please refer to the MPCA road salt webpage, click on the “education/resources” tab and scroll down to watch the “Winter Maintenance Training for Small Sites” video. If you hire out snow removal on your property, choose a contractor who is certified by the state in snow and ice control best practices or encourage them to become certified. Certified practitioners may found at Road Salt Applicators Training Certificate Holders (PDF Version) (January 2015).