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ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Transportation is seeking public comments through Wednesday, Dec. 31 on its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program in Greater Minnesota.
The MS4 program’s purpose is to reduce the amount of sediment and other pollution (e.g., oil, grease, nutrients, salt and pet waste) entering Minnesota waterbodies through storm sewer systems. Agency staff will review feedback and consider possible amendments to the stormwater pollution prevention program.
Stormwater is rainfall or melted snow that runs off and is often routed to impervious surfaces, such as roadways, rooftops, sidewalks and parking lots. These hard surfaces prevent the stormwater from naturally soaking into the ground where the soil would filter out pollutants. As it flows, stormwater picks up pollutants from these surfaces.
MnDOT’s Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program covers six minimum control measures:
- Public education and outreach
- Public participation/involvement
- Illicit discharge detection and elimination
- Construction site runoff control
- Post-construction site runoff control
- Pollution prevention/good housekeeping
One of MnDOT’s MS4 permits covers Greater Minnesota, including Duluth, East Grand Forks, Elk River/Albertville/St. Michael, La Crescent, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, St. Cloud and St. Michael.
Comment on MnDOT’s MS4 program at https://bit.ly/ms4comments. For more information on MnDOT’s stormwater pollution prevention programs, go to https://bit.ly/ms4program.
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www.mndot.gov
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