MPCA certification helps your organization get smarter on salt use

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

MPCA certification helps your organization get smarter on salt use

How well do you know your organization's salt use and any likely savings from new practices?

You have a chance to attend an upcoming online MPCA Smart Salting Assessment tool Level 2 Certification on May 20, 2020 from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

The MPCA Smart Salting Assessment tool (SSAt) is for anyone hoping to track their salt use and take steps to reduce it:

  • Public and private organizations engaged in winter maintenance
  • Winter maintenance leadership
  • Public works managers, supervisors and lead staff
  • Local governments
  • Small business owners

The SSAt creates a personalized, detailed assessment of your winter maintenance practices. It examines bare and non-bare surfaces:

  • Level of service expectations
  • Past, present, and future winter maintenance practices
  • Salt and cost savings

Learn to use the tool through our new online format to create current and future practices reports for internal training, budgeting, and communicating with those who fund maintenance work. The tool will help your organization reduce salt use and apply salt efficiently.

For permittees regulated under the MS4 General Permit, this is a great opportunity to learn the impacts of salt on Minnesota’s water resources and how the SSAt can help guide your organization to reduce salt use safely. The next MS4 General Permit will include specific chloride reduction activities that permittees must implement such as educating their communities on the impacts of chloride, annually training staff who perform winter maintenance duties, store their de-icing salt properly, and other specifics that will be discussed in the training class. In addition, some permittees must also conduct an annual assessment of their winter maintenance operations to assist in identifying opportunies to reduce the amount of deicing salt applied to the permittee owned/operated surfaces and improve BMPs. These permittees may use the SSAt to accomplish this new requirement. This is a great chance to be a step ahead on your regulatory obligations.

The host is not charging a fee for this 4 hour online training, but registration is required. Small class size, other winter maintenance professionals in class and ample help ensures a positive training experience. You will earn your certificate once you submit your final assessments to the MPCA through the tool.

Email environ@co.dakota.mn.us or call 952-891-7000. Directions on how to participate online will be emailed after you register.