The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has created a first-of-its-kind, condensed, online, freely available training course on its industrial stormwater regulations and permitting program. The program, which covers the state’s 2015–2020 industrial stormwater permit, condenses an all-day, in-person training workshop down to about 1 hour. MPCA also still offers and highly encourages in-person trainings, according to the agency’s industrial stormwater training website.

 

Online course

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has released a first-of-its-kind online training module to help permittees, consultants, and other water professionals prepare for the 2015–2020 industrial stormwater permit. Click to access the course. Photo courtesy distel2610/Pixabay.

This is a beginner-level module intended for permittees, consultants, and interested water protectors who are new to industrial stormwater regulations. The course also could serve as a useful refresher for those already familiar with the subject matter.

The module covers eight topics, which include

  • permit and rule history, during which students learn about the history of state and federal stormwater rules;
  • applicability, whereby students find out which activities are required to obtain permit coverage;
  • permit vs. ‘no exposure,’ which teaches students the difference between needing permit coverage or being able to certify for the “no exposure” option;
  • permit requirements, which teaches students about stormwater pollution prevention plan requirements, how to choose best management practices, and how to conduct inspections;
  • sampling requirements, which teaches students how to collect stormwater samples and submit sampling forms;
  • guidance and training, whereby students can access guidance tools and training sessions that the agency has created to help protect Minnesota’s waters;
  • compliance and enforcement, during which students learn about how to stay in compliance with permits; and
  • 2020 permit issuance, which covers details for the next permit issuance.

After finishing the training, participants are asked to fill out a survey.