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Site Outline

The Law

The Clean Water Act

Permits

Fines

The Process

Process & Methods

Best Management Practices (BMPs)

Important Guidelines


 

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Landscape-specific Best Management Practices (BMPs)

For landscape contractors, the operations yard and the construction site are the usual areas of concern.

At the operations yard, the following BMPs are typically employed:

  1. Material Usage: Keeping chemicals, auto fluids, etc. under cover of roof or tarp, elevated if flowing rainwater may come in contact with them, and contained on the perimeter in case spills occur. Having a spill response plan and materials (absorbents) available and staff trained in their use is another part of the BMP.
  2. Waste Management: Proper disposal of wastes, using dumpsters with lids that are kept closed, preventing rain from leaching pollutants from materials stored in truck beds.
  3. Equipment and Vehicle Maintenance: Preventing spills, repairing leaking equipment, etc.
  4. Education is a BMP too: Training your people.

On a construction site that disturbs one acre or more, landscape crews must be familiar with the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and the BMPs for that site. The SWPPP is the master plan and is usually composed of a binder and drawings. The binder will include required forms, site info, inspection reports, responsible persons, all the subcontractors on site, the selected BMPs, etc. The drawings will show locations for each BMP.

If the landscape contractor is the prime contractor on the site, her or she should inform the subcontractors and obtain their signatures verifying that they have read and understand the SWPPP. If the landscape contractor is a subcontractor on the site, he or she should be sure to review the SWPPP permit as well as the existing site conditions before commencing work. In summary, landscape contractors are responsible for their operations; they should be proactive and not assume that others are responsiblele for taking the lead on pollution prevention and permit compliance.

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