SWPPP training is required for all employees who work in areas where industrial activities or material handling activities are exposed to storm water

Common requirements for coverage under an industrial storm water permit include development of a written storm water pollution prevention plan, implementation of control measures, and submittal of a request for permit coverage, usually referred to as the Notice of Intent or NOI. The SWPPP is a written assessment of potential sources of pollutants in storm water runoff and control measures that will be implemented at your facility to minimize the discharge of these pollutants in runoff from the site. These control measures include site-specific best management practices (BMPs), maintenance plans, inspections, employee training, and reporting. The procedures detailed in the SWPPP must be implemented by the facility and updated as necessary, with a copy of the storm water pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) kept on-site. The industrial storm water permit also requires collection of visual, analytical, and/or compliance monitoring data to determine the effectiveness of implemented BMPs.

SWPPP training is required for all employees who work in areas where industrial activities or material handling activities are exposed to storm water. These employees include inspectors, maintenance personnel, and all members of your Pollution Prevention Team. The training session or sessions are expected to cover the contents of the facility SWPPP, control measures implemented to achieve compliance with applicable discharge requirements, spill containment and cleanup procedures, maintenance, monitoring, inspection, planning, reporting, and documentation requirements.

Customize the employee SWPPP training to the issues at your facility, and ensure that employees are trained on the control measures they are expected to implement. Among the topics you cover in your SWPPP training should be some of the basic principles of storm water management. For example, you should convey that:

 • Storm water pollution occurs when rainfall runoff picks up pollutants from the ground or areas exposed to rainfall.

• Polluted storm water can cause significant water quality problems, such as fish kills and drinking water contamination. Storm water runoff is typically discharged directly to receiving waters, and is not treated somewhere else, like at a wastewater treatment plant.

• Potential storm water pollutants should be kept inside or under cover whenever possible.

• The best way to prevent storm water problems is through general good housekeeping practices. A clean and organized facility will usually have very few storm water problems.

• If anyone sees any potential storm water problems, they should report it to the facility operator or a member of the storm water pollution prevention team.

Author - Bio

EPA recommends that SWPPP training be conducted for any applicable employees at least annually and whenever a new employee starts who meets the description above. You should have a sign-in/sign-out sheet at each training class to document that employees have participated. Keep the sign-in/sign-out sheet with your storm water pollution prevention plan (SWPPP). At Quest Consultants our SWPPP Professionals assist our clients in better understanding all aspects of SWPPP management through onsite training and education services.  The purpose of our training is to help prepare and inform clients on the required information and tasks needed to be NPDES SWPPP compliant. For more information, visit http://www.questepa.com.