Avoid fines and work stoppages, and protect the waterways your community depends on, by implementing and maintaining these EPA construction site stormwater best management practices (BMPs).
Protect Natural Features
- Minimize Clearing.
- Minimize the amount of disturbed soil.
- Identify and protect areas where existing vegetation, such as trees, will not be disturbed by construction activity.
- Protect streams, stream buffers, wild woodlands, wetlands, or other sensitive areas from any disturbance or construction activity by fencing or other clear markings.
Construction Phasing
- Sequence construction activities so the landscape is not disturbed for long periods of time.
- Limit grading to small areas.
- Install key sediment control practices before site grading begins.
- Schedule site stabilization, such as landscaping, to be completed immediately after the land has been graded to its final contour.
Vegetative Buffers
- Protect and install vegetative buffers along waterbodies to slow and filter stormwater runoff.
- Inspect and maintain buffer areas regularly to ensure effectiveness.
Site Stabilization
- Vegetate, mulch, or otherwise stabilize all exposed areas as soon as land alterations have been completed.
Storm Drain Inlet Protection
- Use rock or other appropriate material to cover the storm drain inlet to filter out trash and debris.
- Make sure the rock size is appropriate (usually 1 to 2 inches in diameter).
- Inspect and maintain all inlet protection devices and erosion controls on a regular schedule, and immediately after every rain storm.
Dirt Stockpiles
- Cover or seed all dirt stockpiles to protect them from precipitation.
- Install control berms around the base of stockpiles to prevent the material from migrating.
Slopes
- Rough grade or terrace slopes.
- Break up long slopes with sediment barriers, or under drain, or divert stormwater away from slopes.
Construction Entrances
- Install construction entrances with measures to remove mud and dirt from the tires of construction vehicles before they enter a paved roadway.
- Appropriately mark the entrance so all visiting parties are aware of its location.
- Properly size the entrance and its sediment controls for all anticipated vehicles.
- Regularly maintain the entrance to ensure its consistent effectiveness.
Silt Fencing
- Inspect and maintain silt fences on a regular schedule, and immediately after every rain storm.
- Make sure the bottom 6″ of the silt fence is buried in the ground and install the fence perpendicular to the slope.
- Securely attach the material to the stakes.
- Don’t place silt fences in the middle of a waterway or use them as a check dam.
- Make sure stormwater is not flowing around the silt fence.