Penn State Extension: Stormwater Training For Municipal Staff, Elected Officials

By Jennifer R. Fetter, Educator - Water Resources

In communities with stormwater permits (MS4), there is a need for everyone representing the township, city, or borough to be able to answer basic questions about stormwater management plans.

Who Really Needs to Be Trained?

In most cases, municipalities limit their training to those most directly connected to the storm sewer systems in their communities. This is often the stormwater manager if there is one, some of the public works department, and the township manager. 

However, there are a lot of other people who have direct connections to required stormwater management plans in regulated MS4 communities (MS4 is the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System.)

-- Front office staff need to know where to direct calls about stormwater issues. This is especially true of spill reports or suspected illicit discharge activities.

-- Emergency responders also need to understand the impacts of spills and other hazards ending up in the storm sewers and how those are regulated.

-- Elected officials, planning and zoning commissions, and more are faced with tough decisions about funding stormwater best practices, appropriate language for new stormwater ordinances, and reviewing potential stormwater impacts.

-- Parks, roads, and grounds maintenance crews need to be able to recognize potential stormwater issues on municipal lands, set good examples through good housekeeping, and answer questions from the public and potential DEP and EPA inspectors about the local stormwater management plans.

Opportunities to Train Staff and Elected Officials

In coordination with Pennsylvania DEP, Penn State Extension has created a series of four online training modules geared directly to your staff and officials. 

This series, Urban Stormwater Basics, is now available to anyone at no charge. 

It can be directly accessed on the PA Clean Water Academy website. Just chose the "Guest Log-In" option. 

Each module is a self-directed, recorded session. There are several knowledge-check questions after each session. 

Participants can then obtain a certificate of completion that can be filed in the municipality’s stormwater records and used to support annual reports on staff training for good housekeeping and illicit discharge plans.

The Modules

-- Urban Stormwater Basics 1 - An Introduction  (approx. 15 minutes)  Learn where stormwater runoff comes from, how it gets polluted, and how it affects your community.

-- Urban Stormwater Basics 2 - Municipal Responsibility  (approx. 15 minutes)  Learn how municipal stormwater is managed and regulated, as well as why this is important.

-- Urban Stormwater Basics 3 - Minimum Control Measures (approx. 30 minutes)  Learn what Minimum Control Measures are and what the goals are for each minimum control measure required in a stormwater management plan.

-- Urban Stormwater Basics 4 - Pollutant Reduction Planning (approx. 20 minutes) Learn what pollution reduction plans and total maximum daily load plans are and what methods can be used by MS4 communities to meet those plans’ requirements.

More Resources

If you are looking for resources to educate your community and the general public about stormwater and related issues, check out our video and article series of a similar name, Stormwater Basics.

(Reprinted from Penn State Extension Watershed Winds newsletter.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

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[Posted: December 16, 2020]  PA Environment Digest