Smart Salting is a suite of techniques that minimize the environmental and economic impacts of chloride while still meeting public needs. The MPCA offers Smart Salting trainings, refreshers, and a workshop to educate a wide range of audiences about the impacts of chloride and strategies and tools to reduce chloride pollution without compromising safety or public needs.
Salt symposium: August 5
Promote practices that mitigate salt impact and discover state-of-the-art research from around the world.
Host a training or workshop for your organization!
The Smart Salting training program is rooted in partnerships with local organizations to offer trainings.
Whether you want to get your crew trained on-site or want to provide Smart Salting certification training opportunities to everyone in your community, we rely on partnerships to make our program successful. Host responsibilities include advertising the training, providing a venue if hosting an in-person training, and covering a portion of the cost of the training. The Community leaders workshop has no cost share at this time due to support from the Minnesota GreenCorps program.
Choose trainings to host or attend. There are multiple trainings based on work type as a winter maintenance staff, property manager, water softening professional or local decision maker. We offer individual certifications (Level 1) as well as an organizational certification (Level 2).
Training for groups. Planning to register a majority of your crew or groups of 15 or more? Contact the MPCA Chloride reduction program staff to partner on hosting your own training that allows to you choose the venue (online or in-person), dates (in coordination with MPCA) and time.
Contact the chloride reduction program at MPCA to discuss hosting a training or workshop at smartsalting.pca@state.mn.us.
Find and register for upcoming Smart Salting program trainings on the events calendar.
Trainings for winter maintenance
MPCA’s winter maintenance-focused Smart Salting trainings help improve operator effectiveness and reduce chloride pollution by learning best practices, while keeping roads, parking lots, and sidewalks safe. Participating organizations have been able to cut their salt use by 30-70 percent, reducing costs for product and minimizing infrastructure damage. In addition, the training has been shown to prevent chloride contamination in lakes, rivers, and streams.
Smart Salting for Roads or Parking lots & sidewalks certification trainings
Earn a five-year certification for participating in these 5.5-hour trainings and passing the test administered at the end of the training. The trainings are accompanied by the Smart Salting manuals:
What you'll learn:
- the environmental impacts of chloride
- why and how to calibrate equipment
- how to use weather condition info more efficiently
- determining application rates
- best practices for plowing and physical removal
- best management practices (BMPs) for storing materials
- de-icing and anti-icing
- regulatory issues and managing liability
- chloride requirements in the MS4 permit
- educational resources for customers and staff
- success stories
Municipal stormwater (MS4) permittees: Even though these are 5-year certifications, MS4 permittees are still required to meet annual winter maintenance training requirements. Consider attending or hosting MPCA’s Smart Salting refresher trainings to meet this annual requirement in the years between attending certification trainings.
Who should attend the Roads certification training:
- city, county, or state plow drivers
- private winter maintenance contractors and staff responsible for maintaining roads
- those who supervise winter maintenance professionals
Who should attend the Parking lots & sidewalks certification training:
- hands-on public or private winter maintenance staff who maintain walkways and/or parking lots
- parks staff
- private contractors
- supervisors of winter maintenance staff
Smart Salting refresher trainings
Participants must have a current Smart Salting level 1 certification to attend these three-hour refreshers for more details on the impacts of salt on the environment, the fundamentals of Smart Salting, and specific topic areas like winter weather tools, site planning, and liquid deicers.
- city, county, or state plow drivers
- private winter maintenance contractors and staff
- supervisors of winter maintenance staff
This training is designed to meet MS4 annual chloride training requirements but does not extend any certification. A proof of attendance is provided.
Each refresher training focuses on a single topic:
- Liquid deciers offers a closer look at liquids application, conditions, equipment maintenance, brine making and storage. It provides winter maintenance crews a basis to understand benefits, troubleshoot issues, and find opportunities for additional use of liquids.
- Weather for winter maintenance dives into weather, weather-prediction tools, and in-time pavement conditions. It provides winter maintenance crews a basis to develop strategies for product use, frequency, and application rates for each winter event.
- Salt and snow storage covers best practices for granular and liquid salt storage and strategies for snow storage to reduce snowmelt problems. This refresher also covers the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit’s chloride requirements in detail.
- Smart Salting 101 reviews of winter maintenance principles, from understanding maintenance areas to preparing and choosing the appropriate equipment for each winter event, which help crews save time and money and minimize impacts to the environment.
Smart Salting for property management certification training
This training was created to build support with managers overseeing winter maintenance crews implementing smart salting practices and to encourage management to learn ways they can make property improvements and encourage winter maintenance crews to reduce salt use to protect their properties from damage while maintaining safety. This is also a great training for environmental professionals who want to support a reduction in de-icers in their organizations.
Earn a three-year certification after passing the test at the end of this 4+ hour training. The training is accompanied by the Smart Salting for property management manual:
What you'll learn:
- winter maintenance efficiency improvements
- how to save money with reduced salt expenses and less damage to infrastructure and vegetation
- salt and snow storage best practices to reduce chloride runoff
- regulatory requirements and liability management
- managing customer and staff expectations to reduce complaints
- how to protect Minnesota's valuable water resources from the permanent environmental impacts of chloride pollution
Who should attend:
- management-level property managers
- business owners
- private contractors
- environmental professionals
- MS4 permit staff
- public works directors and local government decision-makers
- public and private property owners and managers
- those who hire or supervise winter maintenance staff
Training success stories
In Dakota County, the MPCA and its partners tracked effectiveness of Smart Salting training through two winters. Fourteen months after the county's snowplow drivers took the course, the evaluation showed measureable improvements. In the first season after the training, the county used 14,175 tons of salt for 35 snow events (average 405 tons/event). In the next season, the county used 9,585 tons of salt for 27 events (average 355 tons/event). This correlates to about 40 million gallons of freshwater protected from chloride contamination per snow event. Learn more:
Winter maintenance staff from cities/counties and private companies who have attended the Smart Salting training have used their knowledge to reduce salt use and save money for their organizations.
- Learn more about Minnesota entities that have reduced salt use (Minnesota Stormwater Manual).
- Wisconsin Salt Wise also has some compelling case studies of winter maintenance organizations that have reduced their salt use.
Smart Salting for water softening certification training
The MPCA has expanded its Smart Salting trainings to include water softening, which is recognized as a significant source of chloride pollution. This new certification training provides information and specific steps around water softening practices to reduce the amount of chloride released to the environment — a comprehensive look at ways to optimize home and commercial water softeners to reduce salt use, save money and protect Minnesota's waters.
Who should attend?
- water softening professionals
- plumbers
- water treatment professionals
- those implementing water softening rebate programs
What you'll learn:
- environmental impacts of chloride
- sources of chloride
- water softening basics
- water softener efficiency and optimization
Smart Salting for Community Leaders workshop
Participants in these two-hour online workshops will learn about the effects of chloride on the environment and on infrastructure and will be offered specific action steps and policies that can help reduce salt pollution in their communities.
Who should attend:
- local elected officials
- members of sustainability and environmental commissions
- board members of housing associations, neighborhood associations, and watershed districts
- environmental advocates
- local decision makers
Host a training or workshop for your organization!
The Smart Salting training program is rooted in partnerships with local organizations to offer trainings.
Whether you want to get your crew trained on-site or want to provide Smart Salting Certification training opportunities to everyone in your community, we rely on these partnerships to make our program successful. Hosts advertise the training, provide a venue if hosting an in-person training, and cover a portion of the cost for the training. The Community Leaders workshop has no cost share at this time thanks to support from the Minnesota GreenCorps program.
Contact the chloride reduction program at MPCA to discuss hosting a training or workshop at smartsalting.pca@state.mn.us.
Certification and tools for organizations
Smart Salting tool
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has recently updated and redesigned its Smart Salting tool to help communities and organizations across the state evaluate sources of chloride impacting local water resources. The Smart Salting tool also provides support and guidance on how to address those sources.
The Smart Salting tool is now a comprehensive chloride reduction tool and includes these key features and more:
- mapping feature to select specific geographic area for customized evaluation of chloride sources
- detailed information for each source of chloride
- guidance for how to collect additional information and data
- option to modify estimated chloride contributions with local data
The Smart Salting tool can help organizations and communities address chloride pollution by supporting a customized approach:
- Develop a chloride reduction action plan for your community or organization.
- Assist with MPCA permit reporting requirements related to chloride.
- Evaluate your winter maintenance or dust suppressant best management practices and plan for changes to reduce chloride use and determine your salt savings.
- Obtain a Smart Salting Level 2 certification for your organization.
Smart Salting Tool
Evaluate sources of chloride impacting local water resources and find support and guidance on how to address those sources.
Organization level 2 certification – winter maintenance assessment
Organizations can earn level 2 certification by assessing their salt use using the Smart Salting tool and taking steps to minimize their salt use. Participants can obtain certification by using the tool directly or working through it in a level 2 training.
Level 2 trainings are available each July and December. Participants earn a two-year certification that they can renew by submitting the required reports.
The tool will generate a list of current best management practices (BMPs) and a comparison of current BMPs to future BMP goals along with a salt savings assessment to estimate monetary savings due to salt reduction.
To earn level 2 certification:
- Create an account in the Smart Salting tool.
- Access the winter maintenance assessment section of the tool.
- For your whole organization, branch, or facility:
Complete the Level of Service assessment.
- Complete the BMP assessment for the most recently completed winter maintenance season (e.g., a January 1, 2022, report would be based on the 2020/2021 season) and future winter maintenance season.
Complete the salt savings assessment.
Submit these assessments under “Submit for Certification” on the winter maintenance assessment starting page. If the submitted assessments are complete, the tool will generate reports and a Level 2 certificate for your organization.
Chloride source assessment
The source assessment section of the Smart Salting tool allows any organization to view an estimate of the various sources of chloride in their chosen area, whether it’s a city, county, or watershed. The tool provides more information about chloride, its sources, resources for chloride best management practices, and the option to create a personalized action plan to better understand the sources of chloride in your community and steps to reduce chloride from those sources.
NPDES permittees
There are specific pathways to guide wastewater and MS4 permittees through developing the required permit reports and plans related to chloride.
Smart Salting Certified individuals and organizations
Resources
Calibration
Salt-tolerant plants
- Minnesota salt-tolerant plants (MPCA Stormwater Manual)
- MnDOT Plant Selector Program
- The effects of deicing salts on landscapes (University of Minnesota Extension)
More information
- Salt reduction best practices (New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services) — Offers best management practices guidance documents developed as part of a multi-year survey of the best and most applicable technology.
- Winter salt certification training resources (WI Salt Wise) — All the resources used in the Madison, Wis., winter salt training course, grouped by subject.
- Salt solutions program (MnDOT) — Find useful resources on MnDOT's program that include information on liquid de-icing.
- Minnesota Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) — Offers training (snowplow and gravel road maintenance); Minnesota Snow and Ice Control is a handbook for snowplow operators.
- Clear Roads newsletter — From national research consortium that focuses on testing winter maintenance materials, equipment, and methods.
- Snow and Ice Management Association (SIMA) — A trade organization that offers a variety of resources and information targeted to private snow and ice management professionals.
The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, University of Minnesota, and Fortin Consulting produced two videos to introduce best practices for winter maintenance of sidewalks, entryways, and steps, and offers guidance on deicing materials and application rates.