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Facility SWPPPs

(If your community has a facility where vehicle maintenance, fueling, and/or salt storage occurs, you likely also need to have a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP).  This plan helps identify materials/activities that can lead to stormwater pollution and the personnel and procedures for helping reduce potential impacts.

In order for the SWPPP to be effective, it must be understood and available by all staff and regularly reviewed and updated to reflect current staff and practices.  Routine (quarterly) inspections of your facility and annual staff training are also required and extremely effective tools for preventing stormwater pollution.

If your facility is within Franklin County, we are happy to assist with many components associated with the OEPA Small MS4 Permit, including facility SWPPPs.
  • SWPPP review/development
  • On-site facility evaluation
  • In-person and virtual training options
The resources below include permit materials, templates, and inspection forms that can be utilized to keep your facility in compliance.  If you would like to be added to my quarterly reminder e-blast or would like additional guidance, just send me a message.

Understanding SWPPP Requirements (includes templates)


(Edits in Progress; add presentation recording here)

Federal stormwater regulations identify many industrial facilities as subject to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) industrial stormwater permitting. In addition, Ohio EPA’s Small MS4 general permit (OHQ000004) requires that MS4s develop/implement Industrial Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWP3) for certain industrial facilities they operate which are not subject to industrial storm water permitting.  The most common of these activities include vehicle maintenance, fueling, and salt/brine storage.

TemplatesPermits & Other Resources

Inspection Requirements (Includes Sample Forms)


Routine facility inspections should be conducted once each calendar quarter (at a minimum) of all areas where materials or activities are exposed to stormwater, and of all stormwater control measures. At least once each calendar year, the routine inspection shall be conducted during a period when a stormwater discharge is occurring, so that a visual assessment can also be performed.

If your MS4/Township is listed under Appendix A of the new MS4 General Permit (OHQ000004), conducting quarterly facility inspections can also help satisfy the TMDL Performance Standard under MCM 6 (page 19).

Once a year, review your facility swppp documents & maps with staff and make any necessary updates to reflect current facility operations and contact information.

Sample Forms in Fillable PDF FormatSample Forms for Printing or Editing (Word Document)

Staff Training & Resources


Successful stormwater pollution control is primarily a result of proper training and education of employees. Employee training should emphasize the importance of preventing stormwater pollution, spill response, understanding/implementing the BMPs that apply to operations at each facility, as well as practices for identifying and reporting any illicit discharges.

Keep the following in mind:
  1. Training must be completed and documented once per year for all appropriate staff.
    • If your MS4/Township is listed under Appendix A of the new MS4 General Permit (OHQ000004), staff must also be trained on Illicit Discharge Detection & Elimination (IDDE) annually.
  2. All current staff should be required to read and understand the current SWPPP.
  3. New staff should also be required to review and understand the SWPPP prior to beginning significant work activities.
  4. If your SWPPP references procedures in other facility documents, such as a SPCC Plan, make sure a copy is kept with your SWPPP and that staff are familiar with it. 
Throughout the year, our urban conservation staff also work to provide in-person or virtual annual training opportunities for municipal/county staff and contractors that work within Franklin County.

We also offer our local municipal/county staff access to an online portal that allows us to assign various stormwater-related video courses throughout the year to meet annual training needs.  Courses can be completed any time throughout the year, providing flexibility to staff! If you are interested in learning more, just email Brooke at bfrusher@franklinswcd.org

If you missed out on attending our 2020 MCM Webinar Series, the recordings can be accessed via our YouTube Channel


Other Considerations (Vehicle & Equipment Washing)


Municipal vehicle and equipment washing can generate dry weather discharges contaminated with sediment, detergents, oils, grease and heavy metals. Both commercial and residential vehicle wash water can contain contaminants from vehicle fluid leaks, typical vehicle wear and the cleaning process itself. A study in a single city in Washington (City of Federal Way, 2009) estimated that vehicle washing had an annual contribution of:

  • 190 gallons of gasoline, diesel and motor oil
  • 14 pounds of dissolved copper
  • 400 pounds of phosphorus and nitrogen
  • 60 pounds of ammonia
  • 2,200 pounds of surfactants
  • 3,000 pounds of solids
The impacts of these constituents discharging to downstream waterbodies can include increased toxicity to living organisms, increased eutrophication and reduced oxygen levels. Therefore, properly addressing these non-stormwater sources using pollution prevention/good housekeeping and other practices is an important component of a stormwater program to eliminate the impacts of these discharges.

Whenever possible, vehicles and equipment should be washed in indoor wash bays or at commercial facilities where discharge can be directed to the sanitary sewer.  If municipal staff need to wash a vehicle outside a facility plumbed to the sanitary sewer, they should avoid direct discharges to storm drain systems.

  • For a small job, use a bermed wash area and capture the wash water with a wet/dry vacuum for discharge to a sanitary sewer.
  • For a larger job, use a combination of berms and a vacuum truck (such as those used to clean storm and sanitary sewer systems) to capture and safely dispose of wash water.
  • If detergents are used, pavement should be cleaned to avoid discharging those detergents during the next storm event.
  • Green infrastructure practices like bioretention systems, vegetated filter strips or stormwater wetlands can also help reduce stormwater impacts from wash area overflows.
  • For wash areas that drain directly to storm drains, catch basin modifications can be a low-cost way to contain wash water without replumbing entire drainage systems.
See US EPA's fact sheet on Municipal Vehicle and Equipment Washing for additional guidance.

Other Considerations (Sharing Facilities or Leasing Space for MS4 Activities)


Keep in mind that if you share facilities or lease space from another entity for conducting any of the applicable industrial activities, you are still responsible for developing a SWPPP for the space where that activity is occurring.

Other Considerations (SPCC Regulations)


If your facility stores oil or oil products, you could also be subject to the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations. 

How do you know if your facility is subject to the SPCC regulations? First, you need to determine the oil storage capacity at your facility. If you have any of the following storage capacities, you are subject to the SPCC regulations:
  • a total aboveground storage capacity of greater than 1,320 gallons; or
  • a total underground storage capacity of greater than 42,000 gallons. This excludes tanks regulated by the State Fire Marshal’s Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR).
Under the SPCC regulations, the definition of oil is very broad and includes animal, vegetable and synthetic oils.  Other common oil and petroleum products that are regulated include heating oil, crude oil, mineral oil, gasoline and diesel fuel.

Storage tanks in basements are considered aboveground storage tanks rather than underground storage tanks. Additionally, you must consider the total capacity of your tanks and containers, not the actual amount being stored, or portion commonly used. Containers of less than 55-gallons in size do NOT need to be included in calculating SPCC storage capacity.

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