Best Management Practice List

I'm assembling a BMP List for my own consulting business as well as this project. This project is in process, so these aren't fully organized yet, in terms of what will be a full web page to itself and which are more self explanatory sub-practices that might just be methods to achieving other, more complex, BMPs. If you see any that I've missed or would like to volunteer to add BMPs to the list, please email me!

What is a BMP? In layman's terms, a best management practice (BMP) is an approach that achieves an end goal in a way that has a better outcome when compared to a conventional approach. Not all BMPs are appropriate for all sites or stakeholders (no matter how neat and universally applicable they might seem -- don't forget your social goals!).

Why do we need more than one "best" management practice? BMPs are always used in tandem with each other in different combinations for different sites. There's no cookie cutter approach that would be appropriate for applying BMPs to all your sites. For instance, the BMP "Plant natives in your stormwater facility" might not be a best management practice in the City of Boardman where it's so dry that there just aren't many (any?) native plants that will tolerate wet feet.

The BMPs below aren't in any particular order, but they will be sortable someday based on the categories listed on the home page.

 Social Goals

• Consult stakeholders and respond to their concerns.
• Maintain existing recreation opportunities.
• Create public recreation opportunities.
• Create a variety of housing options.
• Don't negatively impact historic sites.
• Don't negatively impact archeological sites.
• Incorporate educational opportunities.
• Hire local folks.
• Pay workers a living wage.
• Provide views of nature.
• Screen ugly stuff.
• Provide a way to exercise outdoors.
• Provide a way to relax outdoors.
• Create gathering spaces.
• Reduce site users' exposure to stressors.  

Stormwater Quantity & Quality/Non-Infiltration

• Install a green roof.
• Harvest rainwater in a large cistern.
• Install a green wall.
• Protect sensitive areas.
• Save a tree.

Reduce Disturbance:

• Design things over previously disturbed areas.
• Avoid sensitive areas.
• Reduce excavation.
• Limit compaction with good planning.
• Avoid impacts to areas that provide habitat for threatened and endangered species.
• Avoid impacts to the floodplain, in wetlands, too close to waterways, or too close to coastal shorelines.
• Avoid impacts to farmland or other significant soils.
• Build on gray or brownfields.
• Plan for transportation.
• To cross a stream with a utility, align it across a bridge or in casing above the stream instead of boring underneath the stream to bury it.
• Align utilities together in the same trench.

Reduce Impervious Areas:

• Share parking spaces with someone else.
• Share a driveway with someone else.
• Minimize road widths.
• Minimize the parking space dimensions.
• Reduce the parking ratio.
• Don't pave over parking areas that are likely to be vacant.
• Reduce setbacks.
• Reduce cul-de-sac dimensions.
• Create a cluster development.
• Create a conservation development.
• Minimize the building footprint.  

Stormwater Quality/Non-Infiltration

• Treat stormwater with a sand filter.
• Treat stormwater with underground detention.
• Treat stormwater with a constructed wetland.
• Treat stormwater with an extended detention/dry pond.
• Treat stormwater with proprietary water quality devices.
• Harvest rainwater in a small barrel.
• Treat stormwater with wet ponds/retention basins.

Stormwater Quantity & Quality/Infiltration

• Infiltrate stormwater with a vegetated swale.
• Infiltrate stormwater with a vegetated basin.
• Infiltrate stormwater with a vegetated filter strip/buffer.
• Infiltrate stormwater with a planter box.
• Use level spreaders.
• Infiltrate stormwater with a drywell.
• Infiltrate stormwater with a soakage trench.
• Infiltrate stormwater with a rock trench.
• Install pervious pavement.
• Use berms to hold water back.
• Disconnect a downspout.  

Conveying Stormwater

• Get rid of your curbs and gutters and let runoff flow into green streets or at least some simply vegetated areas.
• Roughen surfaces.
• Create long overland flow paths.
• Don't impede subsurface flows.
• Design a means of large storm flows to bypass stormwater management facilities.

Restoration

• Restore soil.
• Restore riparian buffers.
• Daylight piped streams.
• Restore lost wetlands
• Restore coastal habitats.
• Restore in-stream habitat.
• Restore floodplains.
• Use phytoremediation to restore contaminated land.

Transportation

• Put parking underneath a roof.
• Provide cycling facilities.
• Provide alternative fuels.
• Design a woonerf (aka universal street, home zone).
• Provide facilities for public transportation.
• Provide car sharing facilities.
• Reduce demand for travel by providing virtual communications tools.
• Set appropriate speed limits.
• Design a site with good pedestrian/cyclist circulation.
• Avoid creating street canyons.
• Design sites to support air quality goals.

Landscapes

• Plant a tree.
• Plant deciduous trees on the south side of a building if it overheats (i.e. you expect it will need air conditioning!)
• Plant large canopy trees to shade dark building materials.
• Don't plant bamboo.
• Plant natives in stormwater facilities.
• Plant natives outside the stormwater facility.
• Plant low grow plant mixes instead of lawn.
• Shade parts of the house with landscaping as needed to reduce cooling demand in warmer climates.
• Plant vegetation considering wind.
• Plant a tree considering your macroclimate.
• Encourage longer grass length.
• Amend soil.
• Don't specify vegetation that is known to be susceptible to disease.
• Don't specify vegetation that needs a lot of fertilizers or chemicals.
• Reduce mowing.
• Use integrated pest management.
• Control and manage invasive species.
• Prune appropriately.
• Create a landscape management plan to indicate how vegetation should be maintained and replaced by the owner.

Water Use

• Don't draw from the aquifer.
• If you can't plant native plants and must use irrigation, then create zones of low and lower demand.
• Don't use potable water for irrigation or water features.
• Design a water saving irrigation system.
• Specify mulch or compost to finish planting areas at ground surface.
• Design a graywater recycling system.

Source Control

• Cover trash receptacles.
• Control trash.
• Identify locations where pollutants are located on the site, and prevent these pollutants from being exposed to stormwater runoff.
• Control pet waste.  

Erosion Prevention-Source Control

• Use native seed mixes to stabilize bare soil.
• Use something other than a sediment fence in fine-grained soils to reduce turbidity from sheet flow.
• Grind the vegetation into mulch to be cleared and reuse it on-site.
• Water tight trucks to be used when trucking saturated soils from the site.
• Phase the development to minimize disturbance and time that soils are exposed.
• BMPs to remain in place until disturbed areas are stabilized with permanent vegetation and properly disposed when no longer needed.
• Emphasize erosion prevention over sediment control.  

Tracking Controls:

• Stabilized gravel construction entrances
• Entrances with shaker plates
• Wheel wash facilities
• Street sweeping or vacuuming

Non-Stormwater Requirements for the 1200C Permit

• Dewatering and Ponded Water Management
• Paving Operation Controls
• Temporary Equipment Bridge
• Illicit Connection / Illegal Discharge
• Vehicle and Equipment Cleaning
• Vehicle and Equipment Fueling, Maintenance and Storage
• Material Delivery and Storage Controls
• Material Use
• Stockpile Management
• Spill Prevention and Control Procedures
• Solid Waste Management
• Hazardous Materials and Waste Management
• Contaminated Soil Management
• Concrete Management
• Sanitary Waste Management
• Liquid Waste Management
• Training and Signage  

Erosion Prevention & Sediment Control - Runoff Control

• Slope Drain
• Energy Dissipater
• Diversion of Run-on
• Temporary Diversion Dike
• Grass-lined Channel (Turf Reinforcement Mat)
• Trench Drain
• Drop Inlet
• Minimizing TSS During In-Stream Construction
• In-Stream Diversion Techniques
• In-Stream Isolation Techniques
• Check Dams  

Erosion Prevention

• Structural Erosion Prevention During Grading & Earthwork
• Surface Roughening
• Preventing Erosion on Graded Surfaces
• Topsoiling
• Temporary Seeding and Planting
• Permanent Seeding and Planting
• Mycorrhizae / Biofertilizers
• Mulches
• Compost Blankets
• Erosion Control Blankets and Mats
• Soil Binders
• Sodding
• Wind Erosion / Dust Control Measures
• Wind Erosion / Dust Control
• Biotechnical Erosion Control Measures
• Live Staking
• Live Fascines and Brush Wattles
• Stabilization Mats
• Pole Planting
• Brush Box
• Fascines with Subdrains
• Live Pole Drains
• Brush Packing or Live Gully Fill Repair  

Sediment Control

• Sediment Fence
• Sand Bag Barrier
• Gravel Bag Berm
• Straw Bale Dike
• Rock and Brush Filters
• Compost Berm/Compost Sock
• Fiber Rolls / Wattles
• Storm Drain Inlet Protection
• Temporary Sediment Basin
• Undercut Lots  

Materials

• Choose rapidly renewable materials.
• Specify local products.
• Choose high performance, durable materials.
• Avoid materials that have a toxic lifecycle.
• Salvage materials for use on-site.
• Salvage materials for use off-site.
• Salvage materials for use on- or off-site
• Deconstruct a structure.
• Avoid timbers from threatened tree species.
• Support sustainable practices in plant production
• Use FSC Certified wood.
• Choose products that can be recycled.
• Choose products that can be deconstructed and salvaged.
• Choose appropriate finishes to avoid heat absorption.
• Specify products with recycled content.
• Deconstruct a building.
• Plan for recycling facilities.

Siting Considerations

• Design a project that's compatible with surrounding land uses.
• Design a project that complements the existing infrastructure.
• Locate the development within walking distance of services and amenities.
• Locate the development near existing public transportation.
• Locate the development within a fire service response area.
• Orient the long side of your building on the east-west axis
• Orient your building to take advantage of other climactic considerations such as wind, water, and microclimates.  

Construction Management

• Select transport methods with increased fuel efficiency
• Choose contractors that use biofuels.
• Order construction waste pickups when bins are full instead of on a weekly basis.
• Plan materials purchases and packaging considerations to ensure only 10% (by weight arriving on the site) of total materials delivered to the site are discarded.
• Recycle construction waste.
• Limit transportation mileage.
• Limit compaction with appropriate construction equipment approaches.
• Exclude fish and wildlife with appropriate measures when doing work near waterways.

Operations & Maintenance

• Collect litter.
• Educate users about their new building and site.
• Plan for long term maintenance.
• Avoid applying toxic/polluting materials to the site.  

Urban Food

• BMPs are forthcoming.

Wastewater Management

• BMPs are forthcoming.

Land & Air Phytoremediation

• BMPs are forthcoming.