Study guide
14.3 Good Housekeeping Part 2: Stockpiles, Dust Control, Wind Fence, Street Cleaning, Sanitary Waste, and Trash
Free CESSWI Certified Erosion, Sediment and Stormwater Inspector Study Guide 2026 Exam
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1 Chapter 1: CESSWI Program Overview, Scope of Practice & Professional Ethics
1.1 CESSWI Scope of Practice, Eligibility, and Exam Structure 1.2 Certification Renewal, PDH Requirements, and Audit Policies 1.3 EnviroCert Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
2 Chapter 2: Federal, State, and Local Stormwater Regulations
2.1 Federal Water-Pollution History and Stormwater Phases 2.2 CWA Sections, Water Quality, and Related Federal Programs 2.3 EPA Construction Permit Coverage and Operational Clocks 2.4 Industrial MSGP and Municipal MS4 Programs 2.5 Regulatory Compliance, Enforcement Mechanisms, and Penalties
3 Chapter 3: Soil Mechanics, Erosion Processes, and Climatic Factors
3.1 Soil Formation, Horizons, and Geomorphology 3.2 Soil Texture, Mechanics, and Revegetation 3.3 Splash, Sheet, Rill, Gully, Channel Erosion, and Slope Movement 3.4 Wind Erosion, Sediment Transport, Climatic Erosivity, and Resource Impacts
4 Chapter 4: Hydrology, Runoff Characteristics, and Drainage Principles
4.1 The Hydrologic Cycle, Watershed Drainage Planning, and Precipitation 4.2 Hydrologic Soil Groups, Disturbed Profiles, and Time Parameters 4.3 Hydrograph Characteristics, Curve Numbers, and Runoff Estimation Equations
5 Chapter 5: Inspection Fundamentals, Duties, and Field Procedures
5.1 Inspector Roles, Scope of Authority, and Core Professional Skills 5.2 Pre-Inspection Document Review and Inspector Support Equipment 5.3 Systematic Field Inspection Sequence, Post-Inspection Meetings, and Follow-Through
6 Chapter 6: Inspection Elements for Active Construction Sites
6.1 Pre-Construction Meetings, Entrance Posting, and On-Site Document Inspections 6.2 Inspecting Active Construction Controls and Diagnosing BMP Failure Modes 6.3 Final Stabilization Verification, Final Inspections, and Notice of Termination
7 Chapter 7: Stormwater Monitoring, Field Sampling, and Chain of Custody
7.1 Permit Monitoring Triggers and Water-Quality Indicators 7.2 Sampling Preparation and Analytical Parameters 7.3 Sampling Locations, Collection Methods, and Field Meter Calibration 7.4 Sample Preservation, Data Recording, Shipping, and Chain of Custody
8 Chapter 8: Inspection Documentation, Reporting, and Map Management
8.1 Inspection Notes and Evidence Procedures 8.2 Objective Findings and Photographic Evidence 8.3 Proper Reporting Techniques and Corrective Action Log Management 8.4 Site Drawing (Map) Management, Compliance Resolution, and Enforcement Records
9 Chapter 9: Professional Communication and Site Safety for Inspectors
9.1 Communication Protocols in Pre-Construction, Post-Inspection, and O&M Meetings 9.2 Dealing with Difficult People, Problematic Sites, and Unpleasant Findings 9.3 Site Hazard Recognition: Physical, Biological, Trenching, and Confined Spaces 9.4 Hazardous Substances, Safety Data Sheets (SDS), Spill Response, and PPE
10 Chapter 10: Stormwater Plan Reading, Map Interpretation, and Site Calculations
10.1 Stormwater Plan Types, Credentials, and Authority 10.2 SWPPP Components and Permit Notifications 10.3 Civil Plan Sets, Legends, Phased Sequencing, and Living Site Maps 10.4 Topography, Contour Lines, Slope Calculations, and Plan Amendments
11 Chapter 11: BMP Framework, Site Planning, and Erosion Control Practices
11.1 Six Functional BMP Categories, Preservation of Vegetation, Phasing, and Tree Protection 11.2 Seeding and Sod Establishment 11.3 Hydroseeding and Hydromulching Inspection 11.4 Mulch and Rolled Erosion-Control Products 11.5 Tackifiers, Soil Binders, Roughening, and Temporary Cover
12 Chapter 12: Perimeter, Linear, and In-Water Sediment Control Practices
12.1 Perimeter & Sheet-Flow Sediment Barriers: Silt Fence, Fiber Rolls, Straw Bales, and Filter Dikes 12.2 Access & Roadside Sediment/Runoff Controls: Stabilized Entrances, Cut-Back Curbs, and Ditch Checks 12.3 In-Water & Dewatering Controls: Temporary Stream Crossings, Turbidity Curtains, and Sediment Bags
13 Chapter 13: Sediment Basins, Traps, and Runoff Conveyance Controls
13.1 Sediment Basins and Traps 13.2 Porous Baffles and Surface Skimmers 13.3 Runoff Conveyances: Diversions, Swales, Pipe Slope Drains, and Rock Check Dams 13.4 Riprap and Gabion Inspection 13.5 Retaining Walls, Outlet Protection, and Wet Ponds
14 Chapter 14: Storm Drain Inlet Protection and Good Housekeeping BMPs
14.1 Storm Drain Inlet Protection: At-Grade, Curb, Block & Gravel, Excavated, Fabric Drop, Gravel Bag, Stone Collar, and Pre-Manufactured 14.2 Good Housekeeping Part 1: Concrete Washout, Equipment Maintenance, Materials Management, and Secondary Containment 14.3 Good Housekeeping Part 2: Stockpiles, Dust Control, Wind Fence, Street Cleaning, Sanitary Waste, and Trash
15 Chapter 15: Post-Construction Stormwater Management BMPs
15.1 Vegetative & Structural Dispersion BMPs: Final Ground Cover, Headwalls, Level Spreaders, Filter Strips, and Riparian Buffers 15.2 Permeable Surfaces and Construction Protection 15.3 Infiltration, Bioretention, and Media Filters 15.4 Detention, Retention & Proprietary BMPs: Dry/Wet Basins, Wetlands, Inline Storage, Catch Basin Inserts, Vaults, and Manufactured Devices
14.3 Good Housekeeping Part 2: Stockpiles, Dust Control, Wind Fence, Street Cleaning, Sanitary Waste, and Trash
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
Soil and aggregate stockpiles must be sited at least 50 feet from storm drains and waters (never on paved streets or gutters), ringed with a continuous downgradient perimeter sediment barrier, and covered or stabilized whenever inactive for 14 calendar days or more (cold-mix asphalt and contaminated piles require an impervious liner and continuous tarp cover).
Water trucks controlling fugitive dust must apply frequent light mist passes without over-watering to the point of creating muddy runoff; porous wind fences (40% to 50% open porosity oriented perpendicular to prevailing winds) create a calm leeward sheltered zone extending 7 to 10 times the fence height (7H to 10H) downwind.
Tracked mud and sediment on paved streets must be removed before the end of each work shift and before forecasted rain using dry mechanical broom sweepers, vacuum sweepers, or shovels—never washed or hosed into street gutters or storm drain inlets.
Portable toilets must be sited on flat ground at least 50 feet from storm drains and waters, physically anchored to the ground with stakes, pins, or sandbags to prevent wind tip-over of raw sewage and toxic blue biocides, and dumpsters must keep drain plugs sealed and lids/tarps closed at shift end and before rain or wind.
Last updated: October 2026
Note
Using dimensions in this section: Construction dimensions, material sizes, slopes, cleanout fractions, and drawdown ranges below describe example practice details. Verify the approved design, manufacturer instructions, and applicable permit before using a number as an inspection acceptance criterion. Regulatory thresholds identified explicitly as EPA/OSHA requirements remain distinct.
1. Stockpiles ( 12.6.7 )
Unprotected stockpiles of stripped topsoil, structural fill, bedding sand, crushed aggregate, or cold-mix asphalt are among the most concentrated sources of sediment and chemical runoff on a construction site because their steep, loose, unvegetated side slopes are highly vulnerable to both raindrop splash detachment and wind scouring.
Siting and Geometry Rules
Minimum 50 -Foot 50\text{-Foot} 50 -Foot Setback: Locate all stockpiles on flat, well-drained upland ground at least 50 feet 50\text{ feet} 50 feet away from storm drain inlets, open drainage swales, ditches, wetlands, and surface waters , and completely outside the 50 -foot 50\text{-foot} 50 -foot natural riparian buffer and tree Critical Root Zones (CRZs).
Prohibition on Paved Streets & Flow Paths: Never place a soil, sand, or aggregate stockpile on paved public or internal streets, across curb gutters, on sidewalks, or inside concentrated overland flow paths!
Slope & Height Limits: Shape stockpiles with side slopes no steeper than ≤ 2 H : 1 V \le 2\text{H}:1\text{V} ≤ 2 H : 1 V and limit pile height to prevent rotational slumping and reduce exposure to high-velocity wind shear.
Two Mandatory Lines of Stockpile Protection (EPA CGP Part 2.2.5 & 12.6.7 )
Every construction stockpile must be protected by a two-part defense system:
Continuous Downgradient Perimeter Sediment Barrier: Install a sediment barrier—such as trenched silt fence, a heavy compost filter sock, a staked fiber roll (wattle), or a gravel-bag berm —around the entire downgradient base perimeter of every active or inactive stockpile. Leave an access opening only on the upslope side so front-end loaders can excavate or add material without crushing the perimeter barrier.
Surface Cover / Stabilization ( 14 -Day 14\text{-Day} 14 -Day Inactivity Rule): Whenever a soil, topsoil, or fine-aggregate stockpile will remain inactive (unused) for 14 calendar days 14\text{ calendar days} 14 calendar days or more (or prior to forecasted rainstorms or high-wind events where required by state/local MS4 permits), stabilize the exposed surface of the pile using:
An anchored waterproof plastic tarp or geotextile cover weighted down continuously around the base and seams with gravel bags (never anchor a stockpile tarp by throwing loose dirt on top of the plastic!), OR
Temporary seeding and mulching , OR
A sprayed polymer tackifier, acrylic soil binder, or bonded fiber matrix .
Special Rule for Cold-Mix Asphalt & Contaminated Soil Stockpiles ( 12.6.7 ): Stockpiles of cold-mix asphalt (which contains leachable cutback petroleum solvents or emulsions) or petroleum/chemically contaminated soils must always be placed atop an impervious plastic sheeting liner ( ≥ 10 mil \ge 10\text{ mil} ≥ 10 mil ) and kept covered with an anchored waterproof tarp at all times when not actively being worked, surrounded by a continuous containment berm.
- 2. Dust Control ( 12.6.2 ) and Wind Fence ( 12.6.10 )
- Dust Control ( 12.6.2 )
Fugitive windblown dust—comprising PM 10 \text{PM}_{10} PM 10 (coarse inhalable particulates ≤ 10 μ m \le 10\text{ }\mu\text{m} ≤ 10 μ m ) and PM 2.5 \text{PM}_{2.5} PM 2.5 (fine respirable particulates ≤ 2.5 μ m \le 2.5\text{ }\mu\text{m} ≤ 2.5 μ m )—degrades ambient air quality, violates Clean Air Act and local air-district opacity limits (typically 20 % 20\% 20% maximum plume opacity at the property line), creates blinding highway visibility hazards for motorists, and deposits fine sediment and adsorbed phosphorus directly into nearby waterways.
Water Truck Spraying (Crucial Exam Checkpoint): Spraying haul roads and active grading planes with a water truck is the most common real-time dust control method. Operators must apply water in frequent, light misting passes so the surface soil stays just damp enough for capillary tension to bind dust particles together without over-watering to the point of soil saturation, mud generation (which causes severe vehicle trackout), or erosive surface runoff !
Chemical Dust Suppressants & Soil Binders: For semi-permanent haul roads and inactive graded pads, contractors can spray anionic polyacrylamide ( PAM \text{PAM} PAM ) , acrylic copolymers, vinyl acetate emulsions, lignin sulfonate (a wood-pulp byproduct), non-toxic vegetable-oil or tall-oil resin emulsions, or hygroscopic deliquescent salts ( magnesium chloride [ MgCl 2 \text{MgCl}_2 MgCl 2 ] or calcium chloride [ CaCl 2 \text{CaCl}_2 CaCl 2 ] ) that draw moisture from the air to keep road surfaces damp. Environmental precaution: Avoid excessive application of chloride salts ( MgCl 2 \text{MgCl}_2 MgCl 2 or CaCl 2 \text{CaCl}_2 CaCl 2 ) near salt-sensitive freshwater streams, wetlands, or roadside vegetation where chloride runoff causes osmotic toxicity.
Operational & Mechanical Controls:
Enforce a strict maximum 15 mph 15\text{ mph} 15 mph vehicle speed limit on unpaved site haul roads (reducing truck speed from 30 mph 30\text{ mph} 30 mph to 15 mph 15\text{ mph} 15 mph cuts fugitive wheel-dust emissions by 50 % 50\% 50% to 75 % 75\% 75% ).
Stabilize primary haul roads with crushed gravel, recycled concrete aggregate, or wood chips.
Halt mass earthmoving and fine grading when wind gusts exceed 25 mph 25\text{ mph} 25 mph .
Roughen or chisel-plow bare clay/silt soils perpendicular to prevailing winds, and require all highway dump trucks to cover their beds with tarps while maintaining at least 6 inches 6\text{ inches} 6 inches of vertical freeboard below the top of the truck bed sidewalls.
Wind Fence ( 12.6.10 )
A wind fence is a vertical porous barrier ( 3 to 10 feet 3\text{ to }10\text{ feet} 3 to 10 feet high ) constructed of wooden-slat snow fencing or UV-stabilized high-density polyethylene (HDPE) knitted mesh fabric with 40 % 40\% 40% to 50 % 50\% 50% open porosity , tensioned on driven steel or timber posts oriented perpendicular ( 90 ∘ 90^\circ 9 0 ∘ ) to the prevailing wind direction along the upwind edge of exposed grading areas, coastal dunes, or fine soil stockpiles.
Aerodynamic Physics — Why 40 % 40\% 40% to 50 % 50\% 50% Porosity and the 7 H to 10 H 7H\text{ to }10H 7 H to 10 H Sheltered Zone: Why must a wind fence have 40 % 40\% 40% to 50 % 50\% 50% open porosity rather than being a 100 % 100\% 100% solid wall? A solid, non-porous wall forces the entire wind stream abruptly upward over its crest, creating an intense low-pressure wake behind the wall that generates violent, turbulent downward eddy vortices on the leeward side—scouring soil even worse than having no barrier at all! By bleeding 40 % 40\% 40% to 50 % 50\% 50% of the airflow through its small openings, a porous wind fence breaks up large turbulent eddies, reduces near-ground wind shear velocity below the threshold friction velocity for soil detachment, and creates a calm leeward sheltered zone extending a horizontal distance of 7 to 10 times 7\text{ to }10\text{ times} 7 to 10 times the height of the fence ( 7 H to 10 H 7H\text{ to }10H 7 H to 10 H ) downwind (for example, a 4 -foot 4\text{-foot} 4 -foot -high wind fence protects a 28 - to 40 -foot 28\text{- to }40\text{-foot} 28 - to 40 -foot -wide strip downwind, so parallel wind-fence rows across a large graded tract are spaced 7 H to 10 H 7H\text{ to }10H 7 H to 10 H apart). Accumulated windblown sand drifts must be excavated before they bury the fence.
3. Street Cleaning ( 12.6.8 )
Even when a stabilized construction exit ( 12.4.8 ) is properly maintained, heavy truck traffic during wet weather can carry residual mud clods onto adjacent public roadways.
Daily Inspection & End-of-Shift / Pre-Storm Sweeping: Inspect paved public streets, highway shoulders, and internal paved subdivision roads adjacent to construction exits daily. Any tracked mud, dirt clods, or spilled aggregate must be cleaned up before the end of each work shift and prior to any forecasted rain event using dry mechanical rotary-broom sweepers, regenerative-air/vacuum street sweepers, flat-blade loader scrapers, or hand shovels and stiff brooms .
Absolute Prohibition on Street Washing/Flushing: NEVER wash, flush, or hose tracked mud or sediment off a paved street into street gutters, roadside ditches, or storm drain inlets! Hosing down a muddy street transforms dry, easily sweepable soil clods into highly mobile turbid slurry that flows straight into catch basins and receiving streams. All collected street sweepings must be hauled back onto the construction site and deposited in a contained upland fill area or stockpile behind active perimeter sediment controls.
4. Sanitary Waste Management ( 12.6.5 )
Portable chemical toilets ( Porta-Johns ) on construction sites hold concentrated raw human sewage (fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria, enteric viruses, and high biochemical oxygen demand) mixed with concentrated blue deodorizing and disinfecting chemicals (containing formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, quaternary ammonium biocides, or bronopol) that are acutely toxic to aquatic life.
Three Mandatory Siting, Anchoring, and Servicing Rules
Minimum 50 -Foot 50\text{-Foot} 50 -Foot Setback & Traffic Protection: Place portable toilets on flat, level, stable upland ground at least 50 feet 50\text{ feet} 50 feet away from storm drain inlets, open drainage ditches, curb gutters, wetlands, and surface waters . Set units well back from paved street curbs and active haul-truck turning lanes (or shield them with concrete jersey barriers/bollards) so a backing dump truck or loader cannot strike a unit and knock it over into the street gutter.
Mandatory Physical Ground Anchoring: Physically anchor every portable toilet to the ground —using driven rebar stakes or steel pins through the base skids , heavy gravel/sandbags across the base runners, guy wires, or a staked timber perimeter frame—so high thunderstorm wind gusts cannot blow the lightweight plastic enclosure over and spill raw sewage and blue biocide chemical across the site.
Licensed Vacuum-Truck Servicing & Secondary Containment Pans: Contract a licensed sanitary-waste vacuum-truck hauler to pump out, clean, and service portable toilets on a regular schedule so holding tanks never overflow (ensuring the pump truck parks on stable ground and uses hose drip containment during pumping), and place secondary containment pans/trays beneath portable toilets wherever required by state CGP or local MS4 permits.
5. Trash Containment ( 12.6.9 )
Construction and demolition operations generate large quantities of solid waste—cardboard packaging, scrap lumber, drywall offcuts, plastic shrink-wrap, empty caulk tubes, food wrappers, beverage cups, and expanded polystyrene (styrofoam) insulation beads.
Covered, Leak-Proof Roll-Off Dumpsters: Provide sufficient leak-proof, covered roll-off dumpsters and lidded trash receptacles across the site, and police the jobsite daily to collect windblown litter before it reaches perimeter fences or drainage swales.
Mandatory Sealed Drain-Plug & Closed-Lid Rules: Ensure that every roll-off dumpster has its bottom drain plug tightly sealed/capped and require crews to close dumpster lids or secure waterproof tarps over open-top dumpsters at the end of every work shift and prior to any forecasted rainstorm or high-wind event ! An uncovered dumpster with an open bottom drain plug acts like a giant coffee filter during a rainstorm—percolating rainwater through trash to leach paint residue, drywall gypsum sulfate, and adhesives out the bottom drain hole directly onto pavement and into storm drains—while wind gusts lift buoyant styrofoam and plastic bags out of open bins into receiving streams.
Waste Segregation & Disposal Prohibitions: Never mix liquid hazardous wastes, leftover solvents, liquid paint cans, petroleum containers, pesticides, or lead-acid batteries into general solid-waste dumpsters , and never burn or bury construction trash or demolition debris on site . Schedule regular dumpster haul-offs before bins reach rim capacity.
Daily Good Housekeeping Inspection Workflow
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