Smart Salting: Enhanced Winter Maintenance Fall 2026 - MNCPPC Training

Course Overview

This hybrid training program involves six online learning modules (approximately 3 hours) and a half-day in-person workshop. The training program is based on Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Enhanced Winter Maintenance Training Manual. To earn a Certificate of Completion you must complete the online modules, pass the online final exam, and attend an in-person workshop. Participants who earn a Certificate of Completion will be listed (name and organization) on MDE’s Winter Salt webpage as an MDE Smart Salt Professional.

M-NCPPC In-Person Workshop Details

Date: Tuesday October 6, OR Wednesday October 7, 2026

Time: 7:00 am to 11:00 am

Location: 5200 Ritchie Marlboro Rd, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

Description: Participants should complete the online modules before attending the in-person workshop. The workshop will consist of classroom discussions and outdoor demonstration stations. Participants should dress for the weather, bring a clipboard and pen/pencil, and be prepared to participate in group discussions. 

Online Course Description

The application of winter maintenance materials, including rock salt and liquid brine, applied to paved surfaces during winter weather months has increased over time across the country. The chemical properties in salt lower the water’s freezing point and allow for safer use of roadways and sidewalks. However, once in the environment, salt cannot be easily removed. It accumulates in the soil and travels into local streams, wells, and drinking water reservoirs. The widespread impact of salt includes damage to infrastructure and the environment.

Smart Salting: Enhanced Winter Maintenance Training aims to address salt pollution beyond state and county roads to include parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks. The target audience includes, but is not limited to, property managers, business owners, landscaping companies, and other private contractors and applicators. The ultimate goal of the course is to identify effective strategies that balance the safety and mobility of people during winter weather months while improving salt application practices to reduce contamination to local waterways.

This course was developed by the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland, the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, and Maryland Department of the Environment. A special thank you to the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin for developing the Enhanced Winter Maintenance Training Manual from which the course was inspired and to the Maryland Department of the Environment for initiating, guiding, and subsidizing this training program.