DOTs are seeking out sustainable practices through the use of newer technology to reduce the cost of snow and ice control operations, while maintaining the same or better level of service (LOS). Proactive approaches can be used alone or in conjunction with one another to reduce the amount of snow and ice control products used, lost or wasted. Best practices are expected to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of winter operations, to optimize material usage, and to reduce associated annual spending and environmental footprint.

In comparison, reactive approaches which remove snow and ice control products following application can be costly to construct and maintain. Many of the reactive strategies (infiltration trenches and basins, detention, retention, and evaporation ponds, wetland and shallow marshes, vegetated swales and filter strips) are designed for and are frequently used in stormwater management and do not actually treat or remove chlorides from the highway stormwater runoff. There is a need for further research in the design options, performance and cost-effectiveness of reactive strategies for managing the footprint of snow and ice control products (abrasives, chlorides, and other chemicals).

As more states are exploring the impacts of roadway chloride deicers, including voluntary and regulatory controls to reduce their impacts, this project seeks to assess and describe the environmental impacts of chlorides and alternative deicers to roadside soils, water, vegetation, and wildlife and to consolidate the existing snow and ice control practices into a comprehensive Snow and Ice Control Environmental Best Management Practices (BMPs) Manual that will provide the most up-to-date recommendations based on published research as well as practitioner surveys.