"People are more aware of how important it is to stop the runoff from their sites," Boone says. "That's true. But I think it's mostly the fines. The fines are getting bigger. I don't think it's because people have more concern for the environment. Not at all. People don't want the fines. And the fines have to be big for people to really care. I mean, I think erosion control can account for 18% to 20% of the total cost of a project if it's done right. That's a lot of money."

Chris McCormick, owner of McCormick Equipment, says the sales of his plow have been rising steadily thanks to contractors like Boone who are using it to help meet the requirements set out by the new NPDES regulations.

There's the increased speed, of course, that the plow provides workers. But it also makes controlling runoff a simpler task. The main reason? The plow disturbs far less dirt than does a traditional trencher. There isn't as much loose dirt, then, to wash offsite.

"The fines are adding up," McCormick says. "If they fine you $1,000 a day, that really adds up. We've had land developers or big contractors buy a machine just so they can have it there in case their silt fence contractor doesn't get there in time to have the fence put up. They are buying it as an insurance policy and hoping they won't have to use it. They want the ability to put those fences up quickly if they have to so they can avoid those fines."

McCormick agrees with Boone that the threat of fines is the true motivator for developers' increased interest in controlling runoff. If contractors didn't have to worry about fines, he says, more would probably be content to erect purely cosmetic silt fences, put up for looks rather than effectiveness.

What surprises McCormick, though, is that there are still construction professionals who prefer to take their chances on avoiding fines rather than paying for proper sediment controls. For example, McCormick knows of a contractor in Minnesota who ran up $10,000 worth of NPDES fines in 2004 because he refused to pay for devices and techniques that would have controlled the loose earth on his work site.

"I tell you, he could have bought a lot of Silt Fence Plows for that money," McCormick says. "They had some big rains up there, around his project. Dirt washed into a lake and the people living around that lake went nuts. They were watching him pretty closely after that."

Roger Singleton, president of Conyers, GA–based Silt-Saver, says there is one way to encourage contractors to reach for better erosion control products: States need to draft stricter specifications for construction projects, specifications that call for more intense and effective measures to prevent sediment from running off sites and into nearby bodies of water.

Singleton's company manufactures a round-framed inlet protection device that fits over storm drains and other equipment to prevent sediment from entering curbside drains. Sometimes it's a challenge for Silt-Saver to compete against cheaper alternatives that don't work as well.

"I am a frustrated developer that has tried to do better," Singleton says. "I am withheld from doing better by the minimum limitations the states put on designers. New products now have no channel to get into the system. New products, no matter how good they are, are not in any way appreciated for their ability to do the job. Even if the states do put us into their specifications as an equal to other products, we get into a bid procedure where everyone takes the lowest bid. You can wrap a silt fence around an inlet knowing it will fail, but you'll get the bid every time because that's the cheapest acceptable alternative. Someone proposing our product may not get the bid because their bid may come in higher because they're using better products."

Sediment runoff would be a far less prevalent problem if states required contractors to use more innovative products, says Singleton, who worked as a developer before founding Silt-Saver. He remembers the frustration he used to feel when, as a developer, the sediment control measures he installed on his sites continually fell short.

"The products I was using failed every time it rained," he says. "The county would come down and write me a citation every time. It was extremely frustrating."

Though Singleton would like to see states move faster, at least some have taken concrete steps to improve the control of sediment on construction projects. Singleton points to South Carolina as a prime example.

Officials with engineering company Woolpert in 2001 performed an audit of erosion control measures that the South Carolina Department of Transportation was routinely using on its construction projects. A consistent problem? Inlet protection. Contractors frequently did not install devices that adequately prevented sediment from washing through inlets.

To help solve the problem, Woolpert officials suggested that the department of transportation create a new classification of rigid inlet filter. Such filters are better equipped to handle higher flow rates generated from larger construction sites. Silt-Saver products would meet this new classification. The state approved the new inlet filter specifications in 2005, says Johns, the engineer with Woolpert.

Woolpert also developed new specifications for blankets and turf reinforcement mats to help the department better control erosion on its construction sites. Updating and toughening the specifications should ultimately make life easier for contractors, Johns says.

"Before, contractors would look at the specs, and they'd say you need an erosion control blanket. Well, what do they mean when they say that? Most times, it'd be the cheapest blanket that would be purchased," Johns says. "We've eliminated that. Now they can only purchase what is on the list of approved products. The products on the list are better products. For instance, our class-A erosion control blanket is double netted. Single-netted straw blankets are no longer allowed."

The new specifications also call for more effective sediment tubes. The big change? Contractors can no longer use straw sediment tubes on department of transportation projects.

"When we did the audit, at the time straw bales were an acceptable practice. But every site where we saw straw bales being used, we saw that they weren't being used properly," Johns says. "We didn't want to use straw sediment tubes because we were afraid contractors would see that and get the mindset that they'd just use straw bales instead of the sediment tubes. The tubes are a much better product."

Stump, from Sacramento Bag, has seen a positive impact from tougher regulations, too. Officials with the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2005 made the company's Rock Log—a woven inlet-protection device that is heat sealed to prevent rupture—an approved product on all department projects.

The department has now approved the product for perimeter control around rainwater gardens in high-density parking lots, to be used as filter rings on inlet structures prior to gutter placement, and for a host of other uses.

The current Eco-Bag costs $19. That version is a molded variety. Eco-Blok officials are now developing a second, lower-cost alternative that they expect to sell for $3 to $4 each.

"I have spoken to a dozen public works directors who say this is exactly what they need," Horan says. "The sandbags break and that makes a worse problem. These don't break. They can use them over and over again."

Horan isn't the only manufacturer hoping that the NPDES regulations encourage contractors to seek out more innovative products. John McPherson, vice president of research and development with Redmond, WA–based Natural Site Solutions, is banking on this, too.

His company distributes Storm-Klear Gel-Floc and Storm-Klear Liqui-Floc, simple controlled-dosing flocculants that reduce turbidity, phosphorous, metals, and grease in stormwater before it has a chance to leave a construction site. He hopes that contractors realize that by focusing on keeping water runoff clear, they are meeting the larger goal of sediment control: preventing polluted water from infecting other sites.

"If you had a construction site and you had no dust management or sediment control practices in place at all and yet were able to discharge clean water, you'd consider that a success, right?" McPherson asks. "You don't have to check dams, you won't have to erect much silt fence, but you'll still have beautiful clean water discharging from your site. If you can purify the water, it de-emphasizes the strict requirement for expensive best management practices."

McPherson, of course, recognizes that this sounds like heresy to many in the erosion control field. "We are kind of trying to change the face of this industry," he says. "If you can discharge clean water, and the contractor's feet are not being held to the fire to put straw on everything, to put blankets on every slope—all of these things that cost money—think how happy everyone would be. If they can do that and avoid endangering the environment, then it is looking like the problem is solved. Of course, those are fighting words in this industry."

McPherson recalls one particular project in which Storm-Klear saved the developer time and money. In 2001, a homebuilder was constructing single-family homes on a 10-acre site in Sammamish, WA. Problem was, dirty stormwater from the site traveled downstream and muddied up neighboring trout ponds. Amid an uproar from neighbors and watchdog groups, state officials fined the builder and shut down the site.

That's when McPherson, who is a chemist, stepped in and installed his company's Gel-Floc system on the site. "There was a lot of screaming going on at the time, I remember," McPherson says. "Lawsuits were being filed. It was pretty ugly. But within two to three weeks, we had the site back up and going. The neighbors' trout ponds were cleared. Everyone was happy."

To clear the stormwater discharged from the site, McPherson first sent it over a Gel-Floc unit and then directed it to a permanent stormwater retention base for gravity settling. After settling and further biofiltration, the Gel-Floc unit greatly reduced contaminant levels, including turbidity, metals, and phosphorus, in the runoff. After McPherson installed the Gel-Floc unit, state officials had no cause to levy any additional fines during the project, meaning that construction crews avoided further costly work stoppages.

"That's a good example of how a stormwater problem can be solved," he notes. "It's a simple system. Everyone likes the space shuttle, but for small sites, you really do need systems that are not complicated. Ours are not. We hope to be able to raise awareness of this approach to managing runoff."

Do such success stories mean a significant change in the way contractors approach sediment control on their sites? Paul McGrath, owner of L.V.H. Silt Fence and Erosion Control in Lemont, IL, thinks they might.

McGrath is already experimenting with more innovative and efficient measures of controlling sediment. He's become, for instance, an ardent user of McCormick Equipment's Silt Fence Plow. In October, he used the plow to install 11,600 feet worth of silt fence in a cornfield in New Lenox, IL. It took him and his crew a total of 55 minutes, using the plow, to do the job. He then had the job site staked, stapled, and completed in just five total hours. To do the same work on the 165-acre site of a future 350-home subdivision with a trencher would have taken McGrath, with double crews, at least two full days.

It's such savings in time and money, McGrath says, coupled with the ability to avoid large fines, that will ultimately make products such as the Silt Fence Plow ones that contractors seek out.

"I think people are getting more aware of how important it is to control sediment runoff from their sites," he says. "I still find myself explaining the reasoning to people, though. You still get the builders who put in silt fence and it's flapping in the wind. It's not trenched in at all. You can see water or dirt running under it. But once you educate people, they understand."

Dan Rafter is a technical writer based in Chesterton, IN.