MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota plans to release a draft set of model standards today to help communities struggling to regulate the boom in mining for silica sand, which oil and gas drillers use for hydraulic fracturing.

They’re meant to give smaller governments a toolbox of approaches they can tailor to cope with sand mining’s effects on the environment, public health and roads and bridges. The Environmental Quality Board plans to post the draft on its website Friday to start a 30-day public comment period, and to hold a public meeting Wednesday to discuss details.

“We’re trying to make sure local decision-makers have the tools they need to best address the concerns in their communities,” said Will Seuffert, the EQB’s executive director.

The voluntary standards are among several steps the 2013 Legislature ordered to address silica sand mining, which Minnesota has regulated mostly on the local level so far. State agencies are also drafting regulations — which will have force of law — to say when projects trigger formal environmental reviews, to deal with air quality issues near silica sand operations, and to update state requirements for reclaiming closed mines.