World Resources Institute Publication (December 2009)
http://pdf.wri.org/factsheets/factsheet_nutrient_trading_chesapeake_bay.pdf
[Environmental Valuation and Cost Benefit News] “Congress is considering proposals to revise and strengthen the Clean Water Act for the Chesapeake Bay region and improve the health of the region’s streams, rivers, and wetlands. Senator Cardin’s and Representative Cummings’s proposed legislation, The Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009, provides significant new resources and tools to help restore the Bay. Water quality trading for nutrients, or “nutrient trading”, is one such tool. It could make it possible to achieve Bay restoration goals faster and at lower cost. It also could create an additional source of revenue for farmers.
“Trading creates revenue opportunities and reduces cost. Nutrient trading is based on the fact that the cost to reduce nutrient pollution differs between sources. With trading, entities that are able to reduce their pollution below required levels are able to sell their surplus reductions to entities facing higher costs. Trading therefore allows those for whom it is cheaper to reduce nutrient pollution (e.g., farmers) to enjoy new revenue sources. It also allows those for whom it is more expensive to reduce nutrient pollution (e.g., municipal stormwater systems, wastewater treatment plants) to save money.”
