Piloting Point Source to Non Point Source Nutrient Trading in the Upper Chesapeake Bay

This project is the development and pilot implementation of an agricultural nutrient raiding or offset program for the State of Maryland to use in managing nutrient loads from point and non-point sources. The approaches developed will provide opportunity and structure for intrastate, as well as, interstate trading in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The project will build on the basic tenets contained in the 2001 EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Nutrient Trading Fundamental Principles and Guidelines and the 2003 EPA Water Quality Trading Policy.

The development of this program will require and include the participation of the affected communities, environmental organizations, and State and local elected officials prior to adoption. A second objective is to gain a better understanding of the quantitative issues surrounding nutrient trading in the agricultural sector. Issues of costs, efficiencies, incentives and returns will be analyzed in order to develop policy based on current market and economic forces. A further goal of the project is to demonstrate, through a pilot or demonstration project in the upper Chesapeake Bay, that trades can be part of a successful program to reduce nutrients to the Bay and its tributaries.