Pilot Test Interstate Water Quality Trading in the Ohio River Basin

This CIG funding request will enable project collaborators to test key technical, regulatory and economic components of the program by completing pilot interstate trades between farmers and industrial point sources. These will come from direct interactions with more than 150 farmers. It is anticipated that these WQT credits will come from new conservation practices on up to 20,000 acres yielding reductions of up to 45,000 lbs of total nitrogen and 15,000 lbs annually entering the Ohio River3. This CIG funding will leverage substantial USEPA and industry funding already committed to developing this market, and will provide the real-life learning necessary for states to approve a regional Water Quality Trading that would span across the Ohio River Basin. This would expand opportunities for agriculture and point sources to collectively achieve nutrient reduction targets in a cost-effective manner.