Nutrient and Carbon Credit Trading Seminars Set For February

The Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Capital Resource Conservation and Development Area Council are jointly hosting two one-day seminars on nutrient credit and carbon trading in State College and Lancaster on February 12 and 19.

 

Nutrient trading is a voluntary, market driven program that helps to identify and finance cost-effective solutions to reducing nutrient loadings into a watershed. The program allows one nutrient generating source to meet reduction goals by acquiring nutrient reduction credits from another source within the same watershed.

 

Credits are generated when a source reduces nutrient loadings to a greater extent than is required. A non-point source must first ensure that it is meeting baseline compliance, and then that it is meeting minimum requirements referred to as “threshold requirements.”

 

The installation of Best Management Practices, which are above these requirements, can generate credits for a nonpoint source.

 

For example, a farmer who decides to plant no-till corn for silage and plant cover crops can generate nutrient reduction credits and possibly sell those to a local municipality that needs credits to meet their environmental permit requirements.

 

By converting to no-till and planting cover crops or forested stream buffers that farmer can also generate carbon sequestration credits and potentially sell those credits in new emerging carbon credit markets like the Chicago Climate Exchange.

 

The February 12 workshop will take place at the Ramada Inn and Convention Center, State College and the February 19 workshop will be at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center, Lancaster.

 

The public session at both meetings, geared toward farmers and other landowners interested in generating nutrient and carbon credits, will begin at 1:00 p.m. and will continue until approximately 3:30 p.m..

 

The beginning session will be an overview of environmental markets, followed by a session on how nutrient trading works and the financial benefits of trading. A report on a successful credit trade will be examined, followed by an explanation of carbon trading.

 

Landowners are encouraged to register by contacting Brenda Shambaugh at 717-238-7223 ext. 19 or by sending email to: Brenda-Shambaugh@pacd.org.