Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Water-Quality Management Services

What Is Water-Quality Trading?

Water-quality trading is essentially the sale or exchange of pollutant “credits” among the various dischargers of the pollutant.

Why Is This Beneficial?

It can allow the achievement of water-quality goals at lower overall cost. If the dischargers in a watershed have different costs to remove the pollutant, the ones with the lowest costs can remove more than they're required to do and sell those additional reductions to the high-cost dischargers. So the overall cost is lowered. In addition, it may be possible to achieve more and faster reductions than would be possible without trading.

Is This Legal?

Yes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is strongly supporting the development of water-quality trading programs and issued a formal policy statement on it in January, 2003. Several trading programs are active in the United States and others are under development in many states.

Who Can Participate in Trading Program?

This will depend on the specific requirements of the trading program. In general, wastewater treatment plants would be buyers of credits; the sellers could include other wastewater treatment plants or agricultural nonpoint sources.