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New water quality approach to rely on economic incentives
WASHINGTON — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants states to create
trading programs that will allow industrial facilities and wastewater treatment
plants to buy and sell each other's pollution.
The trading program EPA is trying to create will rely on economic incentives to
meet federal water quality standards, possibly saving the public hundreds of
millions of dollars in water cleanup costs, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
According to AP, the agency said industrial and municipal facilities will be
able to acquire pollution "credits" by certifying to states and American Indian
tribes that they have reduced their own pollution beyond what is required by law
using up-to-date technologies.
Those who do not meet water quality limits in their permit could buy those
credits. Landowners and farmers also could create credits to be sold, for
example, by changing cropping practices or by planting shrubs and trees next to
a stream, the EPA said.
"It applies to anyone who's looking for a least-cost way to meet water quality
standards," G. Tracy Mehan III, assistant EPA administrator and head of its
Office of Water, said Thursday, according to AP.
"Because of the efficiency and the cost savings, it reduces the barriers and
hopefully speeds up cleanup of our impaired waters."
Phosphorous and nitrogen, both nutrients from animal waste that run off farms
and into rivers and streams, are among the biggest pollutants targeted by the
new approach, AP reported.
"This is a whole new approach to dealing with water in the United States. We
have not used market-based approaches in the past," said Paul Faeth, managing
director of World Resources Institute, an environmental organization, AP
reported.
The US Public Interest Research Group said in October that its analysis of EPA
records showed that four of five wastewater treatment plants and chemical and
industrial facilities in the United States pollute waterways beyond what their
federal permits allow, a contention disputed by the Association of Metropolitan
Sewerage Agencies.
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