Ohio River Basin Trading Program: Quarterly Update
November 18, 2009 Public Webcast
Jessica FoxProject [email protected]
Audio:
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Purpose of Webcast
• Quarterly Project Update• Continue Collaborative Framework• Invite Comments and Questions
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Project Highlights
Last Webcast:• Highlighted WARMF modeling effort• Collaborator in the Spotlight: ORSANCO• Funding Pending
This Webcast:• Funding Executed• Project in the press• Collaborator in the Spotlight: American Farmland Trust• EPRI Complementary Project: Ohio River Ecological
Research Program• EPRI Launching Credit Stacking Research
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 New York Times Series: Toxic Waters
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 EPRI Interests
To establish water quality trading as an economically, socially, and ecologically palatable option for improving the outlook of polluted waters in the Ohio River Basin.
Alexander et al. 2000 Nature V 403
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Project Collaboration
Electric Power Research Institute
American Electric Power
American Farmland Trust
Hoosier Energy
Hunton & Williams
Kieser & Associates
Miami Conservancy District
ORSANCO
Tennessee Valley Authority
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Project Area
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Project Approach
• Addressing the complex issue of water pollution in the Ohio River Basin will require significant collaboration, communication, consensus building, and outreach.
• Project will include the following elements:– Scientifically & Ecologically Defensible – Business Friendly– Regulatory Compliant – Social Benefit
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Funding
• EPA Targeted Watersheds Grant, Contracting, $1M, with match is $1.3M
• Conservation Innovation Grant USDA/NRCS Grant, Contracting, $297K, with match is $594K
• EPRI Supplemental Project, raised $310K, seeking $500K
Current Funding including match: ~$2M
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Conservation Innovation Grant
• Grant: $297,778• Coupling Market Infrastructure with Ecosystem Service
Markets: Initial Framework Scoping for an Ohio River Credit Trading Program
• The project will identify the structure, and preliminarily test the function of a specific agricultural credit calculation tools for water quality and greenhouse gas trading in a water quality credit trading market developing in the Ohio River.
• Investigating linking WARMF to USDA/NRCS Nutrient Trading Tool (NTT)
• http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/2009awards.html• 12 month scope
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 EPA Targeted Watershed Grant
• Regional Water Quality Trading Program Design for the Ohio River Basin. Grant: $995,000
• 3 year grant• Phase II proposal, Program design and implementation.• Scope:
– Overall Program Management & Design – Stakeholder Engagement– WARMF Modeling, Verification & Monitoring, Credit
Registry
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 EPRI Supplemental: Credit Stacking
Funded by EPRI Supplemental Project in WQT: American Electric Power, Tennessee Valley Authority, Hoosier Energy, Duke Energy
Phase I: National survey to collect case studies, practices, protocols, and agency perspectives. (funded)
Phase II: Generate “Guiding Principles” for credit stacking. (funded)
Phase III: Propose methodology to agencies and get interagency consensus. (to be funded)
Phase IV: Pilot test methodology in Ohio River Basin.
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 EPRI Press Release
EPRI Wins $1.3 Million in Federal Grants for Water Quality Trading Program
Collaborative Effort Looks to Curb Nitrogen, Phosphorus Discharges in Ohio River Basin
Palo Alto, Calif. – 10/13/2009 - The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced today receipt of $1.3 million in federal grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to launch a
regional water quality trading program in the Ohio River Basin.
Water quality trading employs a market-based approach designed to enable facilities facing high pollution control costs to buy reduction credits from another facility or entity with lower pollution control costs. The goal is to achieve the same or even better water
quality improvements more efficiently and at lower costs.
The project will focus on nitrogen and phosphorus discharges from sources within the Basin and is expected to result in cost-effective water quality improvements
throughout the region which includes portions of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
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Media Summary
EPRI Press Release EPA/USDA Grant Awards issued Oct. 14
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Project Website Hits
Water & Ecosystems: Ohio River Basin Trading Pilot Project
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May June July August Sept Oct
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Collaborators Spotlight
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 AFT’s Mission
Stop the loss of farmland and protect it for future generationsHelp farmers and ranchers produce a cleaner environmentMaintain economically sustainable agriculture sector
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Agriculture provides a host of environmental goodsAgriculture can cost effectively improve water quality and mitigate GHG
Opportunity
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Make it in farmers’ economic interests to provide environmental benefits
Develop ecosystem service markets
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Project Partner:
Project participants: producers, agriculture groups, state agencies, agriculture businesses, conservation districts…
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Project Vision
Develop a multi-state water quality trading system that improves water quality at a lower cost and creates economic incentives for farmers to adopt conservation practices
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Project Objectives
Engage key agriculture stakeholders in development of the marketUnderstand and address barriers to producers participationEducate producers on the opportunityProduce enough credits from farmers to make market sustainable
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Significant Demand
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Engaging Ag
Agriculture Advisory Committee Farmer Listening SessionsOutreachMedia
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Challenges
Understanding which BMPs qualifyDetermining baselinesInvolvement of third partiesAddressing trust issuesMarket structures that work for farmersReporting and verificationManaging riskCredit stacking
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Summary
Opportunity for agricultureFarmers initial reaction is positive but they are concerned about regulationNeed ag engaged to address concerns and develop market that works
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Cleaner waterCleaner airFarmers see environmental services as legitimate “crops” and part of their whole farm economic planning
Vision of success
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Complementary EPRI Work
• 37 Years Old.
• The World’s Longest and Largest maintained freshwater database on effects of thermal discharge from power plants.
• Shining example of what collaboration across shared water bodies can accomplish.
• Managed by Doug Dixon, EPRI
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Why This Is Innovative
• Cross-industry & agency collaboration: farmers, power plants, wastewater treatment plants, EPA, USDA, etc.
• Ecological Foundations: Use models to inform design, implementation, and adaptive management.
• Multi-state: Include at least 8 states• Uses markets to address intractable ecological issues:
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone• Multi-media: Water, Air, LandProject will be a model for the rest of the nation on how
to cost-effectively address multidimensional ecological issues.
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Next Quarter Activities
• Draft Operating Charter• Draft Interstate MOU• Begin Research into Credit Stacking• Start Defining Project Steering Committees
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Ohio River Trading Project Website
www.epri.com/ohiorivertrading
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1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712 Staying Connected
• Save the Date, Quarterly Webcasts:– February 17, 2010 - 10 am PT– May 19, 2010 – 10 am PT
• Add Yourself to Our Contact List• Send Comments
– E-mail: [email protected]– www.ohiorivertrading.com
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Questions & Answers: If you have a question during the webcast you can…
Type your question to the presenters using the Q&A Feature
We will only have time to answer a few questions
during the webcast, but we will keep track of what is
asked and get back to everyone with the answers
Let us know you have a question
36© 2009 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-877-789-2085PIN: 7712
Jessica Fox, Project Manager
Project e-mail: [email protected]
www.epri.com/ohiorivertrading