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Pollutant Trading Regulations Would Provide Much-Needed Flexibility
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New Pollutant Trading Regulations Would
Provide Much-Needed Flexibility
Across the nation, states struggle to maintain
water quality while allowing communities and businesses to
grow. In April, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s
water quality trading work group moved toward creating a system
that would do just that, by enabling dischargers to buy and
trade pollutant credits.
Under the current system, facilities in
most of the state cannot increase their discharges. This has
posed problems for municipalities dealing with waste water
from growing populations.
If the proposed system is implemented, facilities
that reduce their discharges could trade their excess discharge
credits to others needing to increase their loads—as
long as there is no net increase in the current pollutant
levels set by Minnesota’s total maximum daily load (TMDL)
standards. A web-based tool will allow credit sellers and
buyers to find one another and make the trading process easier.
The establishment of a water quality trading
rule for Minnesota is schedule to be completed in 2008 or
2009.
For more on pollutant trading, contact Keith
Hanson (952-832-8222 or khanson@barr.com)
or Dale Finnesgaard (952-832-2667 or dfinnesgaard@barr.com).
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