Appendix 1. The Tar-Pamlico Nutrient Trading Program
for total nitrogen in
the year, 4
for total nitrogen in the summer, and 8
the winter based on current technological capabilities.
in the basin responded to the initial strategy with concerns regarding
the high costs of new facility construction to meet the nutrient control goals. The
dischargers soon formed a coalition, the Tar-Pamlico Basin Association (the
Association), and began negotiations with NCDEM, the Environmental Defense
Fund (NCEDF), and the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation. In 1989, these parties
agreed on a new strategy that allowed for "nutrient trading" between point source
dischargers and agricultural operations while meeting the overall nutrient
reduction goal.
Under the agreement, the Association contributes funds for agricultural best
in order to achieve, all or part of the total nutrient
management practices
reduction goals established for the member facilities. The underlying premise is
that nutrient reductions via
can be more cost-effective (on a per kilogram
removal basis) than removing nutrients from point sources. The Association
estimates that controlling one unit of
source loads with
costs
tenth as much as controlling the same load from a wastewater treatment plant (M.
Green, 1993). The nutrient trading proposal was approved by the North Carolina
Environmental Management Commission in December 1989. The program sets
up an overall reduction goal and then allows nutrient sources to
the most
cost-effective way to allocate allowable loads. Association members have the
flexibility to trade reduction credits among themselves or to pay to control
pollution from agricultural sources, as long as the total nutrient limit for the basin
is not exceeded (NCEDF, 1993).
Determining initial Load Reduction, Goals, and Costs
NCDEM projected the 1994 flow for all the municipal Association members at
30.55 million gallons per day (mgd). Assuming no nutrient reductions from
strategy conditions, NCDEM estimated that total nutrient loading in 1994 would
Under the original NSW proposal, which required
reach 625,000
mandatory phosphorus and nitrogen limits for point sources, projected loadings
for 1994 would decrease to
425,000
a reduction of 200,000
Subsequently,
Association, NCEDF, and the Pamlico-Tar
River Foundation together established 200,000
as the reduction goal for
Phase I of the Nutrient Trading Program. Of this, 180,000
is for nitrogen
and 20,000
is for phosphorus (NCDEM, 1992). The program was a popular
solution because it fulfilled the States NSW reduction goals, addressed
source concerns, and reduced the economic burden of municipal dischargers.
The estimated cost of achieving the 200,000
nutrient reduction goal using
agricultural
alone was .8 million, million on the ground and
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.8
million in administration (Harding, 1990). These values were determined by
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