Background Information on Water Quality Trading and Wetland Mitigation Banking

Background Federal Policy

Federal Guidance for the Establishment, Use and Operation of Mitigation Banks. 60 Fed. Reg. 228, 58605-58614. 1995. See: <http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/guidance/mitbankn.cfml>.

National Wetlands Mitigation Action Plan. See: <http://www.mitigationactionplan.gov/>.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water. January 13, 2003. “Final Water Quality Trading Policy.” See: <http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/trading/tradingpolicy.cfml>.


Background on Water Quality Trading and Intersection with Wetland Mitigation Banking

Faeth, Paul. 2000. “Fertile Ground: Nutrient Trading’s Potential to Cost-effectively Improve Water Quality.” World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

Faeth, Paul and G. Tracy Mehan, III. January 2005. “Nutrient Runoff Creates Dead Zone.” WRI Features, Vol. 3, No. 1. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

Faeth, Paul and Greenhalgh, Suzie. November 2000. “A Climate and Environmental Strategy for U.S. Agriculture.” WRI Issue Brief, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

Greenhalgh, Suzie and Amanda Sauer. February 2003. “Awakening the Dead Zone: An Investment for Agriculture, Water Quality, and Climate Change.” WRI Issue Brief, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

Harrison, John and Pamela Matson. 2003. “Patterns and controls of nitrous oxide emissions from waters draining a subtropical agricultural valley.” Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 17(3): 1080.

King, Dennis M. 2005. “Crunch Time for Water Quality Trading.” Choices. 20(1): 71-75.

King, Dennis M. and Peter J. Kuch. 2003. “Will Nutrient Credit Trading Ever Work? An Assessment of Supply and Demand Problems and Institutional Obstacles.” Environmental Law Reporter, 33 ELR 10352. Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC.

Landry, Mark, Antje Siems, Gerald Stedge, and Leonard Shabman. February 2005. “Applying Lessons Learned from Wetlands Mitigation Banking to Water Quality Trading.” Abt Associates Inc., Bethesda, MD.

Morgan, Cynthia and Ann Wolverton. June, 2005. “Water Quality Trading in the United States.” Working Paper # 05-07. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Economics.

Raffini, Eric and Morgan Robertson. In Press. “Water Quality Trading: What Can We Learn From 10 Years of Wetland Mitigation Banking?” National Wetlands Newsletter, Vol 27, No. 4. Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC.

Ribaudo, Marc O., Ralph Heimlich, and Mark Peters. 2005. “Nitrogen sources and Gulf hypoxia: potential for environmental credit trading.” Ecological Economics. 52 (2005) 159-168.

Siems, Antje, Jenny Ahlen, and Mark Landry. March 2005. “An Examination of Key Elements and Conditions for Establishing a Water Quality Trading Bank.” Abt Associates Inc., Bethesda, MD.

Talbert, Gerald. “Water Quality Trading: Nonpoint Credit Bank Model.” National Association of Conservation Districts.

The Wetlands Initiative. May 2002. “Nitrogen Farming: Using Wetlands to Remove Nitrogen From Our Nation’s Waters.” (Summary Report of Four Workshops.) The Wetlands Initiative, Chicago, IL.

Background Information on Wetland Mitigation Banking

Environmental Law Institute. 2002. “Banks and Fees” Web site. See: <http://www.eli.org/compensatory-mitigation>.

  • “Federal Context for Wetland Mitigation Banking.” (Click on “Regulatory Context.”)
  • “Background on Compensatory Mitigation, Wetland Mitigation Banking, and In-Lieu-Fee Mitigation." (Click on “Background.”)
  • “ELI Study Methodology and Summary Findings.” (Click on “Background.”)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Institute for Water Resources. See: <http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/iwr/regulatory/regulintro.cfm>.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. See: <http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/guidance/index.cfml#mitigation>.