ANNAPOLIS (May 9, 2010) – The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has scheduled a series of educational meetings to provide an overview of the new Maryland Nutrient Trading Program and introduce its web-based nutrient credit assessment tool, marketplace, and registry. Governor Martin O’Malley signed House Bill 974 into law last week, which enables the exchange (buying and selling) of nutrient reduction credits that have monetary value to help reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
The sessions run from 10:00 a.m. to noon and are as follows:
-- May 25 - Whitaker Campus Center Commons at Hood College in Frederick,
www.hood.edu
-- June 2 - Room 113, Conference Center at the La Plata campus of the College of Southern Maryland,
www.csmd.edu
-- June 3 - Room 110 at the Higher Education Center at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills,
www.chesapeake.edu
The agenda for each meeting will include the following:
-- Background information on the challenges posed by the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and the role of nutrient trading
-- The development of nutrient trading policy, protocols, and tools
-- The general features and requirements of Maryland’s trading program
-- How the nutrient trading market works and how to participate
-- Using the trading tool to establish eligibility and generate tradable credits
-- Getting credits certified, verified, and registered
-- Executing a trade
-- Financial incentives and environmental benefits from the growth of a comprehensive ecosystem marketplace
-- Carbon offset and stacking opportunities from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Act of 2009
-- The creation of a Maryland Carbon Sequestration/Trading Advisory Committee
All meetings will be moderated by Mark M. Bundy, Ph.D., who is the former Director of Education, Bay Policy, and Growth Management Services at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and a current member of the Maryland Green Building Council. Dr. Bundy facilitated the two-year process which drew upon the expertise of a diverse group of stakeholders from state agencies, regional and national organizations, and private industry to develop the principles, policies, and tools for Maryland’s nutrient trading program. Staff from MDA’s Office of Resource Conservation will be joined by representatives from the Maryland Department of the Environment, the World Resources Institute, the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, and the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts in discussing meeting topics and responding to questions.
To RSVP or obtain additional information, contact Susan Payne, coordinator of ecosystem markets, at 410-841-5865 or NuTrade@mda.state.md.us. Additional information about Maryland’s Nutrient Trading Program can be found on MDA’s homepage at
www.mda.state.md.us under MDA Events or
www.mdnutrienttrading.com.
Source: Maryland Department of Agriculture