Using Markets To Help Clean Waterways

Virginia is taking the advice of economists and using markets to help clean waterways.

1 minute read

March 20, 2004, 5:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


Some policymakers think the power of markets can help cleanse the nation’s waterways of nutrient pollution. Marketlike trading has been touted as a cheaper way to stimulate pollution prevention and speed compliance. The Environmental Protection Agency in 2003 published guidelines for nutrient trading, which gave the idea official support. EPA even threw in funding for pilot projects. The Clean Water Act’s legal limits known as total maximum daily loads, TMDLs, are under development for polluted waters. Those load limits, for the first time, would set caps for pollution in waterways and allocate discharges that could be bought and sold.

Thanks to Chris Steins

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 in Federal Reserve Bank Of Richmond

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