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Abstract
Pennsylvania adopted a water quality trading program to reduce Chesapeake Bay
nutrient pollution. It is the first such program to provide regulated point sources the option of
purchasing nutrient reduction credits via arms-length market transactions to achieve mitigation
requirements. After the program initially experienced limited trading, the Pennsylvania
Infrastructure Investment Authority designed a nutrient credit clearinghouse to reduce some
of the transaction costs and risks that impeded market activity. We review the clearinghouse
functionality, examine initial results of its implementation, and evaluate its effectiveness.
Nutrient credit auctions conducted by the clearinghouse revealed that the clearinghouse
provided benefits for participants seeking to buy credits and that purchasing credits could be
a least-cost compliance alternative for many regulated point sources. To our knowledge, this
is the first clearinghouse to successfully administer a nutrient credit auction on behalf of
regulated point sources seeking to comply with a discharge permit.