Attendees to the 2016 MACo Winter Conference heard about lessons learned from several counties who participated in a nutrient credit trading pilot program in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). At the CBF: County Nutrient Trading Pilot Program session on December 8, CBF Maryland Land Use Planner Erik Fisher told a full room how CBF worked on a pilot trading program for three counties: (1) Montgomery County, Maryland; (2) Queen Anne’s County, Maryland; and (3) Arlington County, Virginia.

Fisher stated the purpose of the trading program was to meet the counties’ stormwater management goals. The pilot program for Arlington focused on trading with wastewater treatment plants while the programs for Montgomery and Queen Anne’s Counties focused on trades with the agriculture sector.