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2005 Session

Budget Amendments - HB1500 (Conference Report)

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Nutrient Trading Program (language only)

Item 388 #2c

Item 388 #2c

Natural Resources
Environmental Quality, Department of

Language
Page 372, after line 27, insert:
"3.  Up to $300,000 in the second year from the amounts appropriated for deposit to the Water Quality Improvement Fund for the control of nutrient pollution from point sources may be used to provide a grant to the Virginia Nutrient Credit Exchange Association created pursuant to House Bill 2862 and Senate Bill 1275, as adopted by the 2005 Session of the General Assembly.  The terms and conditions applicable to this grant shall be established by the Department of Environmental Quality.  The purposes for which the Virginia Nutrient Credit Exchange Association may use this grant include, but are not limited to, retaining technical expertise for the development of trading scenarios, analyzing the trading options that may exist within each of Virginia's Chesapeake Bay tributaries, establishing timetables and schedules for upgrading point source facilities, and developing a compliance plan for meeting statutory and regulatory criteria."


Explanation
(This amendment provides a grant of up to $300,000 in the second year from the existing general fund amounts provided for the control of nutrient pollution from wastewater treatment plants to the Virginia Nutrient Credit Exchange Association created by legislation approved by the 2005 Session of the General Assembly. This association will facilitate the Commonwealth's ability to improve its water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed by allowing for the trading of nutrient credits between the cleanest and dirtiest wastewater treatment plants. Nutrient trading has the potential to reduce Virginia's Chesapeake Bay clean up costs.)