|
Once you have calculated your potential to trade, your next step is to get your credits certified and approved by the Maryland Department of Agriculture. To do this, you need to complete and submit a Maryland Agriculture Nutrient Credit Registration and Certification application form (CCR form). If you use the website credit calculation tool, the required information and data is automatically added to your form which can be printed for submittal. A number of partners, including your local Soil Conservation District, are available to assist you in assessing your potential to trade.
MDA will review all applications to verify that:
- Baseline requirements are met
- Credit calculation are correct
- Conservation compliance requirements are met
- Credits generation proposal is reasonable
- The landowner/operator has consented
- Necessary USDA/FSA tract information has been provided
MDA or its representative may conduct a field visit to verify that baseline requirements are met and the credit generation proposal is appropriate. Following the review process, the CCR application will be approved by MDA and the credits certified. The credits will be given a unique registration number and entered into Maryland’s online Trading Registry.
The Maryland Nutrient Trading Program has been designed to function as a free market as much as possible. The trading policy defines the traded commodity, ensures proper functioning of the market, and requires public recording or trades and credit use. Beyond that however, market participants can find each other in any manner they choose and are largely free to negotiate the terms of their trades. Contractual arrangements between potential buyers and sellers can be negotiated at any time, before or after credit certification.
To assist those interested in participating in the market, MDA has set up this website - www.mdnutrienttrading.com. Besides the credit estimation tool, the website features a Marketplace, and a central Trading Registry. The online Marketplace will serve as a convenient and up-to-date place to assess activity in the market and find potential trading partners. If you choose to utilize the Marketplace, you will set up an account and use it to post registered credits and manage offers from buyers.
You may sell credits directly to regulated point sources or to conservation buyers. Or, you may decide not to do it yourself and choose to use a credit aggregator. In either case, you must execute a legally-enforceable contract with your buyers. The trading policy sets forth minimum requirements for each type of buyer/seller contract.
|