California Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP)

      Category:  Regulatory Approaches
      Policy Type:  Environmental Caps & Limits
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  North America
      Country:  United States
      Description: The California State Water Resources Control Board introduced the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP) to prevent agricultural discharges from reducing the ecological health of watersheds. This program regulates discharges from irrigated agricultural lands by issuing waste discharge requirements (WDRs) or conditional waivers of WDRs (Orders) to growers. These Orders contain conditions requiring water quality monitoring of receiving waters and corrective actions when impairments are found.
      Outcome:  The California ILRP helps to mitigate the nutrient pollution resulting from agricultural discharges. The number of acres of agricultural land enrolled in the ILRP is about six million acres. The number of growers enrolled is approximately 40,000.

      Reference:  California State Water Resources Control Board: Irrigated Land Regulatory Program

      Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative (CBWI)

      Category:  Price-Based Instruments; Environmental Outreach & Education
      Policy Type:  Subsidies, Grants & Incentive Payments; Technical Assistance
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  North America
      Country:  United States
      Description: The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative (CBWI) is a targeted effort to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment loads coming from private lands. Through CBWI and other Farm Bill programs, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and its partners help private landowners and managers implement conservation practices that protect the watershed's soil and water resources while maintaining productive working lands. Under CBWI, eligible landowners receive technical and financial assistance to address soil erosion, sedimentation and excess nutrients in streams and waterways. Farmers and forest landowners plant stream buffers, restore wetlands, properly manage manure, and implement other conservation practices as part of CBWI.
      Outcome:  Investments in private lands conservation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed benefit farmers and ranchers by supporting conservation activities that improve soil and water quality. These improvements support long-term productivity and reduce the need for additional regulation.

      Reference:  USDA: Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative

      Chesapeake Clean Water Fund

      Category:  Market-Based Instruments; Institution & Capacity; Environmental Outreach & Education
      Policy Type:  Voluntary Environmental Markets; Partnerships; Public Awareness
      Sector:  Mixed
      Region:  North America
      Country:  United States
      Description: The Chesapeake Clean Water Fund established a voluntary water quality market in the Chesapeake Bay watershed with a goal reducing excess nitrogen. As a parnership of Forest Trends, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the World Resources Institute, the Chesapeake Clean Water Fund hoped to increase the awareness of the contribution that businesses, institutions and citizens make to the pollution flowing into local rivers and streams; provide the opportunity to purchase "offsets" for those impacts that cannot be reduced; invest these funds in on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution thus catalyzing the water quality restoration efforts; and link this approach to other market-like ecosystem service financing schemes such as for carbon and biodiversity.
      Outcome:  The Chesapeake Clean Water Fund generated nutrient offsets by implementing agricultural nutrient reduction projects. The offsets were then sold to businesses who wished to voluntarily offset their impact on the Chesapeake Bay.

      Reference:  Chesapeake Clean Water Fund (U.S.)

      China Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water

      Category:  Regulatory Approaches
      Policy Type:  Environmental Standards
      Sector:  Mixed
      Region:  Asia
      Country:  China
      Description: China's Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water provide different parameters and limits for surface water quality. The parameters include total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
      Outcome:  The Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water serve as the guidlines to protect the quality of surface water.

      Reference:  China Environmental quality standards for surface water (GB3838-2002)--In Chinese

      China Pollutant Discharge Fees

      Category:  Price-Based Instruments
      Policy Type:  Taxes, Fees, Levies
      Sector:  Mixed
      Region:  Asia
      Country:  China
      Description: Under the provisions of 2008 Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law (P.R.C), enterprises, public institutions, and individually-owned business that directly discharge pollutants to waters are required to pay a pollutant discharge fee according to the category and quantity of the discharged water pollutants as well as the charging rates of such a fee. All revenues from collected fees go towards pollution prevention projects. The pollutant discharge fees may be exempted for those that discharge sewage to the centralized urban sewage disposition facilities and pay the sewage disposition fees. "Measures for the Administration of the Charging Rates for Pollutant Discharge Fees" has been implemented in 2003 to regulate the administration of charging rates for pollutant discharge fees.
      Outcome:  The pollutant discharge fees are based on category and quantity of discharge. The fees provide economic incentives for polluters to reduce wastewater discharges; however, no fees are required for the discharges of ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus at the present time.

      Reference:  Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China (2008 Revision)