Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart C - Protection of Natural Resources › Article II - Water Resources › Chapter 96 - WATER QUALITY STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION › Section 96.8 - Use of offsets and tradable credits from pollution reduction activities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
Definitions
. The following words and terms, when used in this
					 section, have the following meanings, unless the context indicates otherwise:
Aggregator
-A person that arranges for
						the sale of credits generated by another person, or arranges for the credits to
						be certified, verified and registered.
Agricultural operation
-The management
						and use of farming resources for the production of crops, livestock or poultry,
						or for equine activity.
Baseline
-
(i) The compliance activities and performance
					 standards that must be implemented to meet current environmental laws and
					 regulations related to the pollutant for which credits or offsets are
					 generated.
(ii) The term includes
					 allocations established under this chapter, in a TMDL or in a similar
					 allocation, for the pollutant.
BMP-Best management practice
-
(i) Schedules of activities, prohibitions of
					 practices, maintenance procedures and other management practices to prevent or
					 reduce pollutants to surface waters of this Commonwealth.
(ii) The term includes treatment
					 requirements, operating procedures and practices to control plant site runoff,
					 spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material
					 storage.
(iii) The term includes
					 activities, facilities, measures, planning or procedures used to minimize
					 accelerated erosion and sedimentation and manage stormwater to protect,
					 maintain, reclaim and restore the quality of waters and the existing and
					 designated uses of waters within this Commonwealth before, during and after
					 earth disturbance activities.
(iv)
					 The term also includes riparian buffers, soil and slope stabilization measures,
					 control of fertilization practices, and other actions and measures designed to
					 reduce erosion and runoff of soil, sediment and pollutants from the land
					 surface during precipitation events; or to reduce the contamination of
					 groundwater with pollutants that may affect surface waters.
(v) The term includes BMP measures developed
					 under this title to reduce pollutant loading to surface waters.
Certification
-Written approval by the
						Department of a proposed pollutant reduction activity to generate credits
						before the credits are verified and registered to be used to comply with NPDES
						permit effluent limitations.
Credit
-The tradable unit of compliance
						that corresponds with a unit of reduction of a pollutant as recognized by the
						Department which, when certified, verified and registered, may be used to
						comply with NPDES permit effluent limitations.
Credit reserve
-Credits set aside by the
						Department to address pollutant reduction failures and uncertainty.
DMR-Discharge monitoring report
-The
						Department or EPA supplied forms for reporting of self-monitoring results by
						the permittee.
Delivery ratio
-A ratio that compensates
						for the natural attenuation of a pollutant as it travels in water before it
						reaches a defined compliance point.
Edge of segment ratio
-A ratio that
						identifies the amount of a pollutant expected to reach the surface waters at
						the boundary of a Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model segment through surface runoff
						and groundwater flows from a pollutant source within a watershed
						segment.
Nutrient
-Nitrogen or phosphorus.
Offset
-The pollutant load reduction
						measured in pounds that is created by an action, activity or technology which
						when approved by the Department may be used to comply with NPDES permit
						effluent limitations, conditions and stipulations under Chapter 92a (relating
						to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting, monitoring and
						compliance). The offset may only be used by the NPDES permittee that the
						Department determines is associated with the load reduction achieved by the
						action, activity or technology.
Pollutant
-Nutrient or sediment.
Pollutant reduction activity
-An
						activity, such as a BMP or effluent control, that is implemented to prevent or
						reduce a pollutant load to surface waters of this Commonwealth.
Registration
-An accounting mechanism
						used by the Department to track certified and verified credits before they may
						be used to comply with NPDES permit effluent limitations.
Reserve ratio
-A 10% ratio that is
						applied to the pollutant reductions generated, which establishes the credits to
						be set aside for the Department's credit reserve.
Threshold
-Activities and performance
						standards beyond baseline compliance which are required under subsection (d)(3)
						before credits may be certified.
Tradable load
-The amount of nonpoint
						source pollutant reduction determined to be the projected future pollutant load
						that is the difference between the total reduction theoretically possible from
						maximum implementation of pollutant reduction activities, and the reduction
						associated with a level of pollutant reduction activities identified by the
						Department as reasonably attainable.
Trade
-A transaction that involves the
						sale or other exchange, through a contractual agreement, of credits that have
						been certified, verified and registered.
Trading ratio
-A ratio applied to adjust
						a pollutant reduction when calculating credits for a pollutant reduction
						activity. A trading ratio is used to address uncertainty, water quality,
						reduction failures or other considerations. The term will include a delivery
						ratio, an edge of segment ratio and a reserve ratio.
Verification
-Assurance that the
						verification plan contained in a certification, permit or other approval issued
						by the Department under this section has been implemented. Verification is
						required prior to registration of the credits for use in an NPDES permit to
						comply with NPDES permit effluent limitations.