Yardstick needed

Nutrient trading approach needs some adjustments

In business, where every action represents either expense or income, anyone proposing a new product or idea will ultimately be expected come up with a measurable outcome.

Will the costs be within acceptable parameters?

Will the revenue opportunity be big enough to make the project worthwhile?

To the degree it’s humanly possible, business works most efficiently with objective goals and measurable outcomes. It’s hard to spot success if there’s nothing to measure. Sure, sometimes a “go with my gut” approach works out, but that’s hardly a solid business plan.

So when we hear advocates for environmental protection suggesting a proposed state regulation to create a system for “nutrient trading” comes up short on measurables, it seems worthy of attention.

Beyond the need to measure a proposal’s potential and real impact on the environment, the question makes sense: How does one trade anything if it’s not being accurately measured?

If you were buying gold, for example, and you knew the going rate was $1,500 an ounce, how would you react if the seller tossed some gold on the table and said “That’s somewhere around 10 ounces. Where’s my $15,000?” A reasonable reaction would include a “trust but verify” response.

This new regulation would create a system in which municipal sewage treatment plant operators could

“trade” nutrients, which in this case represent a form of pollutant. A plant that treats its waste well enough to drop below its permitted levels for certain nutrients could “sell” that excess capacity to another plant within the watershed that isn’t meeting its permit.

The Beaver Water District, which supplies drinking water from Beaver Lake to the region’s larger cities, and others who want to protect water quality in Northwest Arkansas have raised serious questions about how well defined the state regulation is as currently proposed.

How serious can this regulation be taken when it identifies the entire state of Arkansas as one watershed?

Beaver Water District officials have proposed a 15-page rewrite of the regulation, which is currently six pages. The regulation, after review by state officials, will impact nutrient trading across the state.

Nutrient trading may be an effective tool in managing the pollutants our human activities put into the environment, but specific measurables are a necessity. One official suggested “you have to have trust at some point.” We appreciate the sentiment, but disagree when it comes to environmental protection.

Shortcomings could be adjusted later, but they should be handled to the greatest extent possible in the launch of such a program. Get it as right as possible the first time.

It’s clear this measure has room for much improvement.