Nutrient Water Quality Trading: A Market- Based Solution to Water Pollution in the Natural State* I. INTRODUCTION In the decades since the passage of the Clean Water Act (CWA), our nation’s waters remain impaired by dangerous levels of nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen, which can cause serious health impacts.1 Excess nutrients also have a substantial environmental impact on waterbodies,2 which in turn diminishes the recreational value of these resources.3 Efforts to control these nutrient levels place a substantial economic burden on local governments in both providing clean drinking water as well as treating wastewater.4 The CWA’s cooperative federalism approach divides sources of nutrient pollution into * The author thanks Professor Sara Rollet Gosman, and several members of the Arkansas Bar Association Environmental Law Section for their guidance, encouragement, and criticism throughout the drafting of this comment. All errors remain the author’s. Any comments or questions may be directed to the author at
[email protected]. 1. The Problem, EPA, http://www2.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/problem [https://perma.cc/9FZF-93XY] (“Nutrient pollution is one of nation’s most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems.”); ARK. NAT. RES. COMM’N, 2011-2016 NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION MANAGEMENT PLAN 53, 54 (2012) [hereinafter NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION MANAGEMENT PLAN], http://www.arkansaswater.org/data/Full_NPSPlan_Document.pdf [https://perma.cc/U53K- ZXJ2]. 2. The Effects: Environment, EPA, https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/effects- environment [https://perma.cc/GW3Z-Q86V]. 3. EPA, THE FACTS ABOUT NUTRIENT POLLUTION 2 (2012), https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015- 03/documents/facts_about_nutrient_pollution_what_is_hypoxia.pdf [https://perma.cc/FG7D-K4VH] (noting that the U.S.