The bigger the pollution cut, the bigger the payment. That’s the idea behind a new pilot program Virginia farmers and landowners can now benefit from through the state.
The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) rolled out the pilot program this month, announcing deadlines for proposals and information sessions. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) championed the $20 million initiative, which legislators passed during the 2024 General Assembly session.
“This is a prime opportunity for farmers and landowners to earn money for reducing pollution,” said Joe Wood, CBF’s Virginia Senior Scientist and member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) of the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay program. “By paying for results, the state is encouraging innovation and ensuring that our resources are being used to achieve the greatest possible benefit.”
Stemming from a STAC recommendation, the program aims for effective, results-driven practices that drive nitrogen and phosphorus pollution reductions to the Chesapeake Bay.
The roll-out comes at a critical time for Bay restoration, with 2025 deadlines looming and growing calls for a commitment by Bay state leaders to the next chapter of restoration.
In addition to the major challenge of reducing pollution that comes from nonpoint sources like stormwater and agricultural runoff, bipartisan leaders have called for the next chapter of Bay restoration to include solutions afforded by the latest science, climate change resilience, and people.
In the new program, payments to farmers would be linked to how much pollution a project reduces in a nearby waterway.
“Farmers know their land best,” Wood said. “There’s a variety of ways to impact crop yield. In a similar way, a variety of approaches can improve conservation work.”
Virginia’s current agricultural cost-share program only pays for a limited range of projects already supported by computer models, including longstanding practices such as planting buffers of trees along waterways and fencing livestock out of streams.
The greater flexibility under a pay-for-outcomes program would incentivize new approaches not currently eligible for funding and would reward projects that can demonstrate assurance of positive impacts to water quality.
Rather than relying exclusively on model projections, the results would be verified by scientific monitoring both before and after a project is implemented. In addition, a panel of scientific experts will review proposals and select those that offer the most cost-effective and promising approaches.
Applications for the Pay-For-Outcomes program are due on February 3, 2025. A mandatory pre-application webinar will be held on January 6, 2025.
Learn more and register for the webinar.
Virginia Communications & Media Relations Manager, CBF
[email protected]
804-258-1567
