DDOE Approves Trade For First Of Its Kind Stormwater Retention Credit Trading Program

This piece was originally posted as a press release on the DDOE website. Click here to read the original.

23 September 2014 | The District Department of the Environment (DDOE) has approved a trade of 11,013 Stormwater Retention Credits (SRCs). This trade, valued at $25,000, is the first in the nascent SRC trading program, which is the first of its kind in the nation.

The trade demonstrates how the SRC market can provide meaningful financial returns for voluntary installations of green infrastructure that reduce harmful stormwater runoff.

Under the District’s current stormwater management regulations, development projects permitted after January 2014 must meet river-protecting stormwater retention standards and can meet a portion of this requirement by using SRCs. Projects using SRCs must own them by the end of construction, which typically takes a year or longer.

According to DDOE Director Keith A. Anderson, the SRC market is expected to grow as additional regulated projects are completed. “Trades provide a strong incentive for voluntary installations of green infrastructure, says Director Anderson. “In turn, market participants are helping to ensure a more Sustainable DC.

Ann Benefield, seller of the SRCs, added, “Revenue from this trade will help cover the costs of designing, installing, and maintaining the rain gardens that generated the SRCs. Now we’re looking at other ways to install practices on our property to generate additional SRCs.

In addition to providing compliance flexibility for regulated development, SRC trading can increase the total volume of stormwater runoff being kept out of District waterbodies and provide other sustainability benefits, such as reducing the urban heat island effect and providing green jobs.