n order to better protect the Chesapeake Bay from stormwater runoff of impervious areas, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality have created measures to protect the overall health. One of those such measures is the use of non-point source credits.

What is a credit and how are they created?

Nutrient offset credits are created when farmland is converted from crop or hay production and forested in perpetuity as pristine land. Because there is now more fertilizer use on the farm land as it’s not a forest, DEQ gives the owner “credits”.

Stream Restoration Projects?

Credits can also be created through stream restoration projects. These efforts are challenging and require extensive and expensive work to create. The long-term maintenance required to sustain this practice is risky due to many environmental, geological, ecological, and financial factors - for example: unexpected frequent flooding causing property damage and the requirement to replace all damaged measures.

What Does VDOT Say?

"Internal research conducted by VDOT indicated the use of nutrient credits by the Department
can be very cost effective compared to many structural BMP practices on a dollar per pound
basis, with an average cost savings of 51%." - VDOT

Learn More

No Maintenance

When you buy credits there are NO yearly BMP maintenance measures to follow. That means longterm cost savings as well as less headache.

Cost Savings

There are long term savings to buying non-point source stormwater credits and in some cases there can even be short-term savings as well!

No Inspections

No bi-annual inspections of your best management practices (BMP's) from DEQ (or your locality).

What Are Credits?