What's New
- Updated! Compliance Year 2025 (CY2025) deadlines are now posted
If your facility is in need of credits to meet permit cap load requirements, view the 2025 Verified Nitrogen Credits and 2025 Verified Phosphorus Credits lists to see what credits are available and who has them. These lists are updated daily when changes occur.
Check out our Nutrient Credit Trade Negotiation and Register Your Nutrient Credit Trade at a glance summaries to find out how to buy credits.
Need to contact a credit generator on the verified credits lists?
Check out our Certified Generator Contact Information list.
Certified Point Sources
If your Annual Chesapeake Bay Spreadsheet v2.2 (Excel) indicates that you have generated credits after all data has been entered (after September 30th), you can verify those credits and sell them.
Check out our Verify Your Nutrient Credits (Point Source), Nutrient Credit Trade Negotiation, and Register Your Nutrient Credit Trade at a glance summaries to find out how to sell credits.
Certified Nonpoint Sources
If your verification plan calculations indicate that you generated credits, you can verify those credits and sell them.
Check out our Verify Your Nutrient Credits (Nonpoint Source), Nutrient Credit Trade Negotiation, and Register Your Nutrient Credit Trade at a glance summaries to find out how to sell credits.
Not sure if you are Certified?
Check out our Certified Generator Certification ID list to see if you are certified and get your current certification ID. Certification IDs with expirations of 9/30/2027 are valid for the current CY2025 truing period (October 1, 2025 – November 28, 2025)
Request submissions are logged in and processed in the order they are received. See below for more details on the request submission process.
To ensure processing can be completed in time for credits to be sold and applied to permit limits no later than the November 28th Chesapeake Bay annual DMR submission deadline, submit complete requests for compliance year 2025 (10/1/24 – 9/30/25) electronically to the Nutrient Credit Trading Program email (RA-EPPANutrientTrad@pa.gov) by the following dates:
- Certification Requests: Monday, April 7, 2025
- Verification Requests: Friday, October 31, 2025
- Registration Requests: Friday, November 14, 2025
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, requests for Compliance Year 2025 must be received by midnight, November 21, 2025, to be accepted and processed.
The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Nutrient Credit Trading Program (Trading Program) involves three steps: certification, verification, and registration.
The three steps of the Trading Program must occur in that order. Credits must be certified, verified, and then registered by the Trading Program before they can be applied to NPDES permit effluent limits.
The Trading Program request submission process involves a thorough review of each submission before approval is granted. Details of this process can be found in the Certification, Verification, and Registration sections below.
Lists of current and past approved certifications, verifications, and registrations can be found on the Nutrient Credit Reports page.
Other resources such as forms, instructions, calculation spreadsheets, and links to related documents and websites can be found on the Trading Resources page.
DEP's certification of credit generation is required for credits to be generated.
Certification means approval has been given by DEP for a Pollutant Reduction Activity (PRA) to generate credits. The approved credit generator may or may not generate credits during a compliance year. Generated credits must be verified by DEP before they may be sold and registered to an NPDES permit.
The Nutrient Credit Trading Program (Trading Program) regulations titled "Use of offsets and tradable credits from pollution reduction activities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed" (25 Pa. Code § 96.8 specify procedural requirements to ensure that credits are calculated correctly and accomplish pollutant reductions.
A summary of what a PS and NPS credit generator must do to generate credits can be found on the Credit Generation Requirements page. Further details on these requirements can be found in the Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) Nutrient Trading Supplement
Point Sources (PS)
Significant sewage point source (PS) discharges within the Chesapeake Bay watershed subject to annual mass load effluent limitations (referred to as cap loads) in their NPDES permits and listed in the Point Source Credit Generators Table (Table 5 of the Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) Wastewater Supplement) are covered under a mass PS certification and do not need to submit a separate certification request. However, because each mass certification includes an expiration date, all PS intending to verify credits should check the Certified Generator Certification IDs list to determine their current certification ID.
On October 1, 2022, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin of a mass certification of significant sewage PS PRAs. This current mass PS certification will expire September 30, 2027. Between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2027, PS will not be required to submit requests for certification of credits to DEP. However, requests for the verification and registration of credits for compliance purposes will still be required.
Nonpoint Sources (NPS)
Nonpoint Source (NPS) credit generators requesting DEP certification must submit their request by emailing the Nutrient Credit Nonpoint Source Certification Request Form (3830-FM-BCW0503, instructions), a PDF from CBNTT, and a verification plan describing how credit generation will be verified to the Nutrient Credit Trading Program (RA-EPPANutrientTrad@pa.gov).
A verification plan is a written description of what will be done (Best Management Practice descriptions, etc.), how it will be done (calculation methodology, etc.), when it will be done, and what documents will be submitted to verify credit generation. This verification plan should describe the methods that will be used for credit verification sufficient to allow verification that the PRA in the certification was properly implemented during the applicable compliance period. The verification plan must include self-verification by the person responsible for implementing the PRA or third-party verification, and is subject to approval by DEP.
Certification Notice Process
To ensure processing can be completed in time for credits to be sold and applied to permit limits no later than the November 28th Chesapeake Bay annual DMR submission deadline, submit complete certification requests electronically to the Nutrient Credit Trading Program (RA-EPPANutrientTrad@pa.gov) (see the Deadlines section above for this Compliance Year’s certification request deadline).
All certification requests are logged in and reviewed for administrative completeness. DEP will publish notice of receipt of an administratively complete certification request in the Pennsylvania Bulletin for an informal 30-day public comment period. During this 30-day period, a team will review the request for technical accuracy and consistency with Trading Program requirements.
If DEP approves a certification request, DEP will publish final notice of the action in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, which begins a 30-day appeal period. Certification serves as DEP's final determination of the number of credits that the PRA may generate.
DEP verification of credit generation is required for credits to be sold.
Verification means approval has been given by DEP that a generator has used their approved verification method to demonstrate that a pollutant reduction activity (PRA) generated credits during the compliance year. Verified credits may be sold.
To ensure processing can be completed in time for credits to be sold and applied to permit limits no later than the November 28th Chesapeake Bay annual DMR submission deadline, submit complete verification requests electronically to the Nutrient Credit Trading Program (RA-EPPANutrientTrad@pa.gov) (see the Deadlines section above for this Compliance Year’s verification request deadline).
Verification requests from PS and NPS are logged in, reviewed for administrative completeness, and then reviewed for technical accuracy. The technical review may involve verification activities such as monitoring, inspecting sites, and performing compliance audits.
- PS credit generators requesting DEP credit verification must submit their request using the DEP Nutrient Credit Point Source Verification Request form (3830-FM-BCW0506b, instructions) and include a copy of their Annual Chesapeake Bay Spreadsheet v2.2 (XLSM), which documents nutrient reductions based on sampling results and calculations.
- NPS credit generators requesting DEP credit verification must submit their request using the DEP Nutrient Credit Nonpoint Source Verification Request Form (3830-FM-BCW0506a, instructions), the PDF from CBNTT as documentation of PRA implementation, and the verification plan.
- Credit verification must demonstrate that the PRA was implemented as described in the verification plan submitted with the certification application, and that all Trading Program requirements are met. The calculation of credits generated from PRAs should be done using the same calculation method as contained in the DEP-approved verification plan.
DEP registration of credits is required for credit trading to occur and for credits to be applied toward permit cap loads or resold.
Registration means approval has been given by DEP for a sale of credits upon review of an agreement between a buyer and seller. Registered credits may be applied to meet NPDES permit cap load requirements or resold.
To ensure processing can be completed in time for credits to be applied to permit limits no later than the November 28th Chesapeake Bay annual DMR submission deadline, submit complete registration requests electronically to the Nutrient Credit Trading Program (RA-EPPANutrientTrad@pa.gov) (see the Deadlines section above for this Compliance Year’s registration request deadline).
Credits must be certified and verified before being traded and registered. Registration is DEP's accounting mechanism to track verified credits before they are used to comply with the NPDES permit effluent limits.
Trades take place through direct communication between credit buyers and credit generators. Verified credits are posted on the Nutrient Credit Reports page under Verifications. Buyers can check the list to see which generators have credits available and then contact the generators using the Certified Generator Contact Information link on the Nutrient Credit Reports page under Certification.
Registration requests are logged in, reviewed for administrative completeness, and then reviewed for technical accuracy.
Entities wanting to register the buying or selling of credits with DEP must submit their request using the Nutrient Credit Registration Request Form (3830-FM-BCW0504, instructions) and include a copy of the valid contract between buyer and seller. Traded credits must be documented in a valid contract for their purchase prior to registration.
For further information, contact:
Nutrient Credit Trading Program
Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Clean Water - Division of Data Management
RCSOB, P.O. Box 8774
Harrisburg, PA 17105
(717) 787-6744
RA-EPPANutrientTrad@pa.gov