Survey on Wisconsin clearinghouse market

DBA is seeking your input. We are looking to better understand your level of interest in water quality trading and how dairy farmers would most easily access future markets.

As a reminder, 2019 WI Act 151 passed during the 2020 legislative session, created an additional approach for buying and selling water quality credits or offsets through a to-be-established Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse would host the marketplace and augment the existing bilateral trading program; to wit, generators (sellers) of water pollution avoidance credits would sell these credits to the Clearinghouse, which would in turn transact the sale of qualifying credits to interested buyers.  As proponents of market-based solutions, by taking the survey the Dairy Business Association is working to help inform the development of an effective, sustainable Clearinghouse for Wisconsin.

We envision a Clearinghouse will help provide certainty and accessibility needed for farms, businesses, and municipalities to work together to drive sustainable water quality benefits. Attached is a one-pager that further explains the benefits and outcomes of a Clearinghouse approach.

The survey will ask about your level of interest in participating in a market-based, Clearinghouse approach in the future, potential credits to be bought/sold and the regions with the highest level of interest in conducting transactions through a Clearinghouse.

Please take this short (5+ minute) confidential survey. All results collected will remain completely confidential and solely shared with Newtrient LLC and Michael Best Strategies which will maintain the information as confidential.  The results will be aggregated and shared on an anonymous basis within a public report (expected Spring 2022) funded by the Dairy Research Institute (DRI), through financial support from the EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Results will help Wisconsin stakeholders establish a Clearinghouse design to benefit all potential participants.

We ask that you take the survey by Friday, August 6.

Please reach out with any questions.

John Holevoet
Director of government affairs
jholevoet@dairyforward.com