Clermont County in Ohio has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio EPA to boost economic growth while protecting its waterways, as part of the EPA's new initiative, Project XL.
Project XL, which stands for eXcellence and Leadership, aims at testing innovative ways to achieve better and more cost-effective public health and environmental protection.
Clermont County's multiphase agreement aims at improving water quality in the East Fork of the Little Miami River mainstream and tributaries and Harsha Lake. The first phase will be a comprehensive watershed management plan.
Different stakeholders will work with Clermont County in developing a management plan, computer-based modeling tools and a community framework for local permitting and public policy formulation. The county then hopes to use an effluent trading system in which pollution credits may be exchanged between point and nonpoint sources.
More information is available at: http://www.epa.gov/projectxl.