U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol Development

Version 2.1

The U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol underwent a technical update to Version 2.1. The revision clarifies guidance to project ownership, credit stacking, baseline guidance and terminology for nitrogen use efficiency. The update also adds some flexibility for project development and verification such as an option for a 24-month initial reporting period and moving from field-level sampling to field-manager sampling for verification.

Version 2.0

With the generous support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, under the Conservation Innovation Grant program, the Reserve revised and expanded the U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol (NMP). The revised protocol includes a standardized quantification methodology that incorporates additional regions, crops, and nitrogen management practices; updated project, aggregate, and ownership structures; modified benchmarks for the performance standard test; and several other revisions to enhance usability. For a comprehensive list of all revisions, see the Summary of Changes above. Version 2.0 of the protocol was adopted by the Reserve Board of Directors on October 17, 2018.

Public Comments

Indigo Agriculture Neville Millar, Michigan State University

Public Workshop

The Reserve hosted a public comment webinar on August 15, 2018 to discuss the revisions to the U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol. The webinar recording and presentation slides are available below.

Meeting Presentation
Meeting Video

Workgroup

The Reserve revised the NMP through a multi-stakeholder workgroup process. The workgroup consisted of representatives from the organizations listed below.

Carbon Credit Solutions Inc. The Climate Trust
Climate Smart Group The Fertilizer Institute
Cornell University UC Davis, Department of Environmental Science and Policy
Environmental Defense Fund UC Davis, Soils and Biogeochemistry
Environmental Services, Inc. University of Vermont
International Plant Nutrition Institute USAID
Michigan State University Veri6 Inc
Stanford Law School  

Workgroup Meetings

Workgroup Meeting 4
June 20, 2018
Agenda
Meeting Presentation
Meeting Video
U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol Version 2.0 Workgroup Draft (June 14, 2018)
(Note: The Workgroup Draft is not for public comment)

Workgroup Meeting 3
December 12, 2017
Meeting Video

Workgroup Meeting 2
October 10, 2017
Meeting Video

Workgroup Meeting 1
August 29, 2017
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

Resources (Version 2.0)

Nitrogen Management Survey

In late 2016, the Reserve issued a Nitrogen Management Stakeholder Survey to gather feedback and recommendations from stakeholders involved in the development and/or implementation of the NMP and/or other agricultural offset protocols and methodologies on the future expansion of the protocol. The results of the survey are summarized in the memo below.

On March 15, 2017, the Reserve held a webinar to go over the results of this survey, the biggest takeaways, and next steps for the protocol revision as discussed in the memo. Meeting materials are available below.

Proposed Protocol Expansion

In January 2013, the Packard Foundation awarded grant funding to the Reserve in order to explore the potential for an expansion of the U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol. The undertaking had the two-part goal of building out and formalizing the new data submittal and assessment process, and taking a pre-selected, high-quality data set through the process. As a case study, the Reserve worked closely with Ardell Halvorson and Steve Del Grosso at Colorado State University to evaluate their study (Halvorson et al., 2013) on N2O emissions from fertilizer management on irrigated corn in Colorado against the Minimum Data Standard. The assessment of the Colorado data set was very positive overall, meeting or exceeding most criteria in the Minimum Data Standard. However, the Reserve determined that it could not use the Colorado data set to move forward with an expansion at this time, as it failed to meet Reserve criteria in one critical area: replication of the study in other study sites (i.e. other sites within the county, state, region). See the resources below for more information:

Version 1.1

The U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol underwent a technical update to Version 1.1. The revision expands protocol applicability to tile drained fields in the North Central Region, allows for projects to be implemented on land designated as highly erodible land (HEL) with USDA conservation plans in place, and incorporates a number of technical revisions to improve clarity.

Public Comment Period

Noel Gurwick and Christina Tonitto Union of Concerned Scientists

Version 1.0

The Reserve began scoping agriculture protocols in October 2010 and began actively developing the U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol in April 2011. The technical workgroup met from April 2011 to April 2012 to refine the draft protocol. A public workshop was held in May 2012 to discuss the draft protocol which was available for public comment through April and May 2012. The final protocol was approved by the Reserve Board on June 27, 2012.

Public Comments

Ag Carbon Market Working Group SES, Inc.
California Compost Coalition Sieglinde Snapp, Michigan State University
Camco The Climate Trust
Chris Gambino, Washington State University Union of Concerned Scientists
Environmental Defense Fund Union of Concerned Scientists, Meredith Niles, Christina Tonitto
G. Philip Robertson, Michigan State University, Neville Millar, Michigan State University, and Adam Diamant, Electric Power Research Institute WaterBalance LLC
Garrison Sposito, University of California at Berkeley Weyerhaeuser Company
Lowell E. Gentry, University of Illinois Willamette Partnership
National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, Meredith Niles, Christina Tonitto  

Public Workshop

The Reserve hosted a public workshop on May 9, 2012 in Sacramento, CA, to provide a venue for feedback on the draft U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol. Workshop materials and meeting video are available below.

Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

Workgroup

The Reserve worked closely with a multi-stakeholder workgroup to develop the U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol. The workgroup included industry representatives, federal agency personnel, environmental organizations, verifiers and expert consultants. The workgroup included representatives from:

Ag Refresh Scotia Capital, Inc.
Blue Source Stanford Law School
Camco UC Davis
The Clark Group, LLC / Agricultural Carbon Market Working Group UC Davis, Agricultural Sustainability Institute
Environmental Defense Fund Union of Concerned Scientists
Environmental Services, Inc. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, West National Technology Support Center
Independent Scientist, Ecosystem Modeling U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Michigan State University Western Growers Association
Natural Resources Defense Council Western United Dairymen
Preferred Carbon Group  
 

Workgroup Meetings

In-Person Workgroup Meeting: San Francisco
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video: Due to technical difficulties, the meeting video/audio is not available.
U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol Version 1.0 Workgroup Draft (April 4, 2012)

Workgroup Meeting 6
January 25, 2012
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

Workgroup Meeting 5
November 10, 2011
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

Workgroup Meeting 4
October 25, 2011
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

In-Person Workgroup Meeting: Los Angeles
August 1, 2011
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video
U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol Version 1.0 Workgroup Draft (July 27, 2011)

Workgroup Meeting 2
June 27, 2011
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

Kick-Off Meeting
May 18, 2011
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

Science Advisory Committee

    • The Reserve together with the Nicholas Institute of Duke University assembled a group of leading scientific experts to form a Science Advisory Committee (SAC). The purpose of the SAC was to help the Reserve interpret and apply the best available science into the U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol. Committee membership was by invitation from the Reserve and the Nicholas Institute and was based on scientific expertise, knowledge of GHG offset protocol development issues, and explicit interest in translating research into GHG mitigation policy applications for agriculture.

The Reserve held an all-day workshop for the SAC on September 7, 2011 and the summary report is available below.

SAC Meeting Summary (November 22, 2011)

Credit Stacking Subcommittee

    • The Reserve formed a Credit Stacking Subcommittee to help inform policies to evaluate project sites where multiple ecosystem service credits or payments may be available. This subcommittee was made up of workgroup members and invited experts.

Credit Stacking Subcommittee Meeting 4
Thursday, March 22, 2012
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT
Agenda
Register Here

Credit Stacking Subcommittee Meeting 3
September 22, 2011
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

Credit Stacking Subcommittee Meeting 2
August 10, 2011
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video

Credit Stacking Subcommittee Kick-Off Meeting
July 12, 2011
Agenda
Reserve Presentation
Meeting Video
Credit Stacking Kick-off Meeting Memo

Resources (Version 1.0)

Documents that generally supported the development of the U.S. Nitrogen Management Protocol are available below.