U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol Development

U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol Version 1.0

Second Public Comment Period

The second public comment period was held from August 11, 2020 to August 25, 2020. See below for the draft protocol released in August 2020, the summary of comments and responses from Reserve staff, as well as the submitted comments in their entirety.

Summary of Comments and Responses – Draft U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol – Second public comment period

California Association of Sanitation Agencies Kaiyu Guan, Zhenong Jin, Evan DeLucia, Bin Peng, Jinyun Tang, Andrew Margenot, Wang Zhou, Ziqi Qin, DoKyoung Lee, and Yuxin Wu
CarbonPlan Ken Newcombe, Deane Belfield, Mark Bradford, Karen Haugen-Kozyra, Louisa Kiely, Paul Luu, Sean McMahon, Steve Pacala, Keith Paustian, Sean Penrith, Diego Saez-Gil, Tom Stoddard, Nathan Truitt, Moritz von Unger, Matthew Warnken, Raphael Wood
Environmental Defense Fund Matthew Wiens
Grayson Badgley Mike Badzmierowski
Grayson Badgley, Jeremy Freeman, Eric William Slessarev, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Jane Zelikova Natural Capital Partners
Indigo Ag, Inc. Scott Shibata
Jonathan Sanderman, Woodwell Climate Research Center TreePeople

Second Public Comment Webinar

The Reserve hosted a webinar on August 18, 2020 to discuss the draft protocol, revisions made since the first public comment period, and to solicit further public comments.

Webinar recording
Presentation slides

First Public Comment Period

The first public comment period was held from April 17, 2020 to May 18, 2020. See below for the draft protocol released in April 2020, the summary of comments and responses from Reserve staff, as well as the submitted comments in their entirety.

Summary of Comments and Responses – Draft U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol – First public comment period

American Carbon Registry Hancock Natural Resource Group
California Association of Sanitation Agencies Kyle Hemes
CalRecycle Natural Capital Partners
Carbon Cycle Institute Patagonia
CarbonPlan Richard Scharf
Climate Smart Group and Carbon Credit Solutions Inc. Ruby Canyon Environmental
Ducks Unlimited Sally Brown
Environmental Defense Fund Sierra View Consulting*
Erika Foster Steven Apfelbaum
Evergreen Carbon WRI Food Program
Florian Forster Xuesong Zhang

* This comment was submitted by a workgroup member referencing the workgroup draft of the protocol.

First Public Comment Webinar

The Reserve hosted a webinar on April 29, 2020 to discuss the draft protocol and solicit public comments.

Webinar recording
Presentation slides
Stakeholder Q&A

Workgroup

The U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol was developed through the Reserve’s multi-stakeholder workgroup process. Workgroup member organizations are listed below.

Alliance of Crop Soil and Environmental Science Societies OpenTEAM, Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Salk Institute
Colorado State University SES, Inc.
Continuum Ag Shell International Exploration and Production Inc.
C-Quest Capital Sierra View Consulting
Delta Institute The Nature Conservancy
Goodson Ranch LP TREES Consulting LLC
Indigo Ag, Inc. University of California, Berkeley
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University Viresco Solutions Inc
NativeEnergy Woods Hole Research Center
Natural Resources Conservation Service World Resources Institute

Following a request for such information, the Reserve is providing the following tabled summary of existing relationships between workgroup members and Indigo Ag, who funded this work.

Jonathan Sanderman Woods Hole Research Center WHRC soil lab processed samples from some of Indigo’s research sites. Dr. Sanderman also consulted on experimental designs for Indigo’s research teams. Both activities were compensated.
Ken Newcombe C-Quest Capital Informal advisor to Indigo as it builds its carbon business.
Max DuBuisson Indigo Ag, Inc. Employee.
Mitchell Hora Continuum Ag Participant in Indigo Carbon, recent small cash prize in the Carbon Cup competition.
Robert Parkhurst Sierra View Consulting Paid for consulting services to Indigo on a topic unrelated to the SEP.
Tom Cannon Goodson Ranch LP Participant in the Indigo Research Partners program, no cash payments.

Note: Remuneration from Indigo Ag to listed parties has totaled $90,000 (excluding remuneration of Indigo Ag employee Max DuBuisson).

Workgroup Meetings

U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol Workgroup Meeting 4
June 19, 2020
Meeting recording
Presentation slides

U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol Workgroup Meeting 3
April 3, 2020
Meeting recording
Presentation slides

U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol Workgroup Meeting 2
March 6, 2020
Meeting recording
Presentation slides

U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol Workgroup Meeting 1
February 6, 2020
Meeting recording
Presentation slides

Public Scoping Meeting

The Reserve hosted a public scoping meeting on January 15, 2020 to discuss this new project type. 

Webinar recording
Presentation slides

Resources

Financial Support

Protocol development was funded in part by Indigo Ag.

Please contact [email protected] with questions or comments.