The primary goal of this project is to help improve environmental quality and the cost-effectiveness of agricultural nonpoint source pollution (NSP) control. Our aim is to facilitate the development and use of performance-based incentives.

Performance-based incentives:

• Are payments for achieving specific environmental performance targets, often measured at the farm level.
  
• Allow farmers to achieve specified environmental performance targets in any way they choose.
  
• Allow farmers to earn additional income by reducing costs for NSP control.
  
• Incentivize farmers to choose the most cost-effective actions to meet the performance targets.
  
• Provides a cleaner environment and greater accountability for tax payers.

The PEPA initiative currently consists of two projects for developing performance based incentives.

National Facilitation Project

• Conducting education and outreach on the concept of performance-based incentives to watershed stakeholders and other groups around the U.S.
• Providing resources and facilitation to watershed groups to develop plans for using performance-based incentives.

Pilot-Testing Project

• Providing performance-based incentive payments to farmers in Iowa and Vermont for meeting specific environmental performance targets.
• Assessing implementation strategies and cost-effectiveness of performance-based incentive programs.