I, Your Name hereby apply for participation in a soil carbon pool known as Sample managed by North Dakota Farmers Union
to register Exchange Soil Offsets (XSOs) with the Chicago Climate exchange (CCX) for the calendar years N/A through N/A,
plus additional years preceding this period, as allowed by CCX protocols, as applicable, and hereafter referred to as the "contracted period," on property that I own or control.
I hereby agree that XXX.X acres shall be in continuous conservation tillage as defined in this
Agreement and that XXX.X acres shall be in continuous grass cover that was established on or after January 1, 1999.
I further agree that I will abide by the rules of the CCX as they pertain to XSOs and to the conditions for
Pool participation as set forth in this agreement.
Purchaser agrees to buy and seller agrees to sell and deliver to purchaser free from liens and encumbrances at 1415
12th Avenue SE, Jamestown, North Dakota 58401, the rights to the Exchange Soil Offsets (XSOs) created during the
contracted period through the application of CONSERVATION TILLAGE to XXX.X
acres and/or PERMANENT GRASS COVER to XXX.X acres as entered into the NFU Carbon Credit Program database.
XSOs will accrue for the enrolled land at the applicable rate for the eligible practice and Land Resource Region,
as defined by the Chicago Climate Exchange.
20% of the accrued XSOs shall be held in reserve by the Purchaser until December 31, N/A.
Seller warrants that the XSOs covered by this contract comply with all rules of the Chicago Climate Exchange. In particular,
Seller warrants that the land from which the XSOs covered by this contract arise shall be in continuous conservation tillage or
permanent grass cover, as applicable, during the contracted period. In the event that the practice fails to meet these requirements,
all XSOs from such acreage shall be null and void and any payments for XSOs delivered on or prior to December 31, N/A shall be
repaid subject to interest and penalties as provided in this agreement.
*The transfer price of the XSOs covered by this contract shall be the net sales price as determined by
sale through the Chicago Climate Exchange less a 10% service fee. Exchange offset
registration and sales fees and offset verification costs are the responsibility of the offset project owner, and will
be deducted from pool proceeds prior to payment calculations. Sale of XSOs covered by this contract shall be at
the sole discretion of the Purchaser, however all XSOs shall be priced no later than 365 days after December 31,
N/A. Payment for XSOs covered by this contract shall be made on an annual or semi-annual basis. The
parties to this contract hereby agree that the title to the XSOs shall be automatically delivered to the Purchaser
on the first day of January following the year of in which sequestration occurred. By signature hereto, Seller
irrevocably conveys title to the XSOs stated above as of the first day of January following the year in which
sequestration occurred. Seller further warrants compliance with the terms and conditions contained in the
Agreement for the contracted period.
CCX Offset Project Terms and Conditions: By registering a project with Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), each project owner agrees to and acknowledges the following Terms and Conditions in relation to the project and the Exchange Offsets issued by CCX:
CCX Eligibility Requirements: All CCX-eligible carbon
sequestration projects (i.e. forestry and soil projects) that produce
less than 12,500 metric tons CO2 equivalent of Exchange Offsets
per year must be registered through a CCX-registered aggregator.
Projects that are represented in CCX by an Aggregator are referred
to as "pooled projects." The "pool" refers to the multiple projects
represented by the Aggregator. Each aggregator is assigned a CCX
Registry account which will hold all Offsets issued to projects it
represents. Aggregators shall also be Authorized Traders in the CCX
Trading Platform for such offsets. Aggregators shall be responsible
for receiving from individual projects the CCX-required project
reports, and for submitting to CCX summary reports of projects
they represent. The terms of the business and legal relationships
between aggregators and project owners are left to the discretion
of those parties.
Verifier: Is a technically expert entity that is approved by CCX to
conduct verification of CCX Exchange Offset projects.
Offset Issuance: CCX-eligible greenhouse gas mitigation projects
can be recorded in the CCX Registry and will be issued Exchange
Offsets on the basis of mitigation tonnage realized during the
years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. All Offset project
mitigation effectiveness will be quantified on the basis of metric
tons of CO2 equivalence. Each Exchange Offset will represent one
hundred metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and will be identified
by annual vintage.
Vintage: The vintage of an instrument is defined as the first year the
designated instrument may be used for compliance with the CCX
emission reduction schedule, or, as applicable, purchase reduction
schedule.
Trading Authority: Farmers Union shall have sole authority to
access the CCX Trading Platform and Registry account(s) holding
the Offsets issued to projects it represents and to execute sales on
the CCX electronic trading platform on behalf of project owners and
distribute sales proceeds to project owners in accordance with the
terms stated in this contract.
Eligible projects and XSO issuance rates: Project involving
specified Agricultural soil carbon sequestration activities in
designated states, counties and parishes in the U.S. shall be
eligible to earn XSOs. Exchange Soil Offsets will be earned at the
rate specified by the Chicago Climate Exchange for qualifying
practices in defined Land Resource Regions. The U.S. counties
and parishes in which continuous no-till or strip-till crop production
practices represent a CCX-eligible project are listed in Appendix
9.4A of the CCX Rulebook. Exchange Soil Offsets will be issued
to land managers who commit to maintain soil carbon storage
realized as a result of grass cover plantings that were undertaken
on or after January 1, 1999, in eligible Land Resource Regions
as defined by the Chicago Climate Exchange. The commitment
must be maintained 2007 through 2012 on the acres specified
upon project registration. Under this provision XSOs will be at the
applicable rate for the Land Resource Regions as established by
the Chicago Climate Exchange. The U.S. counties and parishes in
which these practices may be credited are provided in Appendix
9.4B of the CCX Rulebook.
Agricultural soil carbon reserve pool: Each CCX XSO project
shall be required to place 20% of the offsets it earns into a CCX
soil carbon reserve pool. Such XSOs shall remain the property of
the project owner(s) (pool participants in the case of aggregated
projects) and all XSOs that remain in the pool shall be released to
the project owners in late N/A. In the event that a project owner
does not conform to the XSO performance requirements listed
herein such event shall be promptly reported to CCX (such reporting
shall occur through a project's aggregator if the project is registered
through an aggregator), CCX will then cancel offsets held in the
Reserve Pool in an amount equal to the quantity of XSOs previously
issued to the project.
Definition of Conservation Tillage: For CCX purposes, these
practices are as defined in the Natural Resources Conservation
Service National Handbook of Conservation Practices. These
definitions are No-till/Strip-till - Managing the amount, orientation,
and distribution of crops and other plant residue on the surface yearround
while growing crops in narrow slots of tilled or residue-free
strips in soil previously untilled by full width inversion implements.
Fallow: In areas where non-tillage fallow is an acceptable
practice, no credits shall be issued for the year in which the land
is fallowed.
Crop Residue Removal:
No credits shall be issued on otherwise
eligible cropland (row crops and small grains) during any year in
which crop residue is removed by harvest or burning. Crop harvest
is permitted for alfalfa and grass hay and through grazing of grass.
Noncompliance: Noncompliance with the Terms and Conditions
contained in this CCX Exchange Soil Offsets Contract that are the
result of actions the owner of the noncompliant project shall return a
quantity of CCX Exchange Offsets that is equal to the total quantity
of XSOs that are found to be noncompliance or present payment in
an amount equal to the cost of acquiring such replacement offsets
or allowances plus applicable exchange fee associated with offset
replacement.
Falsification of Certification Report:
A project owner who files a
false certification report shall be subject to (1) replacement of any
nullified credit (2) loss of any claim to credits held by the reserve
pool; and (3) shall also pay to the aggregator, a penalty equal to
twenty percent (20) of the value all offsets or allowances covered
under this Agreement, as well as interest accruing on said amounts
from the date of noncompliance, as well as all costs incurred by
aggregator in enforcing this provision, inclusive of reasonable
attorney fees. The owner of the noncompliant project may be
prohibited from further participation in CCX.
Fulfillment of Obligations: The commitments and obligations
of the seller that are created by this contract shall terminate at midnight on December 31, N/A.
CCX Non-registration:
In the event the CCX ceases to accept
XSOs for the registration in any given year during the term of this
Agreement, both Seller and Purchaser shall be relieved of any
duties of obligations as provided under this Agreement, as it relates
to XSOs for the year which is not able to be registered and all years
remaining under the terms of this Agreement.
Sub-contracting:
In the event that a transfer of operational control of contracted acreage occurs during
the contracted period, a sub-contract may be created. Subcontracts are designated with an "S" following
the two-letter state code in the Contract Number. All of the Terms and Conditions of the original
Agreement shall apply to the sub-contract. Responsibility for obtaining a subcontract falls on the original
contract holder. In the even that a subcontract cannot be obtained within 90 days of the transfer of
operational control, the acres shall be considered non-compliant, and the original contract holder shall
return a quantity of CCX Exchange Offsets that is equal to the total quantity of XSOs that are found to be
noncompliance or present payment in an amount equal to the cost of acquiring such replacement offsets or
allowances plus applicable exchange fee associated with offset replacement. XSO's earned and held in
escrow, as well as penalties for non-compliance caused by the actions of the sub-contract holder shall
remain the responsibility of the original contract holder for the contract period prior to January 1 of the year
in which the transfer occurred.