In addition to being a member of the Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee in the Legislature, I also serve on the Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC) for the future of Lake Champlain. The mission of the CAC is to gather and disseminate information and make recommendations about the condition and management of the waters of the Lake Champlain basin region. Working with government and non-government groups, we recommend priorities for improving the health of the Lake.  Our 2011 list will be presented to the Vermont Legislature in mid-March.

Most of these priorities have been on the list for some time.  Most will also require additional dollars at a time when budgets are shrinking.  Funding from the EPA, often the biggest source of financial support for programs, is also on the chopping block in Washington.

As I reviewed the list, there seemed to be only one remaining “low hanging fruit” and that was restricting the use of phosphorus (P) in fertilizer on non-agricultural turf.  To implement this, there would be no impact on government spending, no financial impact on taxpayers, and would ultimately put some teeth in the 2007 educational campaign known as “Don’t P on the Lawn.”  I introduced this bill, H.26, in January and it passed the House on a unanimous voice vote on February25^th. It is now on its way to the Senate.

What is the problem with phosphorus anyway? Excessive amounts of phosphorus create a perfect breeding ground for toxic algae blooms that deplete the amount of oxygen available for aquatic life.  This begins a chain of events that has a disastrous environmental and economic impact.  Lake Champlain is now classified as an “impaired waterway” and earned a spot on a New York Times list of places in the world not to visit.  As nitrogen from the Connecticut River was implicated in causing dead zones in Long Island Sound, we included nitrogen restrictions in the bill as well.

While agricultural pollution has often been viewed as the primary source of phosphorus, developed lands are actually bigger contributors to phosphorus pollution.  According to the Lake Champlain Basin Program, 46 % of non-point P pollution comes from urban and developed land while 38% of the non-point P pollution comes from agriculture and 5% from forestland.

Each watershed area has its own breakdown.  The Missisquoi basin region contributes one-quarter of the non-point phosphorus pollution entering Lake Champlain while Chittenden County, including the Main Lake, Burlington Bay and Shelburne Bay contributes another quarter.  The sources of pollution from these two regions however are quite different.  While about two-thirds of the problem can be attributed to agriculture in the Missisquoi basin, agriculture in Chittenden County accounts for only 20% of the problem.  The lion’s share here then, is due to urban and developed land and one of those sources is excess fertilizer applied to turf.

H.26 restricts the use of phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizer to non-agricultural turf, i.e., our lawns.  Golf courses will be required to follow nutrient management plans. Phosphorus fertilizer will still be available when starting a new lawn or for patching when young roots are less able to access available phosphorus in soil.  There will be a fine of up to $500, not for the confused consumer, but for those consumers and sellers who knowingly and intentionally violate the law.

Stores will need to post signs explaining the law and reminding consumers to get a soil test (cost ranging from free to about $14) to determine whether P is actually needed.  If it is, you will be able to buy the product.  If it is not, you have either just saved yourself some money, or you can purchase phosphorus-free fertilizer products that work well to feed lawns and don’t hurt our waterways.  Nitrogen fertilizer will still be available but with restrictions in amount and type.

If this bill becomes law, we will be joining 12 other states that have already banned or restricted the use and/or sale of phosphorus including New York, New Jersey and Maine.

Minnesota enacted a law in 2004 and found that the amount of phosphorus applied through lawn fertilizers decreased 48% between 2003 and 2006.  There were not reports of the law being enforced by local governments; rather, the law created “teachable moments” for extensive yard care and water quality education.  By 2007, 82% of the fertilizer sold was phosphorus-free.

I do not expect to see fertilizer police hanging outside of Aubuchon’s.  Our real hope here is to decrease the amount of P that finds its way to the Lake by strengthening education and making unnecessary fertilizer less available.  With the cost of clean up of Lake Champlain estimated at more than $800 million and possibly 50 years, it seems like one small effort we homeowners can make.

For more information on fertilizer and water pollution, visit www.lawntolake.org

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Shelburne News Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.