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House Advances Fertilizer Bill
March 24, 2011
A controversial proposal to prohibit local governments from establishing stricter fertilizer ordinances than the state allows passed the House Community and Military Affairs Subcommittee in an 8-7 vote on Wednesday after over an hour of debate.
The bill (HB 457) upsets many environmentalists who believe the state standard isn’t strict enough. Fertilizer often contains nitrogen and phosphorus, which can hurt water quality.
The bill was amended Wednesday to allow the Department of Environmental Protection and Florida’s water management districts to have authority over regulating fertilizer use as it relates to water quality standards. Before the amendment, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services would have largely controlled the enforcement of the bill. Many environmental groups oppose the measure.
“This is a water quality issue,” said Mary Jean Yon, a lobbyist for the Audubon Society. “Any decrease in the ability of local government to deal with and protect their local waters is a step back in the overall protection of the state’s resources.”
Business groups support it, saying retailers who sell fertilizer have suffered from strict local ordinances regulating fertilizer.
“We are doing everything we can to strike a balance between keeping commerce going and addressing water quality,” said Jose Gonzalez, a lobbyist with Associated Industries of Florida.
Local counties and cities generally oppose the measure because it strips away their power to control fertilizer use. The measure has two more committee stops in the House of Representatives and two more in the Senate.
Comments
3 Responses to “House Advances Fertilizer Bill”
REGARDING:
“The bill (HB 457) upsets many environmentalists who believe the state standard isn’t strict enough. Fertilizer often contains nitrogen and phosphorus, which can hurt water quality.”
You gotta love the thinking here. Fertilizer contains nutrients which make plants grow either in the field or in the water.
If you could eliminate the nutrients, they wouldn’t degrade water quality by making algae grow when they got in the lakes and streams.
Of course, they also wouldn’t make crops grow if non-fertilizing “fertilizer” were put in the field. For that matter, why would a farmer put “fertilizer” on fields if they didn’t increase the fertility of the fields?
David for empty fields, pockets, plates and bellies
Oh yes, it is terrible for the republicans to oppose government limiting people from putting fertilizer in their yard… YEA RIGHT!
Republicans are the last real hope for individual liberty in this country.
The nanny state policies that put ethanol in our gasoline, mercury in our lightbulbs,
and would limit use of federally approved chemicals in our yards HAS GOT TO STOP.
Down with the nanny state!
love it. state republicans scream that the federal government should not dictate policies to the states – it’s unfair and they are taking away our freedom. however, they have no problem doing the exact same thing to local governments. wonder how much the business lobby paid to get this moving.