BILL NUMBER:  S2475

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to
regulation of the sale and analysis of fertilizer


 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :
This bill would provide sole authority for the regulation of the sale
and analysis of fertilizer to the New York State Department of
Agriculture and Markets, and would render any local legislation in
violation of this section void and unenforceable.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :
Section 1 amends the Agriculture and Markets Law by adding a new
Section 145-a, prohibiting municipal governments from adopting any
regulations on fertilizer that are different from or in addition to
any such requirement adopted in accordance with Article 10; renders
any local legislation in violation of this section void and
unenforceable; and does not preempt or otherwise limit the authority
of any county or municipality to adopt and enforce zoning regulations,
fire codes, building codes or wasted disposal restrictions.

Section 2 sets the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :
              

Municipal governments are beginning to pass local laws regulating the
sale and application of fertilizers with the belief that application
of them is harmful to the environment and, specifically, that
restricting fertilizer use will improve the quality of drinking water.
This theory has no basis in science and, in fact, has been proven to
be incorrect. In fact, these local regulations may do more harm than
good.

Properly applied, fertilizer is of no threat to the environment and,
in residential settings, promotes fuller thicker lawns. A Pennsylvania
State University study showed thick lawns slow the velocity of run-off
and allow water to infiltrate the ground 15 times greater than a
patchy, weed-infested lawn. An average lawn allows a run-off rate of
about a half-gallon of water per minute during peak rainfall, as
opposed to a rate of 7.5 gallons per minute from a lawn that is thinly
seeded and bare. Research has also shown that the amount of
phosphorous in run-off from lawns without phosphorous fertilizer was
significantly higher than from lawns fertilized with phosphorous - the
exact opposite of the intended effect of these local regulations.

Allowing for local regulations will create a patchwork of differing
fertilizer application requirements from municipality to municipality
that will make it very difficult - and costly - for applicators to
achieve compliance. This will drive landscapers and fertilizer
applicators out of business while driving the cost of fertilizer
applications up, placing an undue share of the burden on the consumer.
Additionally, the local governments considering these regulations
often do not have the scientific or environmental expertise to create
and enforce local fertilizer regulations, nor have they considered the
cost of the program, which very likely could cause local tax
increases.

This legislation, therefore, provides pre-emptive responsibility for
the regulation of the application of fertilizer to the one agency in
the state with the expertise required to do so - the New York State
Department of Agriculture and Markets.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
S.8493/A.11521 (2008)

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None to the state. Additionally, this legislation could serve to avert
unforeseen tax increases on the local level.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.