Phosphorus is one of the most problematic pollutants of the Chesapeake Bay. In the Chesapeake 2010 agreement, states in the bay watershed acknowledged that we are not going to be able to address the dead zone in the bay sufficiently unless we do much more to reduce phosphorus from non-agricultural sources. The agreement created a goal to
“Implement enhanced pollution controls on urban/suburban land in order to, by 2010, correct the nutrient- and sediment-related problems in the Bay and its tidal tributaries.”
This goal stands out among all commitments within the agreement as the one that we are furthest from reaching. According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, the urban/suburban land pollution control sector is “the only one in the Bay watershed which continues to still be growing, and thus showing the overall ‘progress’ as negative.”
HB 49 would ban the sale of fertilizer that contains phosphorus for non-agricultural applications.
We often hear complaints in the agricultural community that state officials over-regulate their operations. They claim that other sources of nutrient pollution are not adequately addressed. This bill is the least we can do to level the playing field rather than putting all of our attention on pollution from farms.
Other jurisdictions have demonstrated that it is feasible to completely remove phosphorus from fertilizer for lawn-care application. Bans have been enacted in Florida, Minnesota and Maine.
Lawns can stay green without phosphorus, but the Chesapeake Bay cannot be cleaned up without each sector doing its part to reduce nutrient pollution.
