BILL NUMBER: S393

SPONSOR: KAMINSKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
sale or use of nitrogen fertilizer

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to help reduce nitrogen contamination of
water bodies.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill would add a new § 17-2104 to the Environmental Conservation
Law to require, in Nassau and Suffolk counties, the sale and use of
non-agricultural fertilizer containing not more than 12% nitrogen by
weight.

 
              

JUSTIFICATION:

Excess nitrogen has been proven to contribute to Harmful Algal Blooms
(HABs) in marine and freshwater environments. Several scientific studies
have identified lawn fertilizer as a significant contributor to excess
nitrogen. A 2009 study in the Journal of Coastal Research estimated that
fertilizer use contributed 15% of the total land-based nitrogen in the
Great South Bay. In addition to nitrogen contributing to HABs, high
nitrogen levels threaten Long-Island's aquifers, the area's sole source
of drinking water. Since nitrogen is a soluble substance, it is deeply
immersed into the soil after a rainstorm or after irrigation. When this
happens, the nitrogen is able to reach groundwater and wells in the
surrounding area. Nearly 3 million people live on Long Island and depend
on the aquifer for their drinking water.

Recognizing the threat that high levels of nitrogen present to ground
and surface water, the 2015-16 state budget included $5 million dollars,
for the local and state authorities to create a Long Island Nitrogen
Action Plan. The 2017-18 state budget included $75 million of the $2.5
billion Clean Water Infrastructure Act of 2017, for a new state rebate
program to incentivize the replacement of failing septic systems and
cesspools. This legislation builds upon those recent efforts to address
high nitrogen levels on Long Island by ensuring that fertilizer, one of
the main sources of high nitrogen, sold and applied on Long Island are
low nitrogen and less water soluble than many fertilizers currently are.
Based on a phosphorus fertilizer restriction enacted in 2010, would not
apply to farms, and would limit the amount of nitrogen that could be
contained in fertilizer sold and used on Long Island. Eliminating exces-
sive nitrogen, which serves primarily to make the grass look greener,
represents a common sense approach to limiting HABs.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020: S2130 (Kaminsky) Referred to Environmental Conservation
2019: S2130 (Kaminsky) Referred to Environmental Conservation.
2018: S8170 (Hannon) Referred to Environmental Conservation, passed
Assembly.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on December 31, 2023.