Washington-The Fertilizer Institute reported on July 16 that fertilizer will not be included on a list of taxable products for a fund that would be used to support investments in clean water and drinking water infrastructure. TFI said it has been meeting with House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee staff regarding legislation (HR 3202) introduced July 14 by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) that would tax fertilizer at a rate of $20 per ton sold to generate up to $500 million of the targeted $10 billion goal for the fund. TFI said the tax amounts to an excise tax on the industry and on American farmers, and argued that rural America should not be looked at as a mechanism to fund urban wastewater treatment facilities. TFI hailed the omission of fertilizer on the list as a “significant accomplishment for the industry in the first stages of this legislative debate.” Reps. Blumenauer, James Oberstar (D-Minn.), John Mica (R-Fla.), and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) had earlier asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to look into possible design and funding mechanisms for the waste water treatment trust fund. GAO staff met with TFI in April, and was at that time considering several funding options, including an excise tax on different industries, such as flushable products, bottled beverages, water appliances, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers and pesticides.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain