Tallahassee-The Urban Turf Fertilizer Rule adopted last month to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus used on turfgrass will not preempt local ordinances, according to state agriculture and consumer service officials. The rule, designed to reduce fertilizer runoff into the state’s waterways, has the support of environmental and water conservation interests. Counties, some of which already have their own fertilizer restrictions, won’t be legally prohibited from regulating what’s in the fertilizer bag, which is what the statewide rule establishes, Agriculture and Consumer Services spokesman Terry McElroy told Green Markets. “But local law that deviates from the statewide rule will be very difficult to enforce,” McElroy added, “and it will be virtually impossible to find a commercial fertilizer product in the marketplace that would comply with a more restrictive rule than the one adopted by the state.” McElroy said the state hopes – and believes – that local governments that enact such laws in the future will focus on non-formulation issues, including mandatory training for commercial lawn maintenance personnel and regulations establishing how close to water bodies fertilizer can be applied. Meanwhile, The Fertilizer Institute is warning that Florida’s rule calling for reductions in nitrogen between 20 and 25 percent and phosphorus by 15 percent is too low. TFI spokeswoman Kathy Mathers commented, “We believe that the nitrogen recommendations in particular are too low to sustain healthy turf and think that the potentially beneficial role for enhanced efficiency fertilizer products was not taken into consideration in the final rule.”
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