Lansing, Mich.-The fate of legislation to remove local control over fertilizer use is unresolved in Michigan after the question was dropped in the closing days of the state legislature in December, according to agriculture interests. “The local preemption language was stripped from the bill on the Senate floor,” Michigan Agri-Business Association Policy Director Bob Tadsen told Green Markets. “There was talk about reinserting similar preemption language in the House, but negotiations failed.” Tadsen added that at this point the association is not planning to do anything more with the issue in the upcoming session. Michigan Farm Bureau officials were also disappointed to see the preemption taken out of the bill, but FB Legislative Counsel Tonia Ritter said it’s her “gut instinct that we’ll see it introduced again.” Ritter said the state’s right-to-farm law provides some protection for agriculture, but believes that it should be shored up with preemption legislation. Some sentiment emerged during last session’s deliberations over the fertilizer legislation for a statewide reduction in phosphorus use, including non-agricultural products such as dishwasher detergent. April Hunt of the state agriculture department indicated that a committee is dealing with the phosphorus question at the state level. Hunt, fertilizer and bulk storage manager, said that the bill that finally passed the legislature represented the first substantial revision in fertilizer regulations since 1975. No major changes were made, she noted, but rules were adopted banning application on frozen turf and requiring setbacks from waterways. She said new bulk storage rules are being implemented with dealers, and that similar requirements will be phased in with farmers through 2008.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain