SafeLawns Blog

Maine Enacts Phosphorus Fertilizer Bill

Maine Governor John Baldacci signed a bill restricting phosphorus content in lawn fertilzers May 1st. The new law was enacted to protect Maine's lakes, which have been increasingly affected by algal growth and other symptoms of excessive phosphorus. Safe Lawns Executive Director Shepherd Ogden testified during the hearings on this bill, which capped almost ten years of work by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and NGOs like the Maine Congress of Lake Associations (COLA).

Maine's lakes and "Great Ponds" have been become increasingly polluted over the last few decades as devlopment of shorline and a concomitant increase in lawn area have occurred. Algal bloom harms lakes in a number of ways, and some economists have estimated that for every pound of phosphorus which enters a lake through run-off, some 15-20 pounds of algae will result, and the cost of removing that algae can run up to $200 per pound. Thus homeowners who put a little extra fertilizer on their lakeside lawn just to "green 'em up" are inadvertantly creating a huge tax increase for themselves as lake town and state budgets are strained by clean-up costs.

For more on the Maine bill, as well phosphorus and water quality issues in general, see the Maine DEP phosphorus web page at http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/doclake/fert/phospage.htm .

Yes! Federal Judge Tightens Requirements On GMO Grasses

On Februrary 5th, US Federal Judge Kennedy of the DC District ruled for a coalition of food saftey and environmental groups and against the USDA and the Scotts Company over regulation of their attempts to develop genetically engineered Roundup resistant creeping bentgrass and Kentucky bluegrass. What's more: the ruling is broadly written and mandates the halting of all GMO field trials until the level of oversight is improved.

This is important to anyone concerned with turf managment because -- although proponents claim that  GMO grasses would lower herbicide use -- institution of Roundup resistant grasses would lead to whole yard spraying rather than the spot treatments that are currently employed in most situations, and so would actually raise the level of toxic application to most yards.

For a discussion of the implications of this ruling, and a PDF copy of it, vist the website of the Centry for Food Safety (one of the plaintifs) at http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/GTBC_DecisionPR_2_7_07.cfm

Legislation Tracking Website

There is a great new web tool created by the group Environmental Commons that provides a central listing of state laws nationwide the impact local control over agriculture.

Why is this important?

Because the ag and landscape chemical lobby and their allies in government have been seeking for a number of years to limit the rights of towns and counties to control use of their products within local jurisdictions. This has been most prominent in the fight over genetically engineered seeds but also applies directly to legislation about lawn chemical use around schools that has been introduced in various jurisdictions around the country.

This "legislation tracker" provides up-to-date information on agricultural-based state legislation that impacts local government and community decision-making.
In response to communities and local governments passing policies to protect sustainable farming systems and environmental health, including the impacts from genetically modified organisms, legislators allied with the biotechnology industry and the Farm Bureau are introducing "preemption" bills prohibiting local decision-making regarding various aspects of farming including the planting of seeds and the passage of health ordinances.

To check on your own state, visit  http://environmentalcommons.org/gmo-tracker.html