Under the law, which was expected to be signed by County
Executive Andrew J. Spano this week,
lawn fertilizers containing phosphates will no longer be
allowed in Westchester as of January 2011.
Other portions of the law will take effect this year and
will include restriction of the use of any
fertilizer between April and December. The law would
restrict the use of any fertilizer within 20
feet of a body of water unless there is a vegetative
buffer at least 10 feet wide, county officials said.
“We did the right thing for the health of
the people who live in Westchester and for the
environment,”
said Thomas J. Abinanti, who heads the legislators’
Committee on the Environment and Energy.
Violations of the law will result in fines between $50
to $150, county officials said. The county’s
Department of Consumer Protection will oversee the
enforcement of the law.
The law provides some exceptions to
the ban. They include new lawns — which typically need
additional
nutrients for grass to take root — and vegetable
gardens, Mr. Abinanti said.
Mr. Spano, the sponsor of the bill,
said it would help Westchester residents make smarter
choices in
maintaining healthy lawns and would ultimately lead to a
healthier water supply.
“Restricting the use of phosphorus
fertilizers is a major step in tackling a water
pollution crisis that
threatens more of our watershed areas every day,” he
said.
The impetus for the law was a study by
a state task force, released in 2000. It found that
excess amounts
of nitrates and phosphorus that run off into lakes,
estuaries and streams can stimulate the growth of algae,
which blocks sunlight and deprives the water of oxygen
and thus can kill other forms of life.
Nitrate and phosphate pollution
eventually makes its way into major bodies of water in
and around Westchester,
including the New York City watershed, which supplies
water to more than 85 percent of Westchester residents,
county officials said.
The bill had the support of all 17
board members, an achievement Mr. Abinanti described as
rare, given the
objections to the law raised by various groups that
delayed its passage for almost two years. Landscapers
and
fertilizer manufacturers had argued against the measure,
saying that zero-phosphate fertilizers cannot sustain
turf
growth and health.
Lawmakers said most Westchester lawns
would be unaffected by changes in fertilization because
soil in this region
has sufficient phosphorus material.
Mr. Abinanti said his committee
investigated concerns that arose, which in some cases
led to revisions in the bill. For
example, an earlier draft restricted use of fertilizer
to between April and November, but was amended to
between April
and December. Landscapers say that further applications
will improve lawn quality. Proponents of organic
fertilizers
argued for an exemption for fertilizers containing an
organic form of phosphate, saying that such versions do
not cause
harm. But the exemption was not added. “We spent a lot
time addressing the concerns,” Mr. Abinanti said. “But
ultimately,
we were convinced by the science that getting phosphates
off the shelf was the right thing to do. Clean water is
essential for
everyone living here.”
The bill was passed as the county is
facing the prospect of spending $235 million on upgrades
to several sewage treatment
plants on Long Island Sound. The upgrades are mandated
by state and federal authorities in response to high
levels of
nitrogen dumped into the Sound every year, county
officials said.
Mr. Abinanti said the regulation of
fertilizer would dovetail with the efforts to improve
the sewage treatment plants.
“We are spending all this money to
clean up the Sound,” he said. “It makes no sense to then
reverse that by allowing
damage from the inappropriate use of fertilizers.