Treasure Coast officials say Florida Legislature shouldn't ban local fertilizer ordinances
Treasure Coast elected officials defended decade-old local ordinances that regulate lawn fertilizer, including a summer rainy season ban, in the wake of critics questioning their effectiveness.
A Legislature-commissioned study, which the University Florida released Dec. 22, said a comprehensive study is needed to determine whether the ordinances curb water pollution from fertilizers that can feed algae blooms. Existing studies aren't thorough enough, the UF study says.
Now the Legislature must decide whether to fund a comprehensive study, and who to hire to conduct it. Even if lawmakers forgo the study, they must decide whether to:
UF report: Local summer fertilizer bans need comprehensive study to determine efficacy
Extend a moratorium they imposed last year on local governments enforcing, strengthening or passing new fertilizer ordinances
Permanently ban local ordinances and make the weaker state ordinance the law of the land
Do nothing, and let the moratorium expire July 1.
Treasure Coast leaders want local fertilizer ordinances
Treasure Coast officials said their local ordinances should remain intact.
“What's the cost to the public and the taxpayers if we continue to put fertilizer and contaminants into our waterways, but spend billions and billions of dollars trying to remove it?” said St. Lucie County Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky. “(Fertilizer ordinances) galvanized Republicans, Democrats and independents across the board, so we can all agree on one thing, and that is we need to clean up our waterways.”
The Legislature should respect home rule — in addition to banning summer fertilizer sales and forcing farms to use best management practices, said Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, a former South Florida Water Management District board member and former Sewall’s Point mayor who fought for the town's fertilizer ordinance.
Sewell’s Point was one of the first municipalities in the state to pass a local fertilizer ordinance in 2010. It remains one of the strictest, with the summer ban ending Nov. 30 instead of the more typical Sept. 30. All summer bans begin June 1.
“I don't trust our state government to not try to take our rights away,” Thurlow-Lippisch said. “Local government has its part in society for its local flavor and character and especially when it's something like trying to protect the environment.”
Among the 35 Florida cities and counties that have ordinances, 18 have summer bans, including the five counties containing the Indian River Lagoon: Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Brevard and Volusia. Most of the 32 that don't have ordinances are in the Panhandle, North Florida and around Lake Okeechobee. Some were trying to pass ordinances when the Legislature imposed a moratorium.
Environmentalists also prefer local ordinances over the state's weaker ordinance.
“The concern is the Legislature is going to use this [UF] study and say, ‘Well, since it's not conclusive, we're going to extend this moratorium or we're going to preempt any local government from doing any fertilizer ordinances or amending any existing ones until further notice,’ ” said Mark Perry, executive director of the nonprofit Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart.
The state ordinance doesn’t include a summer ban. It says people shouldn't fertilize their lawns 24 hours before a heavy rain, so the nutrients don't wash off into a waterway. It also says people shouldn't apply fertilizer within 10 feet of a waterway. Some local ordinances are stricter. Martin County, for example, calls for a 25-foot buffer.
“DEP is a one-size-fits-all,” said Elizabeth Kelly, Martin County environmental programs coordinator. “You need to allow local areas to be able to say ‘This is what works for us.'”
Septic tank vs. lawn fertilizer debate
Brian LaPointe, a biologist at Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, is a leading critic of the ordinances. His research prioritizes septic tank regulations.
“Irrespective of the debate about how the effects of fertilizer bans are, we know that human waste is a major driver of the blooms we're seeing, so I think the Legislature certainly needs to move forward with providing funding for counties” to curb septic tank pollution, LaPointe said.
A 2023 study he authored traced 79% of the nitrogen in the Indian River Lagoon to septic systems and 21% to lawn fertilizer. The bulk came from human waste in the northern lagoon, he said.
His study says local fertilizer ordinances aren’t enough to stop pollution and algae blooms; however, he also has acknowledged they have reduced pollution.
“To some extent, it is common sense that if you're applying (fertilizer) onto yards, obviously that's a potential source of leaching and runoff,” he said. “That is a good thing to try to minimize the application.”
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LaPointe agreed more studies are needed to verify the best timing of the summer fertilizer ban. Other UF studies have found less fertilizer seeps into waterways during winter bans because lawns may absorb less fertilizer in the non-growing season, he said.
Summer bans “ultimately diverted attention, efforts and funds that potentially could have been more effective if allocated to reducing human waste impacts,” LaPointe said.
Locals officials disputed that assertion. For one thing, the ordinances aren't expensive budget items, just part of day-to-day operations, said Stuart spokesperson Ben Hogarth.
The ordinances are one of the many essential ways to fight pollution, Dzadovsky said.
“Where he [LaPointe] misses the boat, in my opinion, is to poo-poo the idea that taking fertilizer out of the system is not valuable,” he said. “The more we can take out of the system or not let in the system, the better.”
Katie Delk is an environmental reporter for TCPalm. Contact her at katie.delk@tcpalm.com or 772-408-5301. Check for updates at @katie_delk.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Will Florida ban local fertilizer ordinances with summer bans?
