Florida Senate - 2019 SB 1716
By Senator Bracy
11-01391-19 20191716__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to fertilizers; amending s. 403.9336,
3 F.S.; providing legislative intent regarding the use
4 of specified slow-release fertilizers in helping
5 control water pollution and enhancing overall water
6 quality; amending s. 403.9337, F.S.; requiring, rather
7 than encouraging, county and municipal governments to
8 adopt and enforce the Model Ordinance for Florida
9 Friendly Fertilizer Use on Urban Landscapes;
10 specifying that county and municipal governments must
11 require the use of specified slow-release fertilizers;
12 defining the term “estuary runoff area”; providing
13 additional requirements for counties and
14 municipalities within estuary runoff areas;
15 authorizing county and municipal governments to adopt
16 additional standards if certain criteria are met;
17 providing an effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Section 403.9336, Florida Statutes, is amended
22 to read:
23 403.9336 Legislative findings and intent.—
24 (1) The Legislature finds that:
25 (a) Nitrogen pollution has become a problem due to the
26 volume of fertilizers applied to residential lawns. Fertilizers
27 applied during the summer rainy season cause nitrogen to wash
28 into the waterways and cause additional pollution and harm to
29 the marine animals within those waters.
30 (b) The use of fertilizers that contain a slow-release
31 nitrogen component will help control water pollution and enhance
32 overall water quality.
33 (c) The implementation of the Model Ordinance for Florida
34 Friendly Fertilizer Use on Urban Landscapes (2015) (2008), which
35 was developed by the department in conjunction with the Consumer
36 Fertilizer Task Force, the Department of Agriculture and
37 Consumer Services, and the University of Florida Institute of
38 Food and Agricultural Sciences, will assist in protecting the
39 quality of Florida’s surface water and groundwater resources.
40 (d) The Legislature further finds that Local conditions,
41 including variations in the types and quality of water bodies,
42 site-specific soils and geology, and urban or rural densities
43 and characteristics, may necessitate the implementation of
44 additional or more stringent fertilizer management practices at
45 the local government level.
46 (2) Therefore, the Legislature intends to increase the
47 quality of Florida’s water resources through the use of the
48 Model Ordinance for Florida-Friendly Fertilizer Use on Urban
49 Landscapes (2015) and the application of fertilizers that
50 contain a slow-release nitrogen component.
51 Section 2. Section 403.9337, Florida Statutes, is amended
52 to read:
53 403.9337 Model Ordinance for Florida-Friendly Fertilizer
54 Use on Urban Landscapes.—
55 (1) Each All county and municipal government governments
56 shall are encouraged to adopt and enforce the Model Ordinance
57 for Florida-Friendly Fertilizer Use on Urban Landscapes (2015)
58 or an equivalent requirement as a mechanism for protecting local
59 surface and groundwater quality.
60 (2) Each county and municipal government shall require the
61 use of fertilizers that contain at least a 50-percent slow
62 release nitrogen component for residential lawn use.
63 (3)(a) In addition, each county and municipal government
64 within an estuary runoff area shall implement and enforce a lawn
65 fertilizing holiday to ban the application of fertilizers on
66 established residential lawns from June 1 through September 30
67 annually. Each such government may develop criteria to be used
68 in determining which lawns are considered established. For
69 purposes of this section, the term “estuary runoff area” means
70 any part of a county or municipality where stormwater runoff
71 flows to an estuary, as defined in s. 373.403.
72 (b) Each county and municipal government within an estuary
73 runoff area shall identify setbacks from water bodies within
74 those areas and shall prohibit the application of fertilizers on
75 residential lawns within those setbacks.
76 (4) Each county and municipal government located within the
77 watershed of a water body or water segment that is listed as
78 impaired by nutrients pursuant to s. 403.067, shall, at a
79 minimum, adopt the department’s Model Ordinance for Florida
80 Friendly Fertilizer Use on Urban Landscapes. A county or
81 municipal local government may adopt additional or more
82 stringent standards than the model ordinance if the following
83 criteria are met:
84 (a) The county or municipal local government has
85 demonstrated, as part of a comprehensive program to address
86 nonpoint sources of nutrient pollution which is science-based,
87 and economically and technically feasible, that additional or
88 more stringent standards than the model ordinance are necessary
89 in order to adequately address urban fertilizer contributions to
90 nonpoint source nutrient loading to a water body.
91 (b) The county or municipal local government documents that
92 it has considered all relevant scientific information, including
93 input from the department, the institute, the Department of
94 Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the University of Florida
95 Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, if provided, on the
96 need for additional or more stringent provisions to address
97 fertilizer use as a contributor to water quality degradation.
98 All documentation must become part of the public record before
99 adoption of the additional or more stringent criteria.
100 (3) Any county or municipal government that adopted its own
101 fertilizer use ordinance before January 1, 2009, is exempt from
102 this section. Ordinances adopted or amended on or after January
103 1, 2009, must substantively conform to the most recent version
104 of the model fertilizer ordinance and are subject to subsections
105 (1) and (2), as applicable.
106 (5)(4) This section does not apply to the use of fertilizer
107 on farm operations as defined in s. 823.14 or on lands
108 classified as agricultural lands pursuant to s. 193.461.
109 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.