Phosphorus limit could ease stormwater costs

Massachusetts banned the use of phosphorus in household cleaning products back in 1994. Fourteen years later, the state banned phosphorus in laundry and dishwasher soaps.

A bill now before the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture would restrict phosphorus in lawn fertilizers.

The bill (H. 3270) would require the use of low-phosphorus or phosphorus-free fertilizers on lawns, with an exemption for new lawns, agriculture and turf farms. The bill, which got a legislative hearing on July 14, would ease the pressure on municipalities to remove phosphorus from stormwater by further limiting its use by consumers.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. John Fernandes of Milford, discussed it with the MMA’s Policy Committee on Energy and the Environment in July and received the committee’s endorsement.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered municipalities, treatment plants, businesses, and other large producers of wastewater to reduce the amount of phosphorus being discharged by stormwater systems into rivers, lakes and streams, where it stimulates algae growth. The EPA is expected to issue more stringent stormwater and sewer permits in the coming months. The new permits have the potential to cost communities hundreds of millions of dollars.

In a letter to the EPA, the MMA urged the agency “to amend [its] approach to incorporate goals that are more realistically attainable within the financial constraints of the current economic climate, or wait until adequate federal funding is available to ensure that these requirements do not translate into a harmful unfunded mandate on cities, towns and taxpayers.”

A ban on phosphorus in fertilizers has the potential to save communities millions of dollars. Some of the phosphorus in lawn fertilizers does not bind with the soil and runs into the stormwater system during rainstorms or watering. Stormwater runoff is typically not treated by sewage facilities, which have the ability to remove phosphorus.

Worcester’s stormwater empties into every body of water within city limits, including Indian Lake, Lake Quinsigamond and the Blackstone River. The EPA has classified all of those waters as impaired, and some of them contain high levels of phosphorus. The EPA estimated Worcester’s compliance cost at $17 million, but the Worcester Regional Research Bureau estimated the cost at more than $1 billion.

In the Charles River alone, the EPA estimates the potential savings of switching to phosphorus-free fertilizers at $103 million per year, compared to the cost of structural changes that would be required to remove phosphorus.

A University of Michigan study showed that a ban on phosphorus in lawn fertilizers reduced the amount of phosphorus entering the Huron River by 28 percent in the first year. The EPA estimate for the Charles River was based on a reduction of just 10 percent.

Numerous other states have adopted phosphorus restrictions or bans in fertilizers, including Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.

Sen. Jennifer Flanagan has filed a bill (S. 354) that would create incentives for fertilizer users to refrain from using products with high levels of phosphorus. The bill would also create a public education program about the negative effects that phosphorus has on water quality.

The Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture is reviewing both bills and is expected to act on them during the current legislative session.