General Assembly Raised Bill No. 254
February Session, 2012 LCO No. 1369
*01369_______ENV*
Referred to Committee on Environment
Introduced by:
(ENV)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 254
February Session, 2012
LCO No. 1369
*01369_______ENV*
Referred to Committee on Environment
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT RESTRICTING THE APPLICATION OF FERTILIZERS THAT CONTAIN PHOSPHATE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2012) (a) Notwithstanding chapter 427a of the general statutes, no person shall apply fertilizer, as defined in section 22-111b of the general statutes, that contains phosphate to an established lawn. For the purpose of this subsection, an "established lawn" means any area of ground that is covered with any species of grass for two or more growing seasons and that is customarily kept mowed.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, no person shall apply any fertilizer, as defined in section 22-111b of the general statutes, that contains phosphate to any lawn during the period beginning November fifteenth and ending April first of the following year.
(c) Notwithstanding chapters 427a and 441 of the general statutes and subsections (a) and (b) of this section, no person shall apply any fertilizer, as defined in section 22-111b of the general statutes, that contains phosphate to any lawn, or any portion thereof, that is located twenty feet or less from any brook, stream, river, lake, pond, sound or any other body of water.
(d) On and after October 1, 2012, any person that sells fertilizer, as defined in section 22-111b of the general statutes, in a retail establishment, shall separately display fertilizer products that contain phosphate from fertilizer products that do not contain phosphate. Such person shall post a sign at the point of sale for such fertilizer products that states the following: "PHOSPHATE RUNOFF CAN POSE A THREAT TO WATER QUALITY. CONNECTICUT LAW PROHIBITS: (1) THE APPLICATION OF FERTILIZER THAT CONTAINS PHOSPHATE TO AN ESTABLISHED LAWN, (2) THE APPLICATION OF FERTILIZER THAT CONTAINS PHOSPHATE TO ANY LAWN FROM NOVEMBER 15TH THROUGH APRIL 1ST, AND (3) THE APPLICATION OF FERTILIZER THAT CONTAINS PHOSPHATE TO ANY PART OF A LAWN THAT IS LOCATED WITHIN TWENTY FEET OF ANY BODY OF WATER." Such sign shall be readily visible to consumers of fertilizer at such retail establishment and shall be printed in black lettering not less than thirty-eight-point type size upon a white background.
(e) The Commissioner of Agriculture may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section.
(f) Any person who violates subsection (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this section shall be assessed a civil penalty of five hundred dollars.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2012 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2012
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To reduce the effect that phosphate runoff has on the state's bodies of water by restricting the application of fertilizers that contain phosphate.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]