Two lawmakers seek state ban on phosphorus in fertilizer
Two state lawmakers want to ban phosphorus in fertilizer, a move they say will be the first step of "an ambitious environmental agenda" for the new legislative session.
The proposal by Rep. Spencer Black, chairman of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, and Sen. Mark Miller, chairman of the Senate Committee on the Environment, would ban phosphates from lawn fertilizer, which makes up for about half the phosphates that pour into the Dane County lakes, Black said. Fertilizer for agricultural production would be exempt.
Currently only Door and Dane counties ban phosphates in lawn fertilizer.
Black said the measure would be one of many to cut down on lake pollution.
"There's no silver bullet for cleaning up our lakes, but there's silver buckshot," he said.
Black said a previous proposal to ban phosphorus died in the Assembly, but the he said it will likely fare better with a newly elected Democratic majority in the Assembly.
"I think it has an excellent chance this time around," he said.
The lawmakers were scheduled to formally announce the proposal at a press conference on Monday.
