PROTECT OUR WATER QUALITY Palm Beach County Can Do More And So Can You! August 2014
Photo courtesy Earthjustice
Protecting Palm Beach County’s Water: Local Urban Fertilizer Ordinances for Residential Areas THE PROBLEM: Fertilizer Used during the Rainy Season Harms Our Economy, Environment, and Public Health As we are in the rainy season (June 1 – September 30), it is especially important for Floridians to take some time to make sure their lawns and gardens are in good shape to handle the excess water. Not only should residents prepare for tropical weather such as hurricanes, but they should also keep fertilizer off their yards and out of nearby waterways. When it rains, fertilizer can quickly wash away from lawns, flow down streets, and dump into nearby streams and wetlands. Rather than fertilizing a lawn, it ends up providing excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to waterways and wetlands and acts as food for algae and causes algal blooms. Algal blooms are a serious threat to our economy, health, and environment. Algae can release toxins leading to skin and breathing problems for people. QUICK FACTS: Blooms also lead to fish kills and deplete seagrass • Fertilizer runs off lawns and beds that are key food sources for many species. into water bodies, causing algal blooms, public health problems, Algal blooms force beach closings and harm our and beach closures. tourism-based economy.
Fertilizer Harms Florida’s Everglades. Fertilizer
• During the rainy season, fertilizer quickly leaves your property. Using fertilizer during the rainy season harms estuaries and streams and is a waste of your money. • Florida Department of Environmental Protection has established a Model Fertilizer Ordinance, but this is weak and ineffective.
use is particularly concerning in South Florida because many residences may only be a few feet from the Everglades ecosystem. The Everglades is a unique wetlands environment with vast numbers of native plants and animals including many threatened and endangered species. Not only that, but the Everglades provides the daily water supply of over 7 million people (1/3 of all Floridians!). Allowing fertilizer to run off lawns and into the Everglades threatens the integrity and sustainability of the ecosystem, our water supply, and our economy. With the Everglades in the west and coastal estuaries and the Atlantic Ocean in the east, it is particularly important for Palm Beach County residents and elected officials to take the necessary measures to keep fertilizers off of lawns and out of the waterways. As 2
demonstrated by the disastrous algal blooms last year in the Caloosahatchee River and the Indian River Lagoon Basins, it is only a matter of time before Palm Beach County residents suffer from the same catastrophic impact of the overuse of fertilizer.
THE SOLUTION: Strong Fertilizer Ordinances
The Five Things You Need to Know About Algal Blooms: 1) Occur when algae is able to flourish in water with excess nitrogen and phosphorus. 2) Release toxins into the air and water, which lead to skin and breathing problems for people. 3) Force beach closings and harm our tourism-based economy. 4) Use up oxygen in water, decreasing the amount available for aquatic species, leading to fish kills. 5) Block sunlight from reaching the sea floor and cause seagrasses to stop photosynthesizing and die off.
Many communities across the state have taken proactive measures to stop pollution at its source and restrict fertilizer use in residential areas. As of July 2014, 90 county and municipal governments have enacted strong urban fertilizer ordinances that all include a strict ban against applying fertilizer during the summer rainy season ban. (Please see Table 3 for a complete list of counties and municipalities.) Unfortunately, neither Palm Beach County nor any of its municipalities have one of these 90 strong ordinances. Clearly, Palm Beach is lagging behind. Clean Water Action recommends local governments in South Florida, including Palm Beach County and its municipalities, establish urban fertilizer ordinances that adopt the following key measures for residential areas: 1. Prohibit the use of fertilizer during Florida’s rainy season (June 1 – September 30) 2. Establish a fertilizer-free zone in which nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizer is prohibited within ten feet of any water body or seawall. 3. All nitrogen fertilizer must be at least 50% slow release. 4. Total amount of nitrogen applied must not exceed 4 lbs. per 1,000 square feet per year. These all are designed to reduce fertilizer use in residential areas and protect water bodies, particularly during the summer rainy season.
What is the State Doing? Florida Statute § 403.9337 requires county and municipal governments that are located within the watershed of a water body or water segment that is listed as impaired by nutrients by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) and submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt DEP’s Model Ordinance for Florida3
Friendly Fertilizer Use on Urban Landscapes (http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/nonpoint/ docs/nonpoint/dep-fert-modelord.pdf). These ordinances are applicable to urban fertilizer use rather than agricultural use. Other communities without impaired water bodies are simply encouraged to adopt the model. This model adopts management measures of the “Florida-friendly Best Management Practices for Protection of Water Resources by the Green Industry, 2008” (BMP Handbook). Counties and municipalities are allowed to adopt more stringent standards in their ordinances. The DEP’s Model Ordinance includes: • Ban on fertilizer application during the “Prohibited Application Period” or saturated soils. The “Prohibited Application Period” is undefined, but the model’s guidance notes that some ordinances have prohibited application during the summer rainy season. • Fertilizer must not be applied within ten (10) feet of any pond, stream, watercourse, lake, canal, or wetland or from the top of a seawall, unless a deflector shield, drop spreader, or liquid applicator with a visible and sharply defined edge, is used, in which case a minimum of 3 feet shall be maintained. There is an exemption for newly planted turf and/ or landscape plants to be fertilized within the zone for sixty (60) days beginning 30 days after planting. • A voluntary ten (10) foot low maintenance zone is strongly recommended, but not mandated, from any pond, stream, water course, lake, wetland or from the top of a seawall. A swale/berm system is recommended for installation at the landward edge of this low maintenance zone to capture and filter runoff. • No specific additional requirements regarding fertilizer content and application rated for golf courses, parks and athletic fields other than what is required by RULE 5E-1.003(2)(d), F.A.C. Fertilizers may be applied to other urban turn in amounts specified by turf type and geographic location according to Rule 5E-1.003(2), F.A.C. Fertilizers containing nitrogen or phosphorus must not be applied to other urban turf for the first 30 days after seeding or sodding unless there is an emergency pursuant to certain conditions. • Specified application practices, including deflector shields and the requirement not to apply fertilizer on any impervious surfaces. • Exemptions for farming operations and scientific research. • Requirements for training and licensing of commercial applicators. 4
Palm Beach County consists of 38 incorporated municipalities with the remaining unincorporated areas covered by Palm Beach County government. Palm Beach County has established a County Urban Fertilizer Ordinance similar to the DEP’s Model Ordinance and does not implement any of the measures listed above that would strengthen the ordinance to protect waterways.
Photo courtesy Earthjustice
What is Palm Beach County Doing?
The unincorporated areas within Palm Beach County do not have their own fertilizer ordinances and are subject to the County Ordinance. Because the unincorporated communities comprise close to 84% of the total county area and contain 44% of the population, it is particularly important that Palm Beach County demonstrate leadership by enacting a strong ordinance for residential areas. Of the incorporated municipalities, only 23 out of 38 have enacted their own fertilizer ordinances, most are nearly identical to the DEP Model or County Ordinance. (Please see Appendix – Table 1 for a list of the county and municipal fertilizer ordinances as evaluated by the four key measures recommended above.) While these Palm Beach municipalities with ordinances are on the right track in that they actually have ordinances, only two of them have enacted ordinances that go above and beyond the DEP Model Ordinance: Wellington and Greenacres. Both municipalities have adopted the recommendation to impose a 10-foot fertilizer free zone around water bodies without allowing for a smaller zone with the use of a deflector shield. Some Palm Beach municipalities have also provided resources to inform residents about fertilizer use and storm water runoff to their residents through their websites and local newsletters. (Please see Appendix – Table 2 for a list of communities with information about the harms of fertilizers and recommendations on fertilizer application.) Jupiter and Juno Beach have periodically sent out information through their town publications. And a number of cities have posted materials to their websites including: Wellington, Palm Beach, Ocean Ridge, North Palm Beach, Lantana, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Belle Glade, and Atlantis. Efforts like these educate community residents on protecting local water quality, and other communities and the County should emulate these municipalities by providing fertilizer education to residents. Additionally, efforts have been made by some water utility companies to reach out to their customers about fertilizer runoff and storm water. Palm Beach County Water Utilities has distributed pamphlets and Seacoast Utility is also planning to participate in public outreach efforts with materials provided through the Palm Beach County MS4 NPDES program. 5
These inserts into water utility bills are a start in educating local residents about the harmful effects of fertilizers on local water bodies and other water utility companies across the county should follow suit to educate and inform their customers. Protecting Florida’s waters from dangerous and excessive fertilizer use and preventing unnecessary algae blooms that threaten the quality of our water supply and our quality of life can be done. Current ordinances in local Palm Beach municipalities are a step in the right direction but stronger, more protective ordinances are necessary. By enacting Florida friendly fertilizer ordinances that include four common sense standards, Palm Beach County and its communities can protect their residents, tourists, and economy for generations to come.
Recommendations Palm Beach County should be a leader by adopting a strong fertilizer ordinance, particularly because the County Ordinance is responsible for fertilizer management of all unincorporated areas, which comprise close to 84% of the county. Rather than adopting the bare minimum required by the DEP Model Ordinance, Palm Beach County should follow the example of 10 other counties and 80 municipalities across the state with strong fertilizer ordinances. August is National Water Quality Month, and we urge the county to reflect on the harms caused by fertilizers, particularly during the rainy season, and enact a strong fertilizer ordinance by this fall. A key for making an ordinance strong is to adopt a strict ban against fertilizer application during the rainy season, from June 1 through September 30. This will keep fertilizer off of lawns and out of waterways when it is most likely to rain and wash away fertilizer into water bodies. Manatee County has one of the strictest fertilizer ordinances, and Palm Beach County should look to this for guidance in amending its ordinance. In the short term, Palm Beach County should discourage residents from using fertilizer during the rainy season by placing signage in county buildings about the impacts of fertilizers. Palm Beach County and local municipalities can also provide recommendations and guidelines about best fertilizer practices and water quality impacts on their local websites and through municipal publications. The Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department, along with other municipal water utilities, should also include recommendations for reducing and avoiding fertilizer use, including Clean Water Action’s four common sense recommended measures, on its water bills to residents and online on resident accounts, particularly during the rainy season. Learn more about protecting our water supply and get involved today by contacting Clean Water Action at (561) 672-7638 or
[email protected]. Visit us online at www.cleanwater.org.
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TAKE ACTION! • Celebrate National Water Quality Month in August by learning about the harms caused by fertilizers in your community and ecosystems. • Don’t use fertilizers during the rainy season, June 1 – September 30. • Tell Palm Beach County Commissioners and your local municipal officials you want strong fertilizer ordinances. • If you need to use fertilizers during the dry season (October 1 – May 31), use fertilizers with no phosphorus or nitrogen. • Tell your neighbors about the harms caused by the use of fertilizers to our water, health, and economy. • Join Clean Water Action and get involved today!
Photo courtesy Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission
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Clean Water Action — www.CleanWaterAction.org Clean Water Action (CWA) is a national 501(c)(4) environmental organization with close to one million members nationwide. Clean Water Action works for clean, safe and affordable drinking water, prevention of health-threatening pollution, creation of environmentally-safe jobs and businesses, and empowerment of people to make democracy work. CWA organizes strong grassroots groups, coalitions, and campaigns to protect our environment, health, economic well-being, and community quality of life.
Clean Water Fund — www.CleanWaterFund.org Clean Water Fund (CWF) is a national 501(c)(3) research and education organization that has been promoting the public interest since 1978. Clean Water Fund supports protection of natural resources, with a special emphasis on water quality and quantity issues. CWF’s program builds on and complements those of Clean Water Action. CWF’s organizing has empowered citizen leaders, organizations and coalitions to improve conditions in hundreds of communities, and to strengthen policies at all levels of government, from local to national. Acknowledgements The research and core report were prepared in the summer of 2014 by Morgan Rowland, a Clean Water Action volunteer. Clean Water Action staff participating in the review: Kathleen Aterno and Sarah de Flesco. Special thanks to Sierra Club Regional Organizing Representative Cris Costello.
For an electronic copy of this report, visit: cleanwateraction.org/fl Or contact: Clean Water Action 7300 N. Federal Highway # 200 Boca Raton, Florida 33487 Tel: (561) 672-7638 E-mail:
[email protected]
Clean Water Action requests that you provide appropriate credit on all reprinted materials.
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APPENDIX TABLE 1: Urban Fertilizer Ordinances in Palm Beach County Clean Water Action’s Key Measures: 1. Implement a rainy season ban that prohibits fertilizer use from June 1 – September 30. 2. Establish a fertilizer-free zone in which nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizer is prohibited within ten feet of any water body or seawall. 3. Require that all nitrogen fertilizer used must be at least 50% slow-release formula. 4. Limit total applied nitrogen to less than 4 lbs. per 1,000 square feet per year.
1. Rainy Season Ban?
2. 10-foot Fertilizer-Free Zone?
3. Slow-release Nitrogen?
4. Limit Total Nitrogen?
Atlantis
No
No
No
No
Belle Glade
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Municipality or County
Boca Raton
NO ORDINANCE
Boynton Beach
NO ORDINANCE*
Briny Breezes
NO ORDINANCE
Cloud Lake
No
Delray Beach Glen Ridge
No NO ORDINANCE**
No
No
Golf
NO ORDINANCE
Green Acres
No
Yes, with newly-planted exception***
No
No
Gulf Stream
No
No
No
No
No
No
Haverhill
NO ORDINANCE
Highland Beach
NO ORDINANCE
Hypoluxo
No
No
Juno Beach Jupiter Jupiter Inlet Colony Lake Clarke Shores
NO ORDINANCE No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
NO ORDINANCE
Lake Park
No
No
No
No
Lake Worth
No
No
No
No
Lantana
No
No
No
No
Loxahatchee Groves
NO ORDINANCE
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TABLE 1: Urban Fertilizer Ordinances in Palm Beach County (cont.) Municipality or County
1. Rainy Season Ban?
2. 10-foot Fertilizer-Free Zone?
Manalapan Mangonia Park
3. Slow-release Nitrogen?
4. Limit Total Nitrogen?
NO ORDINANCE No
No
North Palm Beach
No
No
NO ORDINANCE
Ocean Ridge
No
No
No
No
Pahokee
No
No
No
No
No
No
Palm Beach Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach Shores
NO ORDINANCE No
No NO ORDINANCE
Palm Springs
No
No
No
No
Riviera Beach
No
No
No
No
Royal Palm Beach
No
No
No
No
South Bay
No
No
No
No
South Palm Beach
NO ORDINANCE
Tequesta
No
No
No
No
Wellington
No
Yes, with newly-planted exception***
No
No
West Palm Beach
No
No
No
No
PALM BEACH COUNTY (includes unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County
No
No
No
No
*
Boynton Beach does not have a specific ordinance dedicated solely to fertilizer application, but the Boynton Beach Land Development Regulations mention fertilizer in the section on “Shoreline Considerations” Article II, Section 3. See also Ordinance 11-019.
** Delray Beach does not have a specific ordinance dedicated solely to fertilizer application, but the Delray Beach Landscape Regulations contain a few short paragraphs on “Fertilizer Management” found at Article 4.6, Section 4.6.16 (I)(3). *** “Newly planted exception” means that newly planted turf or landscape plants may be fertilized in the ten-foot fertilizer-free zone only for a 60-day period beginning no sooner than 30 days after planting if needed to allow the vegetation to become well established. Caution shall be used to prevent direct deposition of nutrients or fertilizer into the water.
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APPENDIX TABLE 2: Municipal and County Website Information on Fertilizer Runoff and Stormwater in Palm Beach County Municipality or County
Atlantis
Belle Glade Boca Raton
Information Provided • Flood and rainy season information • Stormwater pollution • Guidelines to reduce fertilizer runoff • Flood and rainy season information • Guidelines to reduce fertilizer runoff
Boynton Beach
No Fertilizer Information
Briny Breezes
No Fertilizer Information
Cloud Lake
No Website
Delray Beach
• Stormwater pollution
Glen Ridge
No Website
Golf
No Fertilizer Information
Green Acres
No Fertilizer Information
Gulf Stream
No Fertilizer Information
Haverhill
No Fertilizer Information
Highland Beach
No Fertilizer Information
Hypoluxo
No Fertilizer Information
Juno Beach
Jupiter Jupiter Inlet Colony Lake Clarke Shores
• Flood and rainy season information • Stormwater pollution • Guidelines to reduce fertilizer runoff • Stormwater pollution • Guidelines to reduce fertilizer runoff
Source
www.atlantisfl.gov/Pages/FV1-00034E6/ SO2092C95-038C0526
http://www.bellegladegov.com/ http://www.myboca.us/Muni/StormWater/ pesticide.shtm
http://mydelraybeach.com/ environmental-services/stormwater
Juno Beach News April-July 2014: http://www. juno-beach.fl.us/vertical/sites/%7B88 BB 90 E0-A D94-4F43-B7CD-B77B19081932% 7D/ uploads/Final_April-July_2014.pdf Jupiter Town Times September-October 2013: https://www.jupiter.fl.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/ Item/197
No Fertilizer Information No Fertilizer Information
Lake Park
No Fertilizer Information
Lake Worth
No Fertilizer Information
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TABLE 2: Municipal and County Website Information on Fertilizer Runoff and Stormwater in Palm Beach County (cont.) Municipality or County
Information Provided
Lantana
• Stormwater pollution • Guidelines to reduce fertilizer runoff • Recommendations to avoid fertilizer use
Loxahatchee Groves
No Fertilizer Information
Manalapan
No Fertilizer Information
Mangonia Park
No Fertilizer Information
North Palm Beach Ocean Ridge
• Stormwater pollution • Guidelines to reduce fertilizer runoff • Flood and rainy season information
Pahokee
No Fertilizer Information
Palm Beach
• Stormwater pollution
Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach Shores
Source http://www.lantana.org/files/Stormwater%20 Pesticide,%20herbicide%20&%20fertilizer%20 inside.jpg
http://www.village-npb.org/index.asp?Type=B_ BASIC&SEC={95E0A226-0E3B-4608-B3B760EA21EA1E71}&DE= http://www.oceanridgeflorida.com/ http://townofpalmbeach.com/index. aspx?nid=355
No Fertilizer Information No Fertilizer Information
Palm Springs
No Fertilizer Information
Riviera Beach
No Fertilizer Information
Royal Palm Beach
• Stormwater pollution
South Bay
No Fertilizer Information
South Palm Beach
No Fertilizer Information
Tequesta
No Fertilizer Information
Wellington
• Stormwater pollution • Guidelines to reduce fertilizer runoff • Recommendations to avoid fertilizer use
West Palm Beach
No Fertilizer Information
PALM BEACH COUNTY (includes unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County)
• Stormwater pollution
http://www.royalpalmbeach.com/index. aspx?nid=276
http://www.wellingtonfl.gov/departments/ environmental-services/bmps.html
http://www.pbcgov.com/erm/permitting/ water-resources/surface-storm-water/
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APPENDIX TABLE 3: Strong County and Municipal Urban Fertilizer Ordinances* Brevard County
Cape Canaveral Cocoa Cocoa Beach Grant-Valkaria Indialantic Indian Harbour Beach Malabar Melbourne Beach Melbourne Village Palm Bay Palm Shores Rockledge Satellite Beach Titusville West Melbourne
Charlotte County Punta Gorda
Indian River County Indian River Shores Orchid Sebastian Vero Beach
Lee County
Bonita Springs City of Cape Coral City of Fort Myers City of Sanibel Fort Myers Beach
Manatee County Bradenton Bradenton Beach City of Anna Maria Holmes Beach Longboat Key** Palmetto
Martin County Ocean Breeze Sewall’s Point Stuart
Pinellas County
Bellaire Bellaire Beach Bellaire Bluffs Bellaire Shore Clearwater Dunedin Gulfport Indian Rocks Beach Indian Shores Kenneth City Largo Madeira Beach North Redington Beach Oldsmar Pinellas Park Redington Beach Safety Harbor Seminole South Pasadena St. Pete Beach St. Petersburg Tarpon Springs Treasure Island
Volusia County
Daytona Beach Daytona Beach Shores DeLand Edgewater Holly Hill Lake Helen New Smyrna Beach Oak Hill Orange City Ormond Beach Pierson Ponce Inlet Port Orange South Daytona City of Montverde (in Lake County) City of Naples (in Collier County) City of Tampa (in Hillsborough County)
Sarasota County City of Sarasota Longboat Key** Northport Venice
St. Lucie County Fort Pierce Port St. Lucie St. Lucie Village
*Compiled by Sierra Club and updated as of July 24, 2014. ALL include summer rainy season application bans. **Longboat Key is in both Sarasota and Manatee Counties.
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