PA Farm News - New law will help communities meet phosphate reduction goals

New Law Will Help Communities Meet Phosphate Reduction Goals
HARRISBURG -- Legislation authored by state Senator Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster) to help reduce phosphates entering the state’s waterways was signed into law Tuesday, May 13. Originally Senate Bill 1017, this legislation amends the Phosphate Detergent Act to virtually eliminate the amount of phosphate allowed in automatic dishwashing detergents. The bill was unanimously approved by both the state Senate and state House of Representatives before heading to the Governor’s desk.

“Pennsylvania is part of the multi-state Chesapeake 2000 agreement to remove the Chesapeake Bay from the federal list of impaired waters by 2010,” Brubaker said, noting that under the agreement, the state must reduce its levels of nitrogen going into waterways by 34 percent, phosphorus by 31 percent, and sediment by 11 percent. These reductions are required by both point sources, such as sewage treatment facilities, and nonpoint sources, including farmland and stormwater runoff.

“More often than not, the reductions required by wastewater treatment plants require large capital investments to install nutrient reduction technology,” Brubaker said.

However, Brubaker continued, approximately seven to 12 percent of the phosphorus entering such a plant comes from automatic dishwashing detergents.

The new law requires that the phosphate in household automatic dishwashing detergents be reduced from 8.7 percent by weight as allowed under current law to 0.5 percent by weight by July 1, 2010. This is consistent with the detergent industry’s goal to reduce phosphate in these detergents nationwide on the same timeline, which provides time to develop formulas that meet consumer satisfaction for performance and allows for a smooth transition to the new standard.

“Phasing out the level of phosphate in these detergents will help our communities make progress toward their phosphate reduction goals in a small but significant way that is also cost-effective,” Brubaker said, adding that a similar phase-out has already occurred in liquid hand dish detergents and laundry detergents. “In fact, calculations show that the elimination of phosphorus from automatic dishwashing detergents will reduce total chemical and sludge costs by 23.8 percent, resulting in an average savings for Pennsylvania of about $7 million each year.” “Passage of this legislation lets every household become part of the solution to reducing pollution going into Pennsylvania’s waterways and we want to thank Senator Brubaker for his leadership on this issue,” said Matthew Ehrhart, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Environmental groups, wastewater plant operators, farmers, county conservation districts and builders are working together to support fair share efforts to reduce pollution and sediment runoff and we welcome leadership from the state and federal government to help with these efforts.”

“I am very pleased that my colleagues also recognized the value of this measure and overwhelmingly supported Senate Bill 1017 as it moved through the legislative process,” Brubaker said. “As a member of the Chesapeake Bay Commission and part of the Lancaster County Task Force on the Chesapeake Bay Strategy, I will continue to monitor this situation and to work with stakeholders to develop ideas that will help Pennsylvania address its role in the Strategy.”

POSTED 080514_0900 ET