A.
This Legislature hereby finds and determines that ironite is a fertilizer produced from the mine tailings of a proposed Superfund site in Humbolt, Arizona, and sold to consumers as a lawn and garden fertilizer at stores such as WalMart, Home Depot, Lowe's, and Target. Testing by government agencies has found levels of arsenic high enough to classify the fertilizer as a hazardous waste. Although federal law requires that hazardous waste be properly disposed of in regulated landfills, a legal loophole called the "Bevill Exemption" excludes the mining industry.
B.
This Legislature further finds and determines that hazardous waste can follow from the industry to the farm through a loophole that allows steel companies to send toxic-laden ash, i.e., technically called "K061 Waste," from their smokestacks to companies that make zinc fertilizers, without testing it or even recording where it is going; i.e., this material can literally flow from the smokestack directly to the fertilizer sack and from there to the crop field.
C.
This Legislature finds that any company sending any wastes to a fertilizer company for recycling need only ensure that the material would pass the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Land Disposal Rule (LDR) regulations written for the storage of treated toxic wastes in lined and highly regulated hazardous waste landfills; that if the waste is safe enough to be stored in these landfills, then it is considered safe enough to be recycled into fertilizer; that the generating company is not required to test its wastes beyond the LDR standards, nor is it required to document what eventually happens to it.
D.
This Legislature determines that the third recycling loophole allows companies to transfer their wastes directly to farms if the farms can treat the waste on their land and render the material harmless and that this land treatment process is more highly regulated than the previous two loopholes and was originally designed to allow beneficial use of relatively benign waste.
E.
This Legislature also finds that industrial waste materials are often used in fertilizers as a source of zinc and other micronutrient metals; that current information indicates that only a relatively small percentage of fertilizer is manufactured using industrial wastes as ingredients; and that hazardous wastes are used as ingredients in only a small portion of waste-derived fertilizers. Some fertilizers and soil amendments that are not derived from waste materials can nevertheless contain measurable levels of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium.
F.
This Legislature further finds that the EPA's longstanding policy encourages the beneficial reuse and recycling of industrial wastes, including hazardous wastes, when such wastes can be used as safe and effective substitutes for virgin raw materials. Although the EPA is examining whether some fertilizers or soil conditioners may contain potentially harmful levels of contaminants, the Agency believes that some wastes can be used beneficially in fertilizers when properly manufactured and applied.
G.
This Legislature also determines that concerns have been raised regarding the use of certain wastes in the manufacture of agricultural fertilizers and soil amendments, and the potential for ecological or human health risks, as well as crop damage, when such fertilizers are applied to farmlands. In conjunction with state governments, the EPA has launched a major effort to assess whether or not contaminants in fertilizers may be causing harmful effects, and whether additional government actions to safeguard public health and the environment may be warranted.
H.
This Legislature further determines that, for fertilizers that contain hazardous waste, EPA standards specify limits on the levels of heavy metals and other toxic compounds that may be contained in the fertilizer products; that these concentration limits were based on the best demonstrated available technology for reducing the toxicity and mobility of the hazardous constituents; and that fertilizer made from one specific type of hazardous waste air pollution control dust generated during steel manufacturing is not subject to those concentration limits. This exemption was based on a 1988 finding by the EPA that the composition of this particular waste is comparable to the materials that would otherwise be used to make this type of fertilizer and that its typical use was not harmful. All other fertilizers that contain hazardous wastes are, however, subject to the contaminant concentration limits established by the EPA.
I.
This Legislature also finds and determines that for food-chain crops, farming can occur on land where hazardous constituents are applied as long as the agricultural producer receives a permit from the EPA Regional Administrator based on the agricultural producer demonstrating that there is no substantial risk to human health caused by the growth of such crops.
J.
This Legislature also finds that, unless prohibited by other state or local laws, agricultural producers can dispose of solid, nonhazardous agricultural wastes (including manure and crop residues returned to the soil as fertilizers or soil conditioners, and solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows) on their own property.
K.
Therefore, the purpose of this article is to prohibit the sale of ironite fertilizer within the County of Suffolk.