Phosphorus Ban

The Bay County Board of Commissioners approved the ordinance to ban lawn fertilizers containing phosphorus in Bay County on November 13, 2007! Allegan County, Ottawa County, and Muskegon County have all passed the phosphorus ban. Also, Representative Terry Brown of Huron County introduced House Bill 6115 on May 13, 2008 to restrict the use of phosphorus in lawn fertilizers.

• Bay County Phosphorus Ordinance
• Bay County Phosphorus Ban Information
• SBCI Phosphorus Committee Recommendation Letter - 2009
• SBCI Phosphorus Committee Final Report DRAFT - 2009

The Phosporus Ban was enacted to reduce the amount of phosphorus found in the Saginaw Bay in order to reduce the algae growth. Below are some additional links to more information regarding phosphorus:

• Expert Input Regarding Dane County Phosphorus in Lawn Fertilizer Ordinance
• Lake Huron BiNational Partnership - Phosphorus in the Saginaw Bay - Is it still a problem?
• Phosporus Advisory Committee - Final Report - Prepared by Public Sector Consultants, Inc.
• Phosphorus Control Presentation - by John M. Barten
• Phosphorus management system balances farms, water quality- University of Wisconsin - Madison - By Jill Sakai
• Phosphorus Reduction Strategy for the Michigan Portion of Lake Erie and the Saginaw Bay