AI-assisted research summary: Local county and municipal bodies may not regulate fertilizers, while certain state-level exemptions and documentation duties apply for political subdivisions.
(a) A county commission or municipal governing body may not adopt or continue in effect any ordinance, rule, or resolution regulating the registration, packaging, labeling, sale, distribution, transportation, storage, or application of fertilizers. The entire subject matter of the foregoing shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture and Industries. (b) For purposes of this section, the term fertilizer means any substance containing one or more recognized plant nutrients which is used for its plant nutrient content and which is designed for use or claimed to have value in promoting plant growth, except unmanipulated animal and vegetable manures, marl, lime, limestone, wood ashes, boiler ashes produced by the pulp and paper or the electric utility industry, and similar products exempted by regulation of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. (c) This section shall not affect, supersede, or override any zoning ordinance or business license enacted by a county or municipal government, except to the extent the zoning ordinance or business license purports to regulate fertilizer as prohibited by this section, which provisions are null and void. (d) A political subdivision of the state is not subject to the requirements of subsections (a), (b), and (c) if the political subdivision’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit or other Alabama Department of Environmental Management administrative action requires, based on federal or state requirements for impaired water bodies, a stricter standard than this section imposes. The political subdivision must demonstrate to the satisfaction of Alabama Department of Environmental Management that the discharges from the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) within its jurisdiction have the potential to impact an impaired water body and whether the MS4 is subject to an applicable total maximum daily load (TMDL) requirement for the impaired water body. The political subdivision must document in the public record the rationale supporting the exemption provided in this section, including all documents utilized to support the exemption. Any exemption pursuant to this section shall lapse upon restoration of water quality as documented in the Alabama’s Water Quality Report to Congress and there are no federal or state requirements requiring a stricter standard than this section imposes. Upon lapse of the exemption, subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall apply.