4:9-15.13a Prohibited sales of fertilizer; definitions.

11. a. No person may sell at retail specialty fertilizer which contains more than 0.7 pounds of water-soluble nitrogen or more than 0.9 pounds of total nitrogen per 1,000 square feet at least 20 percent of which shall consist of slow release nitrogen when applied pursuant to the instructions on the container and is intended for use on turf by consumers.

b. No person may sell at retail specialty fertilizer which contains phosphorus and is intended for use on turf by consumers unless the intended use of the fertilizer is:

(1) for application to specific soils and turf as determined to be necessary pursuant to a soil test conducted by a laboratory identified pursuant to subsection b. of section 6 of P.L.2010, c.112 (C.58:10A-66) and performed no more than three years before the application, and pursuant to the associated annual fertilizer recommendation issued by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers, the State University;

(2) for the establishment of turf for the first time, such as after land disturbance, provided the application is in accordance with the standards and requirements established under the "Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act," P.L.1975, c.251 (C.4:24-39 et seq.), and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto; or

(3) for the reestablishment or repair of a turf area.

c. Nothing in this section shall apply to fertilizers derived from processed sewage wastewater solids or manipulated animal or vegetable manure.

d. As used in this section:

"Consumer" means a natural person who buys fertilizer for personal or household use and not for business purposes.

"Manipulated animal or vegetable manure" means manure that is ground, pelletized, mechanically dried, or otherwise treated to assist with the use of manure as a fertilizer.

"Slow release nitrogen" means nitrogen in a form that is released over time that is not water soluble.

"Turf" means land, including residential property, that is planted in closely mowed, managed grass, except land used in the operation of a commercial farm as that term is defined pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1983, c.31 (C.4:1C-3).

"Water-soluble nitrogen" means nitrogen in a water-soluble form that does not have slow or controlled release properties.

L.2010, c.112, s.11.