William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency describes nutrient pollution as “one of the most widespread and challenging environmental problems faced by our nation.” Despite this acknowledgment, federal and state governments impose little to no mandatory laws to regulate the application of synthetic fertilizers to farmland, the primary source of nutrient pollution. Further, emissions from agriculture play a key role in global emissions; failing to address them could prevent the global attainment of the 1.5 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius climate change goals. In an attempt to shed light on the issue, this Article describes the significant climatic and environmental impacts of fertilizers and surveys the legal landscape of fertilizers, outlining the outright exemption of fertilizers from federal environmental laws and the dismal regulation of such at the state level. Please note, given that synthetic fertilizers and manure-based fertilizers are subject to vastly different regulatory schemes, this Article’s use of the term “fertilizers“ applies only to synthetic fertilizers.
