Authenticated PDF VersionThis regulation has been developed pursuant to 3 Del.C. Ch. 22. That statute established the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission and authorized the Commission to develop, review, approve, and enforce nutrient management regulations, including regulations governing the application of nutrients to turf. This regulation was developed by the Commission and the Delaware Department of Agriculture. It is adopted with the guidance, advice, and consent of the Commission.
This regulation is promulgated pursuant to the authority provided by 3 Del.C. §§2201(5), 2220(a), and 2250(a).
For purposes of this regulation, the following words or terms shall have the following meaning:
"Applying", or any derivation of the word "apply", as it relates to the application of nutrients, means the human controlled mechanical conveyance of nutrients to land for the purpose of applying organic or inorganic nutrients.
"Certification" means the recognition by the Commission that a person has met the qualification standards established by the Commission and has been issued a written certificate authorizing such person to perform certain functions specified in this regulation.
"Commercial nutrient handler" means a person in this State who applies, uses, or supervises the application of organic or inorganic nutrients to turf or land as a component of a commercial or agricultural business in exchange for a fee or service charge.
"Commission" or "DNMC" means the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission.
"Enhanced efficiency fertilizer" means a fertilizer product that increases plant uptake and decreases the potential of nutrient loss to the environment, including gaseous loss, leaching, or runoff, when compared to an appropriate reference fertilizer product.
"Person" means any individual, partnership, association, fiduciary, or corporation or any organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not.
"State Nutrient Management Program" or "SNMP" means all the nutrient management program elements developed by the Commission, whether or not reduced to rules or regulations.
"Turf" means residential, commercial, and publicly owned lands planted in closely mowed and managed grass. Turf does not include athletic fields, golf courses, residential lots less than 1/4 acre (10,890 square feet) in size, or land used in the production for sale of sod or seed.
"Waterways" means all tidal waters (up to the mean high water line) as well as all non-tidal rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, bays, and inlets (up to the ordinary high water line).
"Wetlands" means those lands above the mean low water elevation including any bank, marsh, swamp, meadow, flat, or other low land subject to tidal action in the State of Delaware along the Delaware Bay and Delaware River, Indian River Bay, Rehoboth Bay, Little and Big Assawoman Bays, the coastal inland waterways, or along any inlet, estuary, or tributary waterway or any portion of those waterways, including those areas which are now or in this century have been connected to tidal waters, whose surface is at or below an elevation of 2 feet above local mean high water, and upon which may grow or is capable of growing any of the following plants:
Eelgrass (Zostera marina), Widgeon Grass (Ruppia maritima), Sago Pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus), Saltmarsh Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), Saltmarsh Grass (Spartina cynosuroides), Saltmarsh Hay (Spartina patens), Spike Grass (Distichlis spicata), Black Grass (Juncus gerardii), Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum), Three Square Rush (Scirpus americanus), Sea Lavender (Limonium carolinianum), Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens), Seablite (Suaeda maritima), Seablite (Suaeda lineraris), Perennial Glasswort (Salicornia virginica), Dwarf Glasswort (Salicornia Bigelovii), Samphire (Salicornia europaea), Marsh Aster (Aster Tenuifolius), Saltmarsh Fleabane (Pluchea purpurascens var. succulenta), Mock Bishop's Weed (Ptilimnium capillaceum), Seaside Plantain (Plantago oliganthus), Orach (Atriplex patula var. hastata), Marsh Elder (Iva frutescens var. oraria), Groundsel Bush (Baccharis halimifolia), Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus), Swamp Rose Mallow, Seaside Hollyhock or Marsh Mallow (Hibiscus palustris), Torrey Rush (Scirpus torreyi), Narrow-leaved Cattail (Typha angustifolia), and Broad-leaved Cattail (T. latifolia) and those lands not used for agricultural purposes in 1973, containing 400 acres or more of contiguous non-tidal swamp, bog, muck, or marsh exclusive of narrow stream valleys and tax ditches where fresh water stands most, if not all of the time due to high water table, which contribute significantly to ground water recharge, and which would require intensive artificial drainage using equipment such as pumping stations, drain fields or ditches for the production of agricultural crops.
5.0 Certification Requirements
6.0 Nutrient Handling Requirements
7.2.2 Size of area fertilized;
7.2.4 Address and location of client;
7.2.6 Total amount of fertilizer used per application;
7.2.7 Analysis of fertilizer product used; and
7.2.8 Original or legible copy of the fertilizer label.
8.1.1 First offense of non-compliance will result in education and opportunity to correct.
8.1.2 Second offense of non-compliance will result in a monetary penalty of $500.
8.1.3 Third offense of non-compliance will result in a monetary penalty of $1000.
8.1.4 Certification suspension to be determined through hearing by the Commission.
