Nitrogen fertilizer regulations

The Minister for the Environment, after consulting with the Minister of Agriculture, may recommend the promulgation of regulations for the monitoring and collection of sales information on synthetic nitrogenous fertiliser. ⁵¹⁷⁵   Such information could help inform freshwater management and planning.  Synthetic nitrogenous fertiliser, in the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-F), refers to any substance (whether solid or fluid) with a dry weight of more than 5% nitrogen that is applied to plants or soil as a source of nitrogen nutrition for plants (except where the nitrogen is fully derived from biological sources).  As of mid-2021, the only regulation relating to nitrogen fertiliser sales is the requirement in section 36 of the NES-F for dairy farmers to provide their regional council with the receipts of their synthetic nitrogen fertiliser purchases.

Last updated at 11:52AM on August 23, 2021