Nitrogen reduction

The 1/8-cent sales tax increase is needed to finance the installation of clean water septic systems. State lawmakers must adopt it and allow Suffolk voters to make it a reality.

State legislators passed budget resolutions last week that would establish a countywide wastewater management district in Suffolk and authorize a 1/8% county sales tax to fund water quality improvement projects to reduce nitrogen discharges to groundwater from septic systems.

An extension of the Drinking Water Protection Program to 2060, with a 1/8-penny sales tax increase would provide $3.1 billion to reduce nitrogen pollution by funding replacement of conventional cesspools/septic systems with advanced onsite treatment systems.

The funding will provide financial assistance to homeowners for the replacement of cesspools with advanced septic systems that remove nitrogen from household septic wastes.

New homes built in unsewered areas of Suffolk County next year will be required to have innovative nitrogen-reducing wastewater systems rather than traditional septic systems as of next July, if a proposed amendment to the Sanitary Code is approved by county legislators.

In response to a request from Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy, the IRS issued a ruling that homeowners who have received grant funding to install advanced septic systems must pay federal income tax on the grant money.

County Executive Steve Bellone announced the development of the online class, which will be ready for 2017. Licensed landscape contractors in Suffolk have been required to complete the turf management course under a 2007 law mandating the reduction of fertilizer use in Suffolk.