Peggy Kirk Hall1, Ellen Essman1
1The Ohio State University
ABSTRACT
Agricultural nutrients in the wrong places pose threats to water quality in the United States, but the federal government has little control over the issue. States do have authority over nonpoint sources such as agricultural nutrient runoff, but what are they doing to address water quality threats? This paper presents an overview of different approaches states are utilizing to reduce agricultural nutrient impacts on water. Approaches fall into seven categories that range from statewide reduction strategies to nutrient application restrictions and external partnerships. Voluntary incentives remain a priority, but a slight trend toward mandatory requirements exists. The current landscape is well-populated with a diversity of state actions, but funding, impact monitoring and coordination may prove critical to program and policy success.
BIOGRAPHY
PEGGY KIRK HALL is an Associate Professor and Field Specialist in Agricultural and Resource Law at The Ohio State University. She directs OSU Extension’s Agricultural & Resource Law Program and teaches Agribusiness Law in the College of Food, Agricultural & Environmental Sciences. Hall is a partner in the National Agricultural & Food Law Consortium, a multi-institutional agricultural law research initiative directed by the National Agricultural Law Center. She has served as President of the American Agricultural Law Association and Chair of the Ohio State Bar Association Agricultural Law Committee. Hall holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from The Ohio State University and earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Wyoming College of Law, where she served on the Land and Water Law Review. Hall and her family own and operate a grain farm in central Ohio.
