Next January, a new law will take effect in Suffolk County, New York, prohibiting the application of lawn fertilizers between November 1 and April 1. The aim is to help reduce the amount of nitrogen leaching into groundwater, which causes blooms of algae and low oxygen conditions harmful to marine life.

Although this law is the first of its kind in New York, violators will be subject to a $1,000 fine if caught fertilizing during the prohibited period. A county executive says that while they won''t be establishing a "fertilizer Gestapo," they will follow up on phone calls from neighbors.