O'Malley likely to delay dish soap limit

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ANNAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday he likely will delay the start of a law that allows only low-phosphorus dishwashing detergent in Maryland — a measure intended to reduce Chesapeake Bay pollution and the first such statewide ban in the country.

The General Assembly approved the bill a year ago, requiring companies that make the detergent to use low amounts of phosphorous by the end of 2009. But detergent maker Procter & Gamble Co. said it took effect too soon to make production changes and pushed to delay implementation until July 2010, a change approved by lawmakers in the last session.

Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, said on WTOP Radio that giving the companies an additional six-month delay is not unreasonable.

"The way that some would look at it is ... they've been doing it for so long, we should put an immediate stop to it," he said. "The way others would look at it is that after changing their practices and changing their products, that a six-month accommodation is not unreasonable, and I tend to come down on that side of that argument."

Mr. O'Malley also said he is pleased Maryland is at the forefront of changing the way "an entire industry operates."