further seaward to a site over the deep ocean called the 106-mile site. then, again in response to political pressure arising from events unrelated to ocean dumping, the practice ended entirely in 1992. since 1992, new york city sludge has been applied to land (outside of new york state). the wider question is whether or not changes on the sea floor caused by the portion of sludge that settles are severe enough to justify the added operational cost and human health concerns of applying sludge to land. since 1991 after the 1991 congressional ban on ocean dumping, the u.s. environmental protection agency (epa) instituted a policy of digested sludge reuse on agricultural land. the us epa promulgated regulations – 40 cfr part 503 – that continued to allow the use of biosolids on land as fertilizers and soil amendments which had been previously allowed under part 257. the epa promoted biosolids recycling throughout the 1990s. the epa's part 503 regulations were developed with input from university, epa, and usda researchers from around the country and involved an extensive review of the scientific literature and the largest risk assessment the agency had conducted to that time. the part 503 regulations became effective in 1993. society and culture court cases in the united states in 2009, james rosendall of grand rapids, mi was sentenced by united states district judge avern cohn to 11 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to commit bribery. rosendall was the former president of synagro of michigan, a subsidiary of synagro technologies. his duties included obtaining the approval of the city of detroit to process and dispose of the city's wastewater. in 2011, travis county commissioners declared that synagro's solid waste disposal activities would be inappropriate and prohibited land use according to the towns already established ordinances. a battle between the home rule of local government and states rights/commerce rights has been waged between the small town of kern county, california, and los angeles, california. kern county passed an ordinance "keep kern clean" ballot initiative which banned sludge from being applied in kern county. los angeles sued and after a protracted verdict, won the case in 2016. in 2012, two families won a $225,000 tort lawsuit against a sludge company that contaminated their properties. in 2013 in pennsylvania, the case gilbert vs. synagro, a judge barred a nuisance, negligence and trespass lawsuit under pennsylvania's right to farm act. scientists, testing the potential of sewage sludge to protect against lead-poisoned soil, did not inform test participants of possible dangers.