(a) The State Plant Board may by rule require the reporting of significant pesticide accidents or incidents to a designated state agency.
(b)
(1) Any person claiming damages from a pesticide application shall have filed with the board on a form prescribed by the board a written statement claiming that he or she has been damaged. This report shall have been filed within forty-five (45) days after the date that damages occurred. If a growing crop is alleged to have been damaged, the report shall be filed before the time that twenty-five percent (25%) of the crop has been harvested.
(2) The statement shall contain, but shall not be limited to, the name of the owner or lessee of the land on which the crop is grown and for which damage is alleged to have occurred and the date on which the alleged damage occurred.
(3) The board shall prepare a form to be furnished to persons to be used in these cases. The form shall contain any other requirements as the board may deem proper.
(4) Upon receipt of the statement, the board shall notify the licensee and the owner or lessee of the land or other person who may be charged with the responsibility of the damages claimed and furnish copies of the statements as may be requested.
(5) The board shall inspect damages whenever possible, and when it determines that the complaint has sufficient merit, it shall make this information available to the person claiming damage and to the person who is alleged to have caused the damage.
(c) The filing of a report or the failure to file a report need not be alleged in any complaint which might be filed in a court of law. The failure to file the report shall not be considered any bar to the maintenance of any criminal or civil action, nor shall the failure to file a report be a violation of this subchapter.
(d) Where damage is alleged to have occurred, the claimant shall permit the board, the licensee, and his or her representatives, such as his or her insurer, to observe within reasonable hours the lands or nontarget organism alleged to have been damaged in order that the damage may be examined. Failure of the claimant to permit observation and examination of the damaged lands shall automatically bar the claim against the licensee.