(a) The secretary shall adopt necessary regulations governing the inspection frequency of all commercially used weights, measures, and weighing and measuring apparatus in the state.
(b) The sealer of each county shall perform such inspections as may be required by the secretary. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the sealer from inspecting a device more frequently than required if he or she deems those tests to be necessary.
(c) Any regulation shall be adopted by the secretary in conformity with the provisions of Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 11371) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(d) In counties where the secretary finds that the sealer, because of lack of equipment, is unable or fails to perform the tests as required herein, the secretary may enter into a contract with the board of supervisors of each of those counties to perform the tests. Those contracts shall provide that the county shall pay the cost of those services based upon a uniform schedule of fees developed by the secretary. The fee schedule shall be based on the approximate cost of performing those services. The contracts shall also provide that the secretary shall periodically render a bill to each county so served for the cost of services rendered, and the auditor of the county so billed shall pay the charge in the same manner in which other claims against the county are paid.
(e) All fees collected under the provisions of this section shall be credited to the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 661, Sec. 35. (SB 1576) Effective January 1, 2013.)