22-608. INSPECTION FEES. (1) There shall be paid to the department for all fertilizers sold or distributed in this state in quantities of more than twenty-five (25) pounds an inspection fee at the rate of thirty-five cents (35¢) per ton by the product registrant. Another registrant or a tonnage-only distributor may assume responsibility for the inspection fee. Except that:
(a) No fee shall be paid on commercial fertilizer if the payment has been made by a previous distributor.
(b) No fee shall be paid on a customer-formula fertilizer if the inspection fee is paid on the commercial fertilizers that are used as ingredients therein.
(c) No fee shall be paid on commercial fertilizers that are used as ingredients for the manufacture of commercial fertilizers.
(d) If the fee has already been paid, credit shall be given for such payment.
(2) Every registrant who distributes fertilizer into or within the state shall file with the department an annual statement setting forth the number of net tons of each fertilizer so distributed into or within this state during such period. The annual tonnage reporting period shall be July 1 to June 30 of each year. The statement is due on or before thirty (30) days following the close of the filing period. Upon filing the statement, the registrant shall pay the inspection fee at the rate provided in this section. If the tonnage report is not filed and the inspection fee is not paid within thirty (30) days after the end of the specified filing period, a collection fee of ten percent (10%) of the amount due, or twenty-five dollars ($25.00), whichever is greater, shall be assessed against the registrant and added to the amount due.
(3) When more than one (1) person is involved in the distribution of a fertilizer, the last person who has the fertilizer registered or who has distributed the fertilizer to a nonregistrant, dealer, or consumer is responsible for reporting the tonnage and paying the inspection fee, unless the report and payment is made by a prior distributor of the fertilizer. The registrant has the ultimate responsibility for the payment of inspection fees.
(4) Records of the number of net tons of each fertilizer so distributed in this state shall be maintained for a period of five (5) years. The director shall have the right to examine such records to verify the reported tonnage of fertilizer distributed in this state.
(5) A minimum inspection fee shall be fifteen dollars ($15.00) per reporting period.
(6) On individual packages of fertilizer containing twenty-five (25) pounds or less, there shall be paid, in lieu of the inspection fee, an annual registration fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each separately identifiable product sold or distributed. Where a person distributes fertilizer in packages of twenty-five (25) pounds or less and in packages of over twenty-five (25) pounds, the annual fee shall apply only to that portion distributed in packages of twenty-five (25) pounds or less.
(7) Fees so collected shall be used for the payment of the costs of inspection, sampling and analysis, and other expenses necessary for the administration of this chapter.
History:
[22-608, added 2000, ch. 295, sec. 2, p. 1017; am. 2008, ch. 131, sec. 4, p. 372; am. 2020, ch. 142, sec. 2, p. 435.]