(a) When installing a farm bulk tank or reconstructing a floor area supporting a bulk tank, the tank shall not be placed in service and used as a commercial measuring device unless a foundation has been constructed with due consideration of frost penetration and of sufficient strength to support the completely liquid-laden tank without change of level, and a steel plate not less than six inches square and not less than one-quarter inch thick is placed under each leg and the steel plate and the tank legs are cemented to the floor. Bulk tanks shall be calibrated using accepted practices approved by the consumer protection section as soon as possible after the milk house and bulk tank installation has been approved by the dairy section.

(b) Whenever a check of a bulk milk tank by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets or by a competent person or agency indicates a tank calibration is not accurate within official tolerances, the first handler receiving milk from the producer shall recalibrate the tank, unless the out-of-tolerance is caused by movement of the tank and the Secretary feels there will be continued movement, then the recalibration shall not be performed until a solid foundation has been constructed.

(c) If the Secretary determines the bulk milk tank is not an accurate measure for milk or because of continued movement of the tank caused by a poor foundation, the Secretary may condemn the tank and forbid its use as a measuring device. Any person who alters a bulk tank weight conversion chart, uses other than the latest conversion chart issued, uses a condemned tank as a measure, uses a tank without the legs cemented to the floor, or changes the level position of a bulk milk tank without immediately notifying the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall be fined not more than $500.00 for each offense.

(d) The first handler receiving milk from a producer shall furnish competent personnel licensed by the consumer protection section to calibrate the producer's bulk milk tank. The word "handler" as used in this subsection shall mean a person, firm, unincorporated association, or corporation engaged in the business of buying, selling, assembling, packaging, or processing milk or other dairy products, for sale within or outside the State of Vermont.

(e) [Repealed.]  (Added 1967, No. 102, § 26, eff. April 14, 1967; amended 1971, No. 69, § 14, eff. April 15, 1971; 1973, No. 22, § 2; 1989, No. 257 (Adj. Sess.), § 16; 1991, No. 186 (Adj. Sess.),§§ 36a, 36b, eff. May 7, 1992; 1991, No. 227 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 1999, No. 49, § 128(1); 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2011, No. 39, § 8, eff. May 19, 2011; 2013, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 10.)