HOUSE BILL NO. 453

INTRODUCED BY G. GUTSCHE

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT REQUIRING THAT IF ANALYSIS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE REVEALS THE PRESENCE OF A HEAVY METAL, ARSENIC, OR ORGANOCHLORINE IN A COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER OR SOIL AMENDMENT AT A LEVEL THAT PRESENTS A THREAT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, OR WELFARE AS DETERMINED BY A STANDARD DEVELOPED BY RULE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SHALL PROHIBIT THE SALE OF THE COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER OR SOIL AMENDMENT THAT PRESENTS THE THREAT; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 80-10-206 AND 80-10-301, MCA."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. Section 80-10-206, MCA, is amended to read:

"80-10-206. Inspection, sampling, and analysis. (1) The department, in cooperation with the agricultural experiment station of Montana state university-Bozeman, shall sample, inspect, analyze, and test commercial fertilizers and soil amendments distributed in this state at a time and place and to an extent necessary to determine whether the commercial fertilizers or soil amendments are in compliance with this chapter, including testing for the presence of a heavy metal, arsenic, or organochlorine. The department may enter upon any public or private premises during regular business hours in order to have access to commercial fertilizers or soil amendments subject to this chapter.

(2) The methods of analysis and sampling must be those adopted by the department from sources such as those of the association of official analytical chemists. The results of analysis, together with additional information the department considers advisable, must be transmitted promptly to the manufacturer and to the dealer or person in whose possession the product was sampled.

(3) The department, in determining whether any commercial fertilizer is deficient in plant food or soil amendment is deficient, must be guided solely by the official sample obtained and analyzed as provided for in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

(4) If on the basis of an inspection or the analysis of the official sample a commercial fertilizer or soil amendment is found to be subject to penalty or other legal action, the department shall forward to the registrant notification of the violation at least 10 days before its report is made public. If during that period no adequate evidence to the contrary is made available to the department, the report becomes official. Upon request, the department shall furnish to the registrant a portion of any sample found subject to penalty or other legal action."

Section 2. Section 80-10-301, MCA, is amended to read:

"80-10-301. Rules -- adoption by department and department of environmental quality. (1) The department shall adopt rules for commercial fertilizer and soil amendments that are specifically authorized in this chapter and other reasonable rules necessary for the efficient enforcement of this chapter.

(2) The department of environmental quality shall by rule establish a standard determining the level at which a heavy metal, arsenic, or organochlorine presents a threat to the public health, safety, or welfare. If an analysis conducted pursuant to 80-10-206 reveals the presence of a heavy metal, arsenic, or organochlorine in a commercial fertilizer or soil amendment in an amount that exceeds the standard established by department of environmental quality rules, the department shall prohibit the sale of the commercial fertilizer or soil amendment that presents the threat.

(3) In adopting rules the departments shall follow procedures prescribed in the Montana Administrative Procedure Act."

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