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H0680...............................................by AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS
SOIL AND PLANT AMENDMENTS - Amends existing law to prohibit local
regulation and legislation relating to soil and plant amendments.
02/13 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/16 Rpt prt - to Agric Aff
02/19 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/20 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
Ret'd to Agric Aff
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session - 2004
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 680
BY AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO SOIL AND PLANT AMENDMENTS; AMENDING SECTION 22-2203, IDAHO CODE,
3 TO DEFINE ADDITIONAL TERMS; AMENDING CHAPTER 22, TITLE 22, IDAHO CODE, BY
4 THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 22-2226, IDAHO CODE, TO PROHIBIT LOCAL REGU-
5 LATION AND LEGISLATION RELATING TO SOIL AND PLANT AMENDMENTS AND TO PRO-
6 VIDE THAT LOCAL LEGISLATION RELATING TO SOIL AND PLANT AMENDMENTS IS VOID
7 AND UNENFORCEABLE; AND AMENDING SECTION 22-2210, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE A
8 CORRECT CODE REFERENCE.
9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
10 SECTION 1. That Section 22-2203, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
11 amended to read as follows:
12 22-2203. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter:
13 (1) "Aged" means exposed to weathering and/or natural decay, such that
14 the original material is significantly altered.
15 (2) "Biosolid(s)" means a primary organic solid material produced by
16 wastewater treatment processes that can be beneficially recycled for its plant
17 nutrient content and soil amending characteristics, as regulated under the
18 code of federal regulations, 40 CFR 503, as amended.
19 (3) "Brand" means the term, designation, trademark, product name or other
20 specific designation under which individual soil amendments or plant amend-
21 ments are offered for sale.
22 (4) "Bulk" means in nonpackaged form or in packages of one (1) cubic yard
23 or more.
24 (5) "Bulk density" means dry weight per unit of volume.
25 (6) "Compost" means a biologically stable material derived from the
26 composting process.
27 (7) "Composting" means the biological decomposition of organic matter.
28 It is accomplished by mixing and piling in such a way to promote aerobic
29 and/or anaerobic decay. The process inhibits pathogens, viable weed seeds and
30 odors.
31 (8) "Coproduct" means a chemical substance produced for a commercial pur-
32 pose during the manufacture, processing, use or disposal of another chemical
33 substance or mixture.
34 (9) "Customer formula mix" means a soil amendment or plant amendment
35 which is prepared to the specifications of the final purchaser.
36 (10) "Deficiency" means the amount of ingredient found by analysis to be
37 less than that guaranteed, which may result from a lack of ingredients or
38 lack of uniformity.
39 (11) "Department" means the Idaho department of agriculture.
40 (12) "Director" means the director of the Idaho department of agriculture
41 or his duly authorized representative.
42 (13) "Distribute" means to import, consign, manufacture, produce, com-
43 pound, mix, or blend soil amendments or plant amendments, or to offer for
2
1 sale, sell, barter or otherwise supply soil amendments and plant amendments in
2 this state.
3 (14) "Distributor" means any person who distributes.
4 (15) "Horticultural growing media" means any substance or mixture of sub-
5 stances which is promoted as or is intended to function as a growing medium
6 for the managed growth of horticultural crops in containers and shall be con-
7 sidered a plant amendment for the purposes of this chapter.
8 (16) "Investigational allowance" means an allowance for variations inher-
9 ent in the taking, preparation and analysis of an official sample of soil
10 amendments or plant amendments.
11 (17) "Label" means the display of all written, printed or graphic matter
12 upon the immediate container or statement accompanying a soil amendment or
13 plant amendment.
14 (18) "Labeling" means all written, printed or graphic matter, upon or
15 accompanying any soil amendment or plant amendment, or advertisements, bro-
16 chures, posters, or television or radio announcements used in promoting the
17 sale of the soil amendment or plant amendment.
18 (19) "Local legislation" means, but is not limited to, any ordinance,
19 motion, resolution, amendment, regulation, or rule adopted by a political sub-
20 division.
21 (20) "Manipulation" means actively processed or treated in any manner.
22 (201) "Manufacture" means to compound, produce, granulate, mix, blend,
23 repackage or otherwise alter the composition of soil amendment or plant amend-
24 ment materials.
25 (212) "Micronutrients" means boron (B); chlorine (Cl); cobalt (Co); copper
26 (Cu); iron (Fe); manganese (Mn); molybdenum (Mo); sodium (Na); and zinc (Zn).
27 (223) "Minimum percentage" means that percent of plant or soil amending
28 ingredient that must be present in a product before the product will be
29 accepted for registration when mentioned in any form or manner.
30 (234) "Mulch" means any organic or inorganic soil surface cover used to
31 help retain moisture longer in the soil by retarding evaporation, to discour-
32 age weed growth, to help maintain a constant temperature by insulating the
33 soil, to discourage runoff and soil erosion by shielding the soil surface from
34 water abrasion or to promote water absorption and retention.
35 (245) "Official sample" means any sample of soil amendment or plant amend-
36 ment taken by the director or his agent.
37 (256) "Organic" refers only to naturally occurring substances generally
38 recognized as the hydrogen compounds of carbon and their derivatives.
39 (267) "Organic waste-derived material" means grass clippings, leaves,
40 weeds, bark, plantings, prunings, and other vegetative wastes, wood wastes
41 from logging and milling operations and food wastes. "Organic waste-derived
42 material" does not include products that contain biosolids as defined in sub-
43 section (2) of this section.
44 (278) "Other ingredients" means the nonsoil amending or nonplant amending
45 ingredients present in soil amendments or plant amendments.
46 (289) "Percent" or "percentage" means by weight.
47 (2930) "Person" means individual, partnership, association, firm or corpo-
48 ration.
49 (301) "Plant amendment" means any natural or synthetic substance applied
50 to plants or seeds which is intended to improve germination, growth, yield,
51 product quality, reproduction, flavor or other desirable characteristics of
52 plants except commercial fertilizers, soil amendments, limes, unmanipulated
53 animal manure and vegetable organic waste-derived materials, pesticides, mulch
54 and other materials which may be exempted by rule.
55 (32) "Political subdivision" means any local government entity which
3
1 includes, but is not limited to, any city, county, township, or municipal cor-
2 poration and any other body corporate and politic that is responsible for gov-
3 ernment activities in a geographic area smaller than that of the state of
4 Idaho.
5 (313) "Processed" means deliberately treated or manipulated to modify or
6 transform physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of the natural
7 state of a substance.
8 (324) "Raw" means in the natural state, and not prepared, modified, proc-
9 essed or manipulated for use.
10 (335) "Registrant" means the person(s) who registers soil amendments or
11 plant amendments under this chapter.
12 (346) "Soil amendment" means:
13 (a) Any substance which is intended to improve the physical, chemical or
14 biological characteristics of the soil to favor plant growth; or
15 (b) Any material which is represented as having a primary function of
16 enhancing, changing or modifying soil microorganism reproduction, activity
17 or population, or material which is represented as having the primary
18 function of forming or stabilizing soil aggregates in soil to which it is
19 to be applied and thereby improving the resistance of the soil to the
20 slaking action of water, increasing the soil's water and air permeability
21 or infiltration, improving the resistance of the surface of the soil to
22 crusting, improving ease of cultivation of soil, or otherwise favorably
23 modifying the structural or physical properties of soil; and
24 (c) "Soil amendment" does not include commercial fertilizers, plant
25 amendments, limes, gypsum, unmanipulated animal manures and vegetable
26 organic waste-derived materials, pesticides, mulch and other material
27 which may be exempted by rule of the department.
28 (357) "Ton" means a net weight of two thousand (2,000) pounds avoirdu-
29 pois.
30 (368) "Verification of label claims" means explanatory information
31 describing how the registrant determined the truthfulness and accuracy of the
32 registrant's words or statements describing the product according to recog-
33 nized standards.
34 (379) "Waste-derived soil amendment" or "waste-derived plant amendment"
35 means any soil amendment or plant amendment that is derived from an industrial
36 byproduct, coproduct or other material that would otherwise be disposed of if
37 a market for reuse were not an option, but does not include any soil amendment
38 or plant amendment derived from biosolids or biosolid products regulated under
39 the code of federal regulations, 40 CFR 503, as amended.
40 (3840) "Weight" means the weight of material as offered for sale.
41 (3941) "Wood" means the hard fibrous material located beneath the bark of
42 trees, which constitutes the greatest part of the stems of trees and shrubs.
43 When not specifically stated in this section or otherwise designated by
44 the department in rule, the department will be guided by the definitions of
45 general terms, fertilizer materials and soil and plant amendment materials as
46 set forth in the Official Publication of the Association of American Plant
47 Food Control Officials (AAPFCO), or the Merck Index, published by Merck & Co.,
48 Inc.
49 SECTION 2. That Chapter 22, Title 22, Idaho Code, be, and the same is
50 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-
51 ignated as Section 22-2226, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
52 22-2226. LOCAL LEGISLATION -- PROHIBITION. No political subdivision shall
53 regulate the registration, packaging, labeling, sale, storage, distribution,
4
1 use and application of soil and plant amendments. No political subdivision
2 shall adopt or continue in effect local legislation relating to the registra-
3 tion, packaging, labeling, sale, storage, distribution, use or application of
4 soil and plant amendments. Local legislation in violation of this section is
5 void and unenforceable.
6 SECTION 3. That Section 22-2210, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
7 amended to read as follows:
8 22-2210. INSPECTION -- SAMPLING -- ANALYSIS. (1) The department shall
9 inspect, sample, analyze and test soil amendments or plant amendments distrib-
10 uted within this state at a time and place and to an extent as it deems neces-
11 sary to determine whether the soil amendments or plant amendments comply with
12 this chapter. The department may stop any commercial vehicle transporting soil
13 amendments or plant amendments on the public highways and direct it to the
14 nearest scales approved by the department to check weights of soil amendments
15 or plant amendments being delivered or to take samples of the product being
16 transported. Also, the department may, upon presentation of proper identifica-
17 tion, enter any distributor's premises, including any vehicle of transport, at
18 all reasonable times in order to have access to soil amendments or plant
19 amendments and to records relating to their distribution.
20 (2) The methods of sampling and analysis shall be those adopted by the
21 department from officially recognized sources, such as, but not limited to,
22 the association of American plant food control officials (AAPFCO) and the
23 association of official analytical chemists, international (AOAC).
24 (3) In determining for administrative purposes whether a soil amendment
25 or plant amendment is deficient in any component, the department shall be
26 guided solely by the official sample as defined in section 22-2203(245), Idaho
27 Code, and obtained and analyzed as provided for in this section.
28 (4) When the inspection and analysis of an official sample has been made,
29 the department shall forward the results of the analysis to the distributor
30 and manufacturer, and to the purchaser upon written request. Upon written
31 request and within thirty (30) days of the results of analysis, the department
32 shall furnish to the distributor and/or manufacturer a portion of the sample
33 concerned.
34 (5) If the analyses of samples made by the department indicate deficien-
35 cies in the soil amendments or plant amendments examined, below guaranteed
36 analysis and in excess of the tolerances specified in rules adopted under this
37 chapter, the department shall immediately notify the manufacturer and/or dis-
38 tributor of the soil amendments or plant amendments of the results of the
39 analyses. The manufacturer or distributor of the soil amendments or plant
40 amendments may, upon written request, obtain from the department a portion of
41 the sample(s) in question. If the manufacturer or distributor does not agree
42 with the analyses of the department, he may request an umpire who shall be one
43 (1) of a list of not less than three (3) public analysts recognized by the
44 department to have the requisite ability in soil amendments, plant amendments
45 or fertilizer analyses, who shall be named by the department. The umpire anal-
46 yses shall be made at the expense of the manufacturer or distributor request-
47 ing the umpire analyses. If the umpire agrees more closely with the depart-
48 ment, the figures of the department shall be considered correct. If the umpire
49 agrees more closely with the figures of the manufacturer or distributor, then
50 the figures of the manufacturer or distributor shall be considered correct.
51 (6) Analysis of an official sample by the department shall be accepted as
52 prima facie evidence by any court of competent jurisdiction.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 14040
Some political bodies and/or subdivision below the state level
may consider enacting soils and plant amendment restrictions
and/or requirements in addition to the state soils and plant
amendment law. These requirements may conflict with the existing
state soil and plant amendment law and are often not based on
principals of good science. The language proposed in this
legislation is that recommended by the uniform bills committee
of the Association of American Feed Control Officials for state
fertilizers and Soil and Plant Amendment laws. This legislation
prohibits regulation of soil and plant amendments at the local
level.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund.
Contact
Name: Michael Cooper
Idaho State Department of Agriculture
Phone: 332 8620
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 680