MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Agriculture

By: Representative Holland

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 75-27-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN WEIGHING DEVICES FOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS SHALL BE REGULATED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE INSTEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION; TO AMEND SECTION 75-27-23, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY A GRAMMATICAL ERROR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 75-27-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-27-19. The director shall have power to prescribe, after public hearing following due public notice, and issue reasonable regulations for the enforcement of this article, which regulations shall have the force and effect of law. These regulations may include (1) standards of net weight, measure, or count, and reasonable standards of fill, for any commodity in package form, (2) rules governing the technical and reporting procedures to be followed and the report and record forms and marks of approval and rejection to be used by inspectors of weights and measures in the discharge of their official duties, and (3) exemptions from the sealing or marking requirements of Section 75-27-31 with respect to weights and measures of such character or size that such sealing or marking would be inappropriate, impracticable, or damaging to the apparatus in question. These regulations shall include specifications, tolerances, and regulations for weights and measures of the character of those specified in Section 75-27-23, designed to eliminate from use, without prejudice to apparatus that conforms as closely as practicable to the official standards, those (1) that are not accurate, (2) that are of such construction that they are faulty--that is, that are not reasonably permanent in their adjustment or will not repeat their indications correctly, or (3) that facilitate the perpetration of fraud. The specifications, tolerances, and regulations for commercial weighing and measuring devices, together with amendments thereto, as recommended by the National Bureau of Standards and published in National Bureau of Standards Handbook 44 and supplements thereto, or in any publication revising or superseding Handbook 44, shall be the specifications, tolerances, and regulations for commercial weighing and measuring devices of the State of Mississippi, except insofar as specifically modified, amended, or rejected by a regulation issued by the director. For the purposes of this article, apparatus shall be deemed to be "correct" when it conforms to all applicable requirements promulgated as specified in this section; other apparatus shall be deemed to be "incorrect." The division shall levy no charges or fees for the field tests or inspections made under this article; however, the director shall adopt a schedule of fees for calibration and testing services provided by the State Metrology Laboratory. Fees collected for such calibration and testing shall be deposited in the State Treasury in the special fund for the Department of Agriculture and Commerce. The director shall require persons installing scales with a weight capacity of ten thousand (10,000) pounds or more to secure a permit for each such scale installed, establish a fee not to exceed Fifty Dollars ($50.00) for such permit and require such person to supply the director with scale and scale foundation blueprints and specifications for each installation before installation of the scale. Applications for permit shall be made on forms prescribed and furnished by the director. The director shall establish and adopt scale pit and approach specifications for scales with a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) pounds or more. However, weighing devices with a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) pounds or more used to weigh road construction materials only shall have a tolerance of one-half of one percent (1/2 of 1%) in lieu of the requirements of Handbook 44 * * * . For purposes of this section, the term "road construction materials" shall include, but not be limited to, sand, gravel, asphalt, fill dirt, topsoil and concrete. The term "road construction materials" shall not include timber or timber products.

SECTION 2. Section 75-27-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-27-23. When not otherwise provided by law, the director shall have the power to inspect and test, to ascertain if they are correct, all weights and measures kept, offered, or exposed for sale or purchase. It shall be the duty of the director within a twelve-month period, or less frequently if in accordance with a schedule issued by him, and as much oftener as he may deem necessary to inspect and test, to ascertain if they are correct, all weights and measures commercially used (1) in determining the weight, measurement or count of commodities or things sold or purchased, or offered or exposed for sale or purchase, on the basis of weight, measure, or of count, or (2) in computing the basic charge or payment for services rendered on the basis of weight, measure, or of count. Provided, that with respect to single-service devices--that is, devices designed to be used commercially only once and to be then discarded--and with respect to devices uniformly mass-produced, as by means of a mold or die, and not susceptible of individual adjustment, tests may be made on representative samples of such devices; and the lots of which such samples are representative shall be held to be correct or incorrect upon the basis of the results of the inspections and tests on such samples.

The manufacturer or distributor of any weighing device(s) offered for sale, sold or installed for commercial use or used commercially in this state shall subject such device to type evaluation testing by the National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Any weighing device not covered by a certificate of conformance from such agency shall not be used commercially in this state.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1999.