House Bill 889

(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 69-23-9, 69-24-27, 75-27-19 AND 75-33-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE MISSISSIPPI ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ACT BY REMOVING THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PUBLIC HEARING MUST BE HELD BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE BEFORE ADOPTING REGULATIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 69-23-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-23-9. (1) The commissioner is authorized, after opportunity for a hearing:

(a) To declare as a pest any form of plant or animal life or virus which is injurious to plants, man, domestic animals, articles or substances;

(b) To determine whether pesticides registered under authority of Section 24(c) of FIFRA are highly toxic to man in conformity with federal regulations;

(c) To determine standards of coloring or discoloring for pesticides and to subject pesticides to the requirements of Section 69-23-5(1).

(2) The commissioner may adopt, amend or repeal rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this chapter, including, but not limited to, rules and regulations providing for the collection and examination of samples; the safe handling, transportation, storage, display, distribution and disposal of pesticides and their containers; protecting the environment; labeling and adopting state restricted pesticide uses.

(3) In order to avoid confusion endangering the public health resulting from diverse requirements, particularly as to the labeling and coloring of pesticides, and to avoid increased costs to the people of this state due to the necessity of complying with such diverse requirements in the manufacture and sale of such pesticides, it is desirable that there should be uniformity between the requirements of the several states and the federal government relating to such pesticides. To this end the commissioner is authorized, after due public hearing, to adopt by regulation such regulations, applicable to and in conformity with the primary standards established by this chapter, as have been or may be prescribed by the United States government with respect to pesticides.

(4) No action taken by the commissioner under the provisions of this section shall be effective unless and until such action is approved by the advisory board created under the provisions of Section 69-25-3, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 2. Section 69-24-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-24-27. The commissioner and State Chemist mayadopt,amend or repealrules and regulations relating to sampling, analytical methods, forms, minimum percentage, soil or plant amending ingredients, exempted materials, investigational allowances, definitions, records, labels, labeling, liability bond, misbranding, mislabeling and the distribution of soil or plant amendments as may be necessary to carry into effect the full intent and meaning of this chapter.

SECTION 3. Section 75-27-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-27-19. The director may adopt, amend or repeal 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 Institute of Standards and Technology and published in 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 shall be exempt from the requirements of this article. Such weighing devices for road construction materials shall have a tolerance of one-half of one percent (1/2 of 1%) in lieu of the requirements of Handbook 44 and shall be regulated by the Mississippi Department of Transportation instead of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce. 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 4. Section 75-33-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-33-5. * * *

* * * The commissioner may adopt, amend or repeal rules and regulations for the * * * administration and enforcement of this article * * *.

* * * The commissioner shall not promulgate any rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture governing the businesses covered by this article.

* * * Every licensee * * * shall be furnished a copy of such rules and regulations when a license is issued. The commissioner shall prescribe and supply the forms to be used to comply with this article.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2005.