Providing for the reporting of certain information relating to the sale of fertilizers, providing penalties, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions

BACKGROUND —— GENERAL.1).4).5).6), which include a guaranteed analysis, which is the minimum percentage of plant nutrients. DALS is authorized to adopt rules under the Iowa administrative procedure Act (IAPA) in order to administer Code chapter 200. BACKGROUND —— APPLICABLE PENALTIES.17). A person that violates Code chapter 200 or rules adopted by DALS pursuant to that Code chapter is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than 30 days and a fine of at least $105 but not more than $855. BILL’S PROVISIONS —— GENERAL. This bill provides that a fertilizer manufacturer that sells a registered brand to a customer in this state must submit a monthly report to DALS stating pricing information regarding the active ingredients used to manufacture each brand, the total quantity of each brand and the total quantity of all brands, the lowest and highest price for each brand, and the terms of any agreement entered into by the licensee and a customer for the discounted sale of a brand. A manufacturer that violates the bill’s provisions is subject to a civil penalty that may be administratively imposed, assessed, and collected by DALS acting in cooperation with the attorney general. DALS is required to establish by rule a schedule of civil penalties to be imposed upon a manufacturer that is determined to have violated the provisions of the bill. A manufacturer is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each day that a violation continues. BILL’S PROVISIONS —— ADMINISTRATIVE RULES AND EFFECTIVE DATE. The bill authorizes DALS to adopt rules under the IAPA under its emergency (double-barreled) rulemaking provisions to administer the bill. The bill’s provisions take effect upon enactment.