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Utah Administrative Code (Current through November 1, 2019) |
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R68. Agriculture and Food, Plant Industry |
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R68-3. Utah Fertilizer Act Governing Fertilizers and Soil Amendments |
| R68-3-1. Authority |
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Promulgated under authority of Section 4-2-2 and 4-13-4. |
| R68-3-2. Registration of Products |
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A. All fertilizer or soil amendment products distributed in Utah shall be officially registered with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. 1. Application for registration shall be made to the Department upon forms prescribed and provided by the Department and shall include the following information for each product: a. The net weight, b. The brand and grade, c. The guaranteed analysis, d. The name and address and phone number of the registrant. e. The label for each product registered. f. Any waste-derived fertilizer distributed as a single ingredient product or blended with other fertilizer ingredients must be identified as "waste-derived fertilizer" by the registrant in the application for registration. "Waste-derived fertilizer" shall include any commercial fertilizer that is derived from an industrial byproduct, coproduct or other material that would otherwise be disposed of if a market for reuse were not an option, but does not include fertilizers derived from biosolids or biosolids products regulated under Environmental Protection Agency Code of Federal Regulation, Section 503. g. The registrant of a waste-derived fertilizer shall state in the application for registration the levels of non-nutritive metals (including but not limited to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead and selenium). The registrant will provide a laboratory report or other documentation verifying the levels of the non-nutritive metals in the waste-derived fertilizer. 2. The Commissioner may require submission of the complete formula of any fertilizer or soil amendment if it shall be deemed necessary for administration of the Utah Fertilizer Act. If it appears to the Commissioner that the composition of the product is such as to warrant the proposed claims for it, and if the product and its labeling and any other information which may be required to be submitted comply with the requirements of the act, the products shall be registered. a. Before registering any soil amendment the Commissioner shall require evidence to substantiate the claims made for the soil amendment and proof of the value and usefulness of the soil amendment. Such supportive data shall accompany the application for registration and shall be obtained from one or more State Experiment Stations. Cost for such research shall be the responsibility of the applicant. Final decision concerning registration of a soil amendment shall be made by the Commissioner following evaluation of all evidence presented. 3. The registrant is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all information submitted concerning application for registration of a fertilizer or soil amendment product. 4. Once a fertilizer or soil amendment is registered under the act, no further registration is required, as long as the label does not differ in any respect. 5. Whenever the name of fertilizer or soil amendment product is changed or there are changes in the product ingredients or guaranteed analysis, a new registration shall be required. Other labeling changes shall not require re-registration, but the registrant shall submit copies of all changes to the Department as soon as they are effective. A reasonable time may be permitted to dispose of properly labeled stocks of the old product. 6. A registration fee determined by the department pursuant to Subsection 4-2-2(2), per product shall be paid by the applicant annually. 7. Each registration is renewable for a period of one year upon payment of the annual renewal fee determined by the department pursuant to Subsection 4-2-2(2), per product which shall be paid on or before December 31 of each year. If the renewal of a fertilizer or soil amendment registration is not filed prior to January 1 of any year, an additional fee determined by the department pursuant to Subsection 4-2-2(2), shall be assessed per product and added to the original registration fee and shall be paid by the applicant before the registration renewal for that fertilizer or soil amendment shall be issued. 8. A distributor is not required to register each grade of commercial fertilizer or soil amendment formulated by a consumer before mixing, but is required to register the name under which the business of blending or mixing is conducted and to pay an annual blender's license fee determined by the department pursuant to Subsection 4-2-2(2). A blender's license shall expire at midnight on December 31 of the year in which it is issued. A blender's license is renewable for a period of one year upon the payment of an annual license renewal fee. For Each renewal of a fertilizer or soil amendment blender's license not filed prior to January 1 of any one year, an additional fee determined by the department pursuant to Subsection 4-2-2(2), shall be assessed and added to the original license fee and shall be paid by the applicant before the license shall be issued. 9. Beginning January 1, 1991 and on a semi-annual basis, fertilizer and soil amendment products sold in the State of Utah will be assessed a fee determined by the department pursuant to Subsection 4-2-2(2). This assessment shall be paid by the manufacturer or distributor on or before February 1st each year for the sales period July 1 through December 31 and again on or before August 1st each year for the sales period January 1 through June 30. The amount of assessment will be determined by records of the previous six month's sales. |
| R68-3-3. Product Labeling |
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A. Each container of packaged fertilizer distributed in Utah shall bear a label showing the following information: 1. net weight, 2. brand and grade, 3. guaranteed analysis, 4. name and address of the registrant, 5. lot number. B. Each container of packaged soil amendment distributed in Utah shall bear a label showing the following: 1. net weight, 2. brand name, 3. name and percentages of the soil amending ingredients, 4. purpose of product, 5. directions for application of product, 6. name and address of the registrant, 7. lot number. C. When any reference is made upon the label, labeling, or graphic material of a commercial fertilizer or soil amendment to "trace elements," "minor elements," "secondary elements," "plant foods" or similar generalized terms, each individual plant food to which such term refers must be listed upon the label. D. No guarantee for a plant food element may be shown upon a label which is not listed upon the application for registration of the fertilizer or soil amendment material. E. If guarantees for secondary plant foods and trace elements are listed upon the label of a fertilizer of soil amendment, they must be represented in terms of the element, and the minimum among of each which may be guaranteed in the labeling of any fertilizer or soil amendment product is as follows: TABLE Calcium (Ca) 1.00% Copper (Cu) 0.05% Magnesium (Mg) 0.50% Iron (Fe) 0.10% Sulfur (S) 1.00% Manganese (Mn) 0.05% Boron (B) 0.02% Molybdenum (Mo) 0.0005% Cobalt (Co) 0.0005% Sodium (Na) 0.10% Chlorine (Cl) 0.10% Zinc (Zn) 0.05% F. No specialty fertilizer label shall bear a statement that connotes or infers the presence of a slowly available plant nutrient unless the nutrient or nutrients are identified. When a fertilizer label infers or connotes that the nitrogen is slowly available through use of "organic," "organic nitrogen," "ureaform," "long lasting," or similar terms, the guaranteed analysis must indicate the percentage of water insoluble nitrogen in the material. When the water insoluble nitrogen is less than 15% of the total nitrogen, the label shall bear no reference to "long lasting," "organic," or similar terms. G. Pesticides may be added to registered fertilizers or soil amendments provided: 1. The fertilizers and soil amendments and the pesticides are officially registered. 2. Each container or package containing a fertilizer or soil amendment pesticide mixture shall have attached a label showing the information stated in Subsection R68-3-2(2)(a) of these rules and in Section 4-14-4. |
| R68-3-4. Deficiencies of Ingredients |
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A commercial fertilizer shall be deemed deficient if the analysis of nutrients is below the guarantee by an among exceeding the values in the following schedule or if the overall index value of the fertilizer is below 98%. TABLE ALLOWABLE DEFICIENCIES Guarantee Nitrogen Available Potash Percent Percent Phosphoric Acid Percent 04 or less 0.49 0.67 0.41 05 0.51 0.67 0.43 06 0.52 0.67 0.47 07 0.54 0.68 0.53 08 0.55 0.68 0.60 09 0.57 0.68 0.65 10 0.58 0.69 0.70 12 0.61 0.69 0.79 14 0.63 0.70 0.87 16 0.67 0.70 0.94 18 0.70 0.71 1.01 20 0.73 0.72 1.08 22 0.75 0.72 1.15 24 0.78 0.73 1.21 26 0.81 0.73 1.27 28 0.83 0.74 1.33 30 0.86 0.75 1.39 32 or more 0.88 0.76 1.44 |
| R68-3-5. Values of Ingredients |
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The Department shall annually publish the monetary values per unit of nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, and soluble potash in commercial fertilizer in this state, which may be used as a basis for assessing monetary penalties for ingredient deficiencies as provided under section 4-13-6. |
| R68-3-6. Unlawful Acts |
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A. Any person who has committed any acts included but not limited to those listed below is in violation of the Utah Fertilizer Act or rules promulgated thereunder and is subject to penalties provided for in Section 4-2-14: 1. Made false or fraudulent claims through any media misrepresenting the effect of fertilizers or soil amendments offered for sale in Utah; 2. Neglected or, after notice, refused to comply with the provisions of the act, these rules, or any lawful order of the Commissioner; 3. Made false or fraudulent records, invoices, or reports; 4. Used fraud or misrepresentations in making application for, or renewal of a registration or license; 5. Distributed commercial fertilizer or soil amendments which contain seeds or other viable plant parts or noxious weeds. 6. Distributed any waste-derived fertilizer that has not been identified in the registration application. |