2018 -- H 7782

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LC005036

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY -- RHODE ISLAND SEED ACT

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Fogarty, Hull, Tanzi, and Winfield

     Date Introduced: February 28, 2018

     Referred To: House Corporations

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Sections 2-6-7 and 2-6-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 2-6 entitled

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"Rhode Island Seed Act" are hereby amended to read as follows:

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     2-6-7. Duties and authority of the director of the department of environmental

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management -- Appeal of stop sale order Duties and authority of the director of the

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department of environmental management.

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     (a) The duty of enforcing this chapter and carrying out its provisions and requirements is

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vested in the director of the department of environmental management. It is the duty of that

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officer, who may act through his or her authorized agents:

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     (1) To sample, inspect, make analysis of, and test agricultural and vegetable seeds

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transported, sold, or offered or exposed for sale within the state for sowing purposes, at any time

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and place and to any extent as he or she may deem necessary to determine whether those

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agricultural or vegetable seeds are in compliance with the provisions of this chapter; to notify

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promptly the person who transported, sold, offered, or exposed the seed for sale, of any violation;

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     (2) To prescribe and, after a public hearing following public notice, to adopt rules and

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regulations governing the method of sampling, inspecting, analyzing, testing, and examining

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agricultural and vegetable seed and the tolerances to be followed in the administration of this

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chapter, which shall be in general accord with officially prescribed practice in interstate

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commerce and any other rules and regulations that may be necessary to secure efficient

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enforcement of this chapter;

 

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     (3) To prescribe and, after a public hearing following public notice, establish, add to, or

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subtract from by regulations a prohibited and restricted noxious weed list; and

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     (4) To prescribe and, after a public hearing following public notice, to adopt rules and

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regulations establishing reasonable standards of germination for vegetable seeds.

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     (b) For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter, the director,

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individually or through his or her authorized agents, is authorized:

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     (1) To enter upon any public or private premises during regular business hours in order to

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have access to seeds and the records connected with the premises subject to this chapter and rules

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and regulations under this chapter, and any truck or other conveyor by land, water, or air at any

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time when the conveyor is accessible, for the same purpose;

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     (2) To issue and enforce a written or printed "stop sale" order to the owner or custodian

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of any lot of agricultural or vegetable seed that the director finds is in violation of any of the

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provisions of this chapter or rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter. That order

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shall prohibit further sale, processing, and movement of the seed, except on approval of the

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director, until the director has evidence that the law has been complied with and the director has

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issued a release from the "stop sale" order of the seed; provided, that in respect to seed that has

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been denied sale, processing, and movement as provided in this paragraph, the owner or

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custodian of the seed has the right to appeal from the order to a court of competent jurisdiction in

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the locality in which the seeds are found, praying for a judgment as to the justification of the

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order and for the discharge of the seeds from the order prohibiting the sale, processing, and

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movement in accordance with the findings of the court. The provisions of this paragraph shall not

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be construed as limiting the right of the director to proceed as authorized by other sections of this

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chapter;

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     (3) To establish and maintain or make provisions for seed-testing facilities, to employ

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qualified persons, and to incur any expenses that may be necessary to comply with these

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provisions;

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     (4) To make or provide for making purity and germination tests of seed for farmers and

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dealers on request; to prescribe rules and regulations governing that testing; and to fix and collect

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charges for the tests made. Fees shall be accounted for in any manner that the state legislature

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may prescribe;

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     (5) To cooperate with the United States Department of Agriculture and other agencies in

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seed law enforcement.

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     (c) Jurisdiction in all matters pertaining to the cultivation, harvesting, production,

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processing, certification, labeling, inspection, analyzing, testing, sampling, classification,

 

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designation, advertising, marketing, sale, storage, transportation, distribution, possession,

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notification of use, planting, and other use of agricultural and vegetable seeds is , by this chapter,

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vested exclusively in the director, to the exclusion of all local ordinances or regulations.

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     (1) All acts or parts of acts, whether general, special, or local, inconsistent with this

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section are expressly repealed, declared to be invalid, and of no effect.

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     2-6-10. Violations and prosecutions.

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     (a) Every violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a misdemeanor

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punishable by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) for the first offense and not

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exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for each subsequent similar offense.

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     (b) When the director finds that any person has violated any of the provisions of this

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chapter, the director shall file with the attorney general, with a view of prosecution, any evidence

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that may be deemed necessary. No prosecution under this chapter shall be instituted without the

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defendant first having been given an opportunity to appear before the director or his or her duly

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authorized agent, to introduce evidence either in person or by agent or attorney at a private

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hearing. If, after the hearing, or without the hearing in case the defendant or his or her agent or

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attorney fails or refuses to appear, the director is of the opinion that the evidence warrants

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prosecution, the director shall proceed as provided in this section.

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     (c) It is the duty of the attorney general director to institute proceedings at once against

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any person charged with a violation of this chapter, if, in the judgment of the attorney general

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director, the information submitted warrants that action.

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     (d) After judgment by the court in any case arising under this chapter, the director shall

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publish any information pertinent to the issuance of the judgment by the court in any media as the

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director may designate from time to time.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY -- RHODE ISLAND SEED ACT

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     This act would provide that jurisdiction of all use of agricultural and vegetable seeds is

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vested exclusively in the director of the department of environmental management.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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