22-2212. PENALTIES FOR DEFICIENT ANALYSIS. (1) If the analysis shows that any soil amendment or plant amendment falls short of the guaranteed analysis in any one (1) soil amending or plant amending ingredient or in total soil amending or plant amending ingredients, a penalty shall be assessed in favor of the department as follows:

(a) A penalty of three (3) times the value of the deficiency if the deficiency in any one (1) soil amending ingredient is more than:

(i) Twenty percent (20%) of the guarantee on any one (1) soil amendment or plant amendment in which the soil amending or plant amending ingredient is guaranteed up to and including twenty percent (20%).

(ii) Four percent (4%) under guarantee on any one (1) soil amendment or plant amendment in which the soil amending or plant amending ingredient is guaranteed twenty and one-tenth percent (20.1%) and above.

(b) A penalty of three (3) times the value of the total soil amending or plant amending ingredient deficiency shall be assessed when the total deficiency is more than two percent (2%) under the calculated total soil amending or plant amending ingredient guarantee.

(c) When a soil amendment or plant amendment is subject to penalties under both (a) and (b) above, only the larger penalty shall be assessed.

(2) All penalties assessed under this section shall be paid to the department within ninety (90) days after the date of notice from the director to the registrant. The department shall deposit the amount of the penalty into the commercial feed and fertilizer fund, as stipulated in section 22-2220, Idaho Code.

(3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent any person from appealing to a court of competent jurisdiction for a judgment as to the justification for penalties imposed under subsection (1) of this section.

(4) The penalties payable in subsection (1) of this section do not limit the consumer’s right to bring a civil action in damage against the registrant paying the civil penalties.

History:

[22-2212, added 2001, ch. 250, sec. 3, p. 911.]