Sec. 4a.

(1) A person or other legal entity desiring to maintain a licensed sealed storage room shall notify the director within 5 days after the date of sealing. The oxygen within the sealed storage room maintained for apples shall be 5% or lower within 14 days after the storage room is sealed by the operator. An operator shall make available for inspection, upon request of the director, the daily record for the sealed storage rooms.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3), the apples shall be stored in a continuously sealed storage room that does not have more than 5% oxygen for a minimum period of 60 days, except that gala and jonagold varieties may be removed from storage in not less than 45 days.

(3) The oxygen level in any sealed storage room maintained for apples may be more than 5% for an accumulated time not to exceed 10 days (240 hours) during the storage period. If the atmospheric conditions have been interrupted, the minimum storage period shall be increased to 70 days for all fruit except for gala and jonagold, which shall have a minimum storage period of 55 days.

(4) All sealed storage rooms maintained for apples shall be sealed by the operator. To qualify for “CA” storage, the room must be sealed on or before November 15 of the storage year. At the time of inspection by a department representative, the representative must place an official seal on the door. An operator shall not break the seal and shall not enter the storage room during the days required for the sealed storage period, except as provided in subsection (3). If interruptions in atmospheric conditions occur, the operator shall notify the department within 48 hours after the atmospheric conditions in the sealed storage room are interrupted. Sealed storage rooms whose atmospheric conditions were interrupted may be resealed by an authorized representative of the department.

(5) The air temperature of any sealed storage room maintained for apples shall not exceed 35 degrees Fahrenheit for jonathan, rome beauty, delicious (all), and stayman varieties and the temperature shall not exceed 41 degrees Fahrenheit for all other varieties during the interruption period.

History: Add. 2000, Act 53, Imd. Eff. Mar. 30, 2000