(A) A licensee or registrant shall pay the director of agriculture an inspection fee of twenty-five cents per ton for all of the following, as applicable:

(1) All fertilizer that the licensee distributes in this state to a person that has not been issued a license under section 905.32 of the Revised Code;

(2) All fertilizer that the licensee applies in this state for purposes of agricultural production and all fertilizer that is applied in this state on behalf of the licensee by an employee or contractor who is certified under section 905.321 of the Revised Code;

(3) All fertilizer that the registrant distributes in this state.

However, the inspection fee does not apply to packaged fertilizers that are in containers of ten pounds or less.

(B) Every licensee or registrant shall file with the director an annual tonnage report in accordance with rules. The report shall be filed on or before the date specified in rules. The licensee or registrant shall include with the report the inspection fee at the rate stated in division (A) of this section. For a tonnage report that is not filed or payment of inspection fees that is not made on or before the date specified in rules, a penalty of fifty dollars or ten per cent of the amount due, whichever is greater, shall be assessed against the licensee or registrant. The amount of fees due, plus penalty, shall constitute a debt and become the basis of a judgment against the licensee or registrant. For tonnage reports found to be incorrect, a penalty of fifteen per cent of the amount due shall be assessed against the licensee or registrant and shall constitute a debt and become the basis of a judgment against the licensee or registrant.

(C) No information furnished under this section shall be disclosed by any employee of the department of agriculture in such a way as to divulge the operation of any person required to make such a report. The filing by a licensee or registrant of a tonnage report required by division (B) of this section thereby grants permission to the director to verify the same with the records of the licensee or registrant.

(D) All money collected under this section shall be credited to the pesticide, fertilizer, and lime program fund created in section 921.22 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, SB 150, §1, eff. 8/21/2014.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 7/17/2009.

Effective Date: 10-29-1996; 06-30-2005