May 29, 2007, Introduced by Rep. Condino and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
A bill to amend 1931 PA 189, entitled
"The insect pest and plant disease act,"
by amending sections 6, 9, and 11 (MCL 286.206, 286.209, and
286.211), section 6 as amended by 1995 PA 137, section 9 as amended
by 2004 PA 273, and section 11 as amended by 1984 PA 88.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 6. (1) The director shall cause to be inspected at least
once each year during the growing season all nurseries in the state
to ascertain whether they are infested with insect pests or
infected with plant diseases. The director shall cause to be
inspected all nursery stock which will be stored or offered for
sale or which is stored in cellars, heeling-in grounds, or
warehouses to ascertain whether it is infested with insect pests or
infected with plant diseases and assess an inspection fee.
(2) If upon the inspection of any nursery stock it is
determined that the nursery stock or nursery and its premises are
apparently free from insect pests and plant diseases, and if the
necessary inspection fees have been paid, the director shall give
or send to the owner of each nursery or of the nursery stock or to
the person in charge of the nursery or nursery stock a certificate
executed by the director setting forth the fact of the inspection.
If any inspections are requested by any nursery after September 1,
the nursery or applicant shall pay, in addition to the inspection
fee, the expense of the inspector and mileage at the prevailing
rate per mile, as established by the state administrative board, in
going to and returning from the inspection, either from Lansing or
the location of the nearest inspector.
(3) Certificates of inspection are valid from November 1 in 1
year to October 31 of the following year. Any nursery owner may
request a second inspection be performed, prior to offering for
sale or removing or shipping from a nursery or other premises,
provided that the nursery owner or applicant pays an inspection fee
based upon the actual cost to the department of agriculture of such
inspection.
(4)
A person shall not sell, or offer for sale, or
remove or
ship from a nursery or other premises any nursery stock until the
nursery stock has been officially inspected and a certificate or
permit covering it has been granted by the director, except that
nursery stock may be shipped to the director without an inspection
and certification.
(5) The director shall not grant a certificate of inspection
to private landowners who are about to sell or remove trees or
plants
originally supplied from the state, or federal, or state and
federal nurseries or by any political subdivision or its agencies.
(6) The director shall charge an inspection fee based upon the
cost to the department of agriculture of making the inspection.
(7)
The However, the director shall adjust the schedule of
fees for the costs of making the various inspections of nursery
stock,
plants, and plant materials as required by this act. The
director
shall review and adjust its schedule of fees for the
inspections
at the end of each fiscal year. In any given fiscal
year,
the director may raise initial inspection fees by no more
than
50%. The commission of agriculture shall approve all
adjustments
to the initial fees before they are adopted. section 9.
Sec. 9. (1) A person, firm, partnership, association, or
corporation growing or desiring to sell nursery stock in this state
shall, on or before October 31, 1982 and October 31 of each year,
apply
to the director for a license. Until September 30, 2003 or
after
September 30, 2007, the annual nursery license fee shall be
$50.00,
and beginning October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2007,
the
The annual nursery license fee shall be $100.00. Until
September
30, 2003 or after September 30, 2007, the annual license
fee
for plant growers or plant dealers shall be $20.00, and
beginning
October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2007, the The
annual license fee for plant growers or plant dealers shall be
$100.00. The annual license fee for nursery dealers shall be
$100.00. For persons growing less than 1/4 acre of nursery stock or
utilizing
less than 200 square feet of greenhouse space, and only
from
October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2007, the fee for a
license is $40.00. License fees provided for in this act shall
become due and payable at the office of the director on or before
October 31 of each year. The fees imposed in this subsection are
subject to subsection (7).
(2)
Except as otherwise provided in Subject
to subsection (3),
license and inspection fees collected under sections 6 and 9 and
administrative
fines imposed under this act shall be
paid into the
general
fund of the state and shall be used in enforcement of this
act.
the agriculture licensing and
inspection fees fund created in
section 4 of 1969 PA 287, MCL 287.334, to be used pursuant to
appropriation by the director in administering and carrying out
those duties required by law under this act. Every 3 years, the
department by order may adjust the fee schedule in subsection (1)
by an amount determined by the state treasurer to reflect the
cumulative annual percentage change in the Detroit consumer price
index over the 3-year period. An adjustment under this subsection
shall not exceed 5% even if the amount determined by the state
treasurer to reflect the cumulative annual percentage change over
the 3-year period is more than 5%. As used in this subsection,
"Detroit consumer price index" means the most comprehensive index
of consumer prices available for the Detroit area from the bureau
of labor statistics of the United States department of labor.
(3) Beginning October 1, 2003, the horticulture fund is
created within the state treasury. The state treasurer may receive
money or other assets from any source for deposit into the fund.
From
October 1, 2003 until September 30, 2007, up Up to $70,000.00
of the funds generated through licensing shall be deposited into
the horticulture fund each year. The state treasurer shall direct
the investments of the horticulture fund. The state treasurer shall
credit interest and earnings from fund investments to the fund.
Assets in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall remain in
the fund and shall not lapse to the general fund. The director
shall administer the fund and shall expend money from the fund,
upon appropriation, to provide for research projects, to develop
and improve training programs, and to develop outreach materials
for the purposes of safeguarding plants and plant products from
unwanted plant pests. The director shall administer the fund with
advice and consultation from a horticultural advisory committee
created
in subsection (4). After September 30, 2007, the fund shall
no
longer exist and the money in the fund shall revert to the
general
fund for use as described in subsection (2).
(4) There is created a horticulture advisory committee.
Members of this committee, to be named by the director, shall
include representatives from the horticulture industry.
(5) This section does not apply to persons engaged in fruit
growing who are not nurserymen but desire to sell or exchange
surplus small fruit plants of their own growing, or to farmers or
other persons who may sell or give away native shade trees, native
shrubs, native vines, native hardy perennials, or native evergreens
from their own premises.
(6)
Beginning the effective date of the amendatory act that
added
this subsection July 23, 2004, the director shall issue an
initial or renewal license not later than 90 days after the
applicant files a completed application. Receipt of the application
is considered the date the application is received by any agency or
department of the state of Michigan. If the application is
considered incomplete by the director, the director shall notify
the applicant in writing, or make the information electronically
available, within 30 days after receipt of the incomplete
application, describing the deficiency and requesting the
additional information. The 90-day period is tolled upon
notification by the director of a deficiency until the date the
requested information is received by the director. The
determination of the completeness of an application does not
operate as an approval of the application for the license and does
not confer eligibility of an applicant determined otherwise
ineligible for issuance of a license. The director shall not
discriminate against an applicant in the processing of the
application based upon the fact that the license fee was refunded
or discounted under this subsection.
(7) If the director fails to issue or deny a license within
the time required by this section, the director shall return the
license fee and shall reduce the license fee for the applicant's
next renewal application, if any, by 15%. The failure to issue a
license within the time required under this section does not allow
the department to otherwise delay the processing of the
application, and that application, upon completion, shall be placed
in sequence with other completed applications received at that same
time.
(8) Beginning October 1, 2005, the director shall submit a
report by December 1 of each year to the standing committees and
appropriations subcommittees of the senate and house of
representatives concerned with agricultural issues. The director
shall include all of the following information in the report
concerning the preceding fiscal year:
(a) The number of initial and renewal applications the
department received and completed within the 90-day time period
described in subsection (6).
(b) The number of applications denied.
(c) The number of applicants not issued a license within the
90-day time period and the amount of money returned to licensees
and registrants under subsection (7).
(9) As used in this section, "completed application" means an
application complete on its face and submitted with any applicable
licensing and inspection fees as well as any other information,
records, approval, security, or similar item required by law or
rule from a local unit of government, a federal agency, or a
private entity but not from another department or agency of the
state of Michigan.
Sec. 11. (1) Each nonresident nurseryman, dealer, or grower,
who solicits or takes orders for or sells nursery stock in this
state through resident or nonresident agents, shall each year
obtain a license from the director, for which the fee shall be
$50.00
as prescribed in section 9. The director may waive the
license fee requirement if there is a reciprocal agreement with the
appropriate authority of the state in which the applicant's
principal place of business is located waiving the requirements for
Michigan nurserymen, plant growers, or dealers in that state. The
director may enter into reciprocal agreements with responsible
officers of other states under which nursery stock owned or handled
by nurserymen, plant growers, or dealers of those states may be
sold in this state without the payment of the license fee provided
for in this section.
(2)
The director may deny an out of state out-of-state
nurseryman or nursery stock dealer the right to ship nursery stock
into this state if the department determines that the nurseryman or
nursery
stock dealer violates has
violated this act or a rule
promulgated under this act.