Rhode Island § 2-22-5 - Soil Amendments

§ 2-22-5. Registration — Tonnage report and fee.

(a) Each separately identified product shall be registered before being distributed in this state. The application for registration shall be submitted to the director of environmental management on forms furnished or approved by the director and be accompanied by a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) per product. Upon approval by the director, a certified copy of the registration shall be furnished to the applicant. All registrations expire on December 31 of each year. Each manufacturer shall submit to the director a copy of labels and advertising literature with the registration request for each soil amendment.

(b) A distributor is not required to register any brand of soil amendment that is already registered under this chapter by another person, providing that the label does not differ in any respect.

(c) Before registering any soil amendment, the director may require evidence to substantiate the claims made for the soil amendment and proof of the value and usefulness of the soil amendment and of any process step during composting deemed essential to the safety of the soil amendment as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of § 2-22-4.

(d) The director may by regulation set the minimum amount of a soil amending ingredient and soil amending ingredients that must be present before a soil amendment can be registered and sold.

(e) The director may through promulgation of regulations require a tonnage fee and/or tonnage report annually. If required, the tonnage fee and tonnage report may be made on a calculated equivalent of volume to tons on brands labeled by volume rather than weight.

(f) The composter is required to register the operation with the director and shall identify their organic and any inorganic inputs and processes used in the making of their compost. The director shall set forth rules and regulations delineating the organic inputs allowed under the following compost designations and shall collect the appropriate registration fee for the compost operation. Compost classes are:

(1) Horticultural grade, general use, one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per year;

(2) Horticultural grade, mixed source general use, three hundred dollars ($300) per year;

(3) Non-food crop use, one thousand dollars ($1,000) per year; and

(4) Limited landscape use, two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per year.

(g) The director may require that all fees and registrations required by this section be submitted electronically.

(h) In addition to the registration fees, the director may charge a processing fee. The department shall set the amount of such fees through rules and regulations, with processing fees not to exceed five percent (5%) of the registration surcharge per application.