HF 1450

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 02/22/2021 02:36pm

A bill for an act
relating to agriculture; increasing the gross sales fee for dicamba herbicides;
establishing a dicamba compensation program; amending Minnesota Statutes 2020,
section 18B.26, subdivision 3; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 18B.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [18B.052] DICAMBA COMPENSATION ACCOUNT.
new text end

new text begin A dicamba compensation account is established in the agricultural fund. Money in the
account, including interest, is appropriated to the commissioner for purposes of the dicamba
compensation program under section 18B.057.
new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin [18B.057] DICAMBA COMPENSATION PROGRAM.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Compensation required. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner must establish a program
to compensate those harmed by another person's application of a dicamba pesticide product.
new text end

new text begin (b) Except as provided in this section, compensation awarded under this section is equal
to the reasonable and documented damages and costs incurred by the person harmed, as
determined by the commissioner in consultation with academic and other experts.
new text end

new text begin (c) Eligible damages and costs must exceed $100 per application event. In any fiscal
year, a person may receive no more than $20,000 in compensation from the commissioner
for all eligible claims under this section.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Claim form. new text end

new text begin The person harmed must file a claim on forms provided by the
commissioner and available on the Department of Agriculture's website.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Determination. new text end

new text begin Before awarding compensation under this section, the
commissioner must determine that the claimant's costs and damages were caused by another
person's application of dicamba pesticide on real property that is not owned or operated by
the claimant.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Claim denial. new text end

new text begin (a) If the commissioner denies a claim under this section, the
commissioner must issue a written decision based upon the available evidence. The decision
must specify the facts upon which the decision is based and the commissioner's conclusions
on the material issues of the claim. The commissioner must mail a copy of the decision to
the claimant.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner's denial of a claim filed under this section is not subject to the
contested case review procedures of chapter 14, but may be reviewed upon a trial de novo
in the county where the damage occurred. The decision of the court may be appealed as in
other civil cases. Review in court may be obtained by filing a petition for review with the
administrator of the court within 60 days following receipt of a decision under this section.
Upon the filing of a petition, the administrator must mail a copy to the commissioner and
set a time for hearing within 90 days of the filing.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Reduction required. new text end

new text begin The commissioner must reduce compensation paid under
this section in an amount equal to all compensation received by the claimant from any other
source including insurance and court judgments.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 18B.26, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Registration application and gross sales fee.

(a) For an agricultural pesticide,
a registrant shall pay an annual registration application fee for each agricultural pesticide
of $350. The fee is due by December 31 preceding the year for which the application for
registration is made. The fee is nonrefundable.

(b) For a nonagricultural pesticide, a registrant shall pay a minimum annual registration
application fee for each nonagricultural pesticide of $350. The fee is due by December 31
preceding the year for which the application for registration is made. The fee is
nonrefundable. If the registrant's annual gross sales of the nonagricultural pesticide exceeded
$70,000 in the previous calendar year, the registrant shall pay, in addition to the $350
minimum fee, a fee equal to 0.5 percent of that portion of the annual gross sales over $70,000.
For purposes of this subdivision, gross sales includes both nonagricultural pesticide sold in
the state and nonagricultural pesticide sold into the state for use in this state. No additional
fee is required if the fee due amount based on percent of annual gross sales of a
nonagricultural pesticide is less than $10. The registrant shall secure sufficient sales
information of nonagricultural pesticides distributed into this state from distributors and
dealers, regardless of distributor location, to make a determination. Sales of nonagricultural
pesticides in this state and sales of nonagricultural pesticides for use in this state by
out-of-state distributors are not exempt and must be included in the registrant's annual report,
as required under paragraph (g), and fees shall be paid by the registrant based upon those
reported sales. Sales of nonagricultural pesticides in the state for use outside of the state are
exempt from the gross sales fee in this paragraph if the registrant properly documents the
sale location and distributors. A registrant paying more than the minimum fee shall pay the
balance due by March 1 based on the gross sales of the nonagricultural pesticide by the
registrant for the preceding calendar year. A pesticide determined by the commissioner to
be a sanitizer or disinfectant is exempt from the gross sales fee.

(c) For agricultural pesticides, a licensed agricultural pesticide dealer or licensed pesticide
dealer shall pay a gross sales fee of 0.55 percent of annual gross sales of the agricultural
pesticide in the state and the annual gross sales of the agricultural pesticide sold into the
state for use in this state. new text begin If the agricultural pesticide is a dicamba product, a licensed
agricultural pesticide dealer or licensed pesticide dealer shall pay an additional gross sales
fee of 0.1 percent of annual gross sales of the pesticide in the state and the annual gross
sales of the pesticide sold into the state for use in this state. Notwithstanding section 18B.05,
the commissioner must deposit revenue from the additional 0.1 percent gross sales fee in
the dicamba compensation account in section 18B.052.
new text end

(d) In those cases where a registrant first sells an agricultural pesticide in or into the
state to a pesticide end user, the registrant must first obtain an agricultural pesticide dealer
license and is responsible for payment of the annual gross sales fee under paragraph (c),
record keeping under paragraph (i), and all other requirements of section 18B.316.

(e) If the total annual revenue from fees collected in fiscal year 2011, 2012, or 2013, by
the commissioner on the registration and sale of pesticides is less than $6,600,000, the
commissioner, after a public hearing, may increase proportionally the pesticide sales and
product registration fees under this chapter by the amount necessary to ensure this level of
revenue is achieved. The authority under this section expires on June 30, 2014. The
commissioner shall report any fee increases under this paragraph 60 days before the fee
change is effective to the senate and house of representatives agriculture budget divisions.

(f) An additional fee of 50 percent of the registration application fee must be paid by
the applicant for each pesticide to be registered if the application is a renewal application
that is submitted after December 31.

(g) A registrant must annually report to the commissioner the amount, type and annual
gross sales of each registered nonagricultural pesticide sold, offered for sale, or otherwise
distributed in the state. The report shall be filed by March 1 for the previous year's
registration. The commissioner shall specify the form of the report or approve the method
for submittal of the report and may require additional information deemed necessary to
determine the amount and type of nonagricultural pesticide annually distributed in the state.
The information required shall include the brand name, United States Environmental
Protection Agency registration number, and amount of each nonagricultural pesticide sold,
offered for sale, or otherwise distributed in the state, but the information collected, if made
public, shall be reported in a manner which does not identify a specific brand name in the
report.

(h) A licensed agricultural pesticide dealer or licensed pesticide dealer must annually
report to the commissioner the amount, type, and annual gross sales of each registered
agricultural pesticide sold, offered for sale, or otherwise distributed in the state or into the
state for use in the state. The report must be filed by January 31 for the previous year's sales.
The commissioner shall specify the form, contents, and approved electronic method for
submittal of the report and may require additional information deemed necessary to determine
the amount and type of agricultural pesticide annually distributed within the state or into
the state. The information required must include the brand name, United States Environmental
Protection Agency registration number, and amount of each agricultural pesticide sold,
offered for sale, or otherwise distributed in the state or into the state.

(i) A person who registers a pesticide with the commissioner under paragraph (b), or a
registrant under paragraph (d), shall keep accurate records for five years detailing all
distribution or sales transactions into the state or in the state and subject to a fee and surcharge
under this section.

(j) The records are subject to inspection, copying, and audit by the commissioner and
must clearly demonstrate proof of payment of all applicable fees and surcharges for each
registered pesticide product sold for use in this state. A person who is located outside of
this state must maintain and make available records required by this subdivision in this state
or pay all costs incurred by the commissioner in the inspecting, copying, or auditing of the
records.

(k) The commissioner may adopt by rule regulations that require persons subject to audit
under this section to provide information determined by the commissioner to be necessary
to enable the commissioner to perform the audit.

(l) A registrant who is required to pay more than the minimum fee for any pesticide
under paragraph (b) must pay a late fee penalty of $100 for each pesticide application fee
paid after March 1 in the year for which the license is to be issued.