HF 1252

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 02/14/2019 03:16pm

A bill for an act
relating to agriculture; increasing pesticide gross sales fee for neonicotinoid
pesticides; dedicating proceeds to pollinator research and outreach; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 18B.26, subdivision 3.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, 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.
new text begin If the nonagricultural pesticide is part of the neonicotinoid class of insecticides, the registrant
shall pay an additional fee of 0.1 percent of that portion of annual gross sales over $70,000.
Notwithstanding section 18B.05, the commissioner shall deposit revenue from the additional
0.1 percent fee in the pollinator habitat and research account under section 18B.051. new text end 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 part of the neonicotinoid class of
insecticides, the licensed agricultural pesticide dealer or licensed pesticide dealer shall pay
an additional fee of 0.1 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.
Notwithstanding section 18B.05, the commissioner shall deposit revenue from the additional
0.1 percent fee in the pollinator habitat and research account under section 18B.051.
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.