Section 211.10  Registration

 

a)         Each separately identified product shall be registered before being distributed in this State.  The application for registration shall be submitted to the Department on the form furnished by the Director and shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of $250 per product.  Each person who registers a soil amendment shall submit to the Department a copy of labels and advertising literature with the registration request for each soil amendment. The Department shall require the applicant to make affirmative label and advertising disclosures if, in the absence of the disclosures, the Department determines that the label or advertising of a soil amendment is deceptive or misleading.

 

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

 

c)         If the Department finds that the applicant has fulfilled the requirements of Section 211.10, 211.20 and 211.40 of this Part and Sections 15 and 20 of the Soil Amendment Act (P.A. 87-0394, effective September 10, 1991), a registration shall be issued.

 

d)         If the Department finds that the applicant has failed to fulfill the requirements of Section 211.10, 211.20 and 211.40 of this Part and Sections 15 and 20 of the Soil Amendment Act, or the soil amendment is in violation of Sections 25 and 35 of the Act, the Department shall issue a notice of denial or cancellation of the registration.

 

e)         Any person who wishes to change the active ingredient contents or the recommended amount or frequency of application of a soil amendment for which the person has received a registration shall apply to the Department for an amended registration.

 

f)         Any person who wishes to revise the label of a soil amendment for which the person has received registration shall file the revised label with the Department prior to distributing the soil amendment bearing the revised label.

 

g)         No person who has been issued a registration or amended registration shall:

 

1)         Transfer the registration or amended registration to another person.

 

2)         Distribute or promote the distribution of the soil amendment using any performance, use or efficacy claim which exceeds that allowed by registration or amended registration or which is inconsistent with the approved product label.

 

h)         Issuance of registration or amended registration is neither an endorsement nor a warranty by the Department.

 

Section 211.20  Substantiation Requirements

 

As a condition to the issuance of a registration or amended registration the Department shall require that the applicant substantiate by scientific evidence:

 

a)         The efficacy and usefulness of the soil amendment if applied in this State at the amount and frequency recommended by the applicant.

 

b)         The truthfulness of any statement made on the proposed soil amendment label or in a registration or amended registration application.

 

c)         The Department shall require that the substantiation include replicable results of controlled experimental studies using the soil amendment, the names and qualifications of the researchers performing the studies and a complete description of the conditions and additional information concerning procedures of the studies.

 

d)         The Department may request assistance from any source in evaluating any substantiating evidence.

 

Section 211.30  Reports and Records

 

a)         Every person who registers a soil amendment in this State shall file with the Department on forms furnished by the Department semi-annual statements for periods ending June 30 and December 31 setting forth the number of tons of each soil amendment distributed in the State during such semi-annual period.

 

b)         When more than one registrant is involved in the distribution of a soil amendment product, the last registrant who distributes to a non-registrant (e.g., dealer or consumer) is responsible for reporting the tonnage, unless the reporting has been made by a prior registrant of the soil amendment product.  Tonnage reports shall be filed within 30 days following each semi-annual period.

 

c)         Persons responsible for tonnage reporting shall maintain the distribution records upon which the tonnage report is based for a period of 2 years following the date the tonnage report was filed.  Such records shall be available for inspection, copying and audit by the Department in accordance with Section 30 of the Soil Amendment Act.

 

Section 211.40  Label Requirements

 

a)         Soil amendments containing active or inert ingredients shall be labeled as follows:

 

1)         The soil amendment label shall contain the information required by Section 20 (a) of the Soil Amendment Act.

 

2)         The name and percentage by weight of each active ingredient, listed under the heading "ACTIVE INGREDIENTS".  For microbiological products, the statement of active ingredients shall state the number and kind of viable microorganisms per milliliter of liquid product, or per gram of nonliquid product.

 

3)         The genus of each microbiological product shall be stated.  If identifiable and the product's benefits are unique to the species, a microbiological product's species shall also be stated.

 

4)         The name and percentage by weight of each inert ingredient listed under the heading "INERT INGREDIENTS".

 

b)         Soil amendment-fertilizer combinations shall be labeled in accordance with both the Soil Amendment Act and the Illinois Fertilizer Act of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 5, par. 55.1 et seq.) and the rules of this Part and 8 Ill. Adm. Code 210.

 

c)         Except for microbiological products, each active or inert ingredient's common name, if any, and chemical name shall be stated as listed in The Merck Index, Tenth Edition, 1983, published by Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey 07065.  This incorporation by reference shall not include any later amendments or additions.

 

Section 211.50  Deficient Analysis and Penalties

 

a)         If the official analysis shows that any soil amendment falls short of the guaranteed analysis in any one soil amendment ingredient or in total soil amendment ingredients, a penalty shall be assessed in accordance with the following provisions:

 

1)         A penalty of three times the value of the deficiency if such deficiency in any one soil amending ingredient is more than:

 

A)        20% of the guarantee on any one soil amendment in which the soil amending ingredient is guaranteed up to and including 20%.

 

B)        4% under guarantee on any one soil amendment in which the soil amending ingredient is guaranteed 20.1% and above.

 

2)         A penalty of three times the value of the total soil amending ingredient deficiency shall be assessed when such total deficiency is more than 2% under the calculated total soil amending ingredient guarantee.

 

3)         When a soil amendment is subject to penalties under both subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this Section, only the larger penalty shall be assessed.

 

b)         All penalties assessed under this Section shall be due and payable to the Department within thirty days after the date of written notice from the Director to the registrant.  The Department shall deposit the amount of the penalty in the General Revenue Fund.

 

c)         For the purpose of determining commercial values to be applied under the provisions of this Section, the Department shall determine from the registrant's sales invoice the values charged for the soil amending ingredients.  If no invoice is available or if the invoice fails to provide sufficient information, the Department shall use comparable products to determine values.  The values so determined shall be used in determining and assessing penalties.

 

d)         The methods of analysis and sampling shall be those as set forth by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, 15^th Edition − 1990, Suite 400, 2200 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22201-3301.  This incorporation by reference shall not include any later amendments or additions.

 

Section 211.60  Exempted Products

 

a)         Composted or dried manures, mulches intended as a soil cover, potting soils, peat moss, sand, tree bark, wood shavings, vermiculite and mixes of these products are exempt from the soil amendment registration and requirements if these ingredients are prominently stated on the label and no claims of benefits deriving from use of the product are made other than loosening the soil.

 

b)         Adjuvants designed, labeled and promoted for improving the mixing, handling or application of fertilizers or pesticides are exempt from the soil amendment registration requirements of this Part if no statements of benefit are made beyond a precautionary label statement that the adjuvant may increase the fertilizer or pesticidal activity of products applied with it.

 

Section 211.70  Adulteration

 

a)         A soil amendment is adulterated if it contains weed seed or unwanted crop seed.  Weed seeds shall be those as determined by the Association of Official Seed Analysts in Rules for Testing Seeds 1988, P.O. Box 27647, 216 West Jones Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27611.  This incorporation by reference shall not include any later amendments or additions.

 

b)         Unwanted crop seeds shall be any crop seed other than the crop that is being planted.

 

c)         Noxious weeds shall be those identified as such in the Rules for the Illinois Seed Law (8 Ill. Adm. Code 230.20 and 230.30).

 

Section 211.80  Administrative Hearings

 

Persons adversely affected by Department action may request an administrative hearing to review such action, provided that a request for review is filed within 30 days after notification of Department action.  All decisions and actions of the Department are subject to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 127, par. 1001-1 et seq.) and the Department's Administrative Rules (8 Ill. Adm. Code 1) which pertain to administrative proceedings, administrative hearings, contested cases, petitions, and public disclosure of files.