80-10-206. Inspection, sampling, and analysis. (1) The department, in cooperation with the agricultural experiment station of Montana state university-Bozeman, shall sample, inspect, analyze, and test commercial fertilizers and soil amendments distributed in this state at a time and place and to an extent necessary to determine whether the commercial fertilizers or soil amendments are in compliance with this chapter. The department may enter upon any public or private premises during regular business hours in order to have access to commercial fertilizers or soil amendments subject to this chapter.
     (2) The methods of analysis and sampling shall be those adopted by the department from sources such as those of the association of official analytical chemists. The results of analysis, together with additional information the department considers advisable, shall be transmitted promptly to the manufacturer and to the dealer or person in whose possession the product was sampled.
     (3) The department, in determining whether any commercial fertilizer is deficient in plant food or soil amendment is deficient, shall be guided solely by the official sample obtained and analyzed as provided for in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.
     (4) If on the basis of an inspection or the analysis of the official sample a commercial fertilizer or soil amendment is found to be subject to penalty or other legal action, the department shall forward to the registrant notification of the violation at least 10 days before its report is made public. If during that period no adequate evidence to the contrary is made available to the department, the report becomes official. Upon request, the department shall furnish to the registrant a portion of any sample found subject to penalty or other legal action.

     History: En. Sec. 7, Ch. 41, L. 1957; amd. Sec. 90, Ch. 218, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 279, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 3-1718; amd. sec. 36, Ch. 308, L. 1995.