Agriculture (GAG) — Title 6. Commercial Feed and Fertilizer and Agricultural Liming Materials

The feed contains any poisonous or deleterious substance that may render the feed injurious to human or animal health, except when the substance is not added to the feed and the quantity of the substance does not ordinarily render it injurious to human or animal health;

A valuable constituent is omitted or abstracted wholly or partially from it or any less valuable substance is substituted for it;

Its composition or quality falls below or differs from that which it is purported or is represented to possess by its labeling;

The feed contains any added poisonous, added deleterious, or added nonnutritive substance which is unsafe;

The feed consists, in whole or part, of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, or is otherwise unfit for feed; or

The feed has been prepared, packed, or held under unsanitary conditions where the feed may have become contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to human or animal health.

Unmixed whole seeds and physically altered entire unmixed seeds that are not chemically altered or adulterated;

Commodities such as hay, straw, stover, silage, cobs, husks, hulls, and individual chemical compounds or substances when the commodities, compounds, or substances are not intermixed with other materials or adulterated; or

A material or combination of materials that is exempt from this definition in regulations adopted by the Secretary.

Its labeling is false or misleading in any particular;

It is distributed under the name of another feed;

It is not labeled as required in §§ 6–109, 6–110, and 6–111 of this subtitle and in the departmental rules and regulations;

It purports to be or is represented as a feed ingredient, or if it purports to contain or is represented as containing a feed ingredient, unless the feed ingredient conforms to any definition of identity, prescribed by departmental rules and regulations, which shall give due regard to commonly accepted definitions, such as those issued by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, Inc.; or

Any word, statement, or other information, required to appear on the label or labeling, is not placed on it prominently and conspicuously, as compared with other words, statements, designs, or devices in the labeling, and it is not in terms that render it likely to be read and understood by the ordinary individual under customary conditions of purchase and use.

Inspect for wholesomeness any commercial feed donated to a nonprofit corporation, organization, or association; and

Establish procedures for handling commercial feed donated to any nonprofit corporation, organization, or association.

Suspend the program for a reasonable period of time; or

Recommend to the General Assembly that the requirement be modified or terminated.

Allow a person who purchases commercial equine feed in the State to request reimbursement of any assessment that was paid on the feed; and

Require that a purchaser of feed be notified, at the point of sale, of the possibility of reimbursement.

Roxarsone; or

Any other additive that contains arsenic.

The net weight;

The name or brand under which the commercial feed is distributed;

The common or usual name of each ingredient used in manufacturing the commercial feed, unless the Secretary by rule or regulation, permits the use of a collective term for a group of ingredients which perform the same function;

The name and address of the person responsible for distributing the commercial feed; and

The guaranteed analysis of the commercial feed, listing the minimum percentage of crude protein, minimum percentage of crude fat, and maximum percentage of crude fiber, for mineral feeds the list shall include the following if added: minimum and maximum percentage of calcium (Ca), minimum percentage of phosphorous (P), minimum percentage of iodine (I), and minimum and maximum percentage of salt (NaCl). Other substances or elements, determinable by laboratory methods, may be guaranteed if permission of the Secretary is obtained. If any feed nutrient is guaranteed, it shall be subject to inspection and analysis in accordance with the methods and rules and regulations adopted by the Secretary. Products distributed solely as mineral or vitamin supplements and guaranteed as specified in this section need not show guarantees for protein, fat, or fiber.

Any poisonous, deleterious, or nonnutritive ingredient is added in sufficient amount to render it injurious to the health of plants, humans, or animal life or injurious to the environment;

A valuable constituent is omitted or abstracted wholly or partially from it or any less valuable substance is substituted for it; or

Its composition or quality falls below or differs from that which it is purported or is represented to contain by its labeling.

Total nitrogen (N), available phosphate (P2O5), soluble potash (K2O);

For unacidulated mineral phosphatic materials and basic slag, both total and available phosphate and the degree of fineness;

For bone, tankage, and other organic phosphatic materials, total phosphate;

Additional plant nutrients, when claimed, shall be expressed in elemental form; and

Potential basicity or acidity may be expressed in terms of calcium carbonate equivalent in multiples of 100 pounds per ton.

Containing not more than 5% of available phosphate (P2O5); and

Provided the product label has not been altered or changed, a distributor shall not be required to register any brand and grade of commercial fertilizer or product name of soil conditioner which has been registered under this subtitle by another person.

A distributor shall not be required to register a commercial fertilizer mixed or blended according to a formula furnished by a consumer, but he shall label the fertilizer in the order and form provided in § 6–210(c) of this subtitle. However, any fertilizer mixed in advance of receipt of the customer’s specific order shall be registered.

For each brand and grade of commercial fertilizer and each soil conditioner distributed in packages of 10 pounds or less, the annual registration fee is $30, notwithstanding any other registration or inspection fee; and

For each brand and grade of commercial fertilizer and each soil conditioner distributed in packages of 10 pounds or less and in packages over 10 pounds, the annual $30 registration fee applies, and only the portion distributed in packages over 10 pounds is subject to the inspection fee of 25 cents per ton.

Mixed-to-order, buyer’s mixture, or custom-mix fertilizer is exempted from the registration fee, but the inspection fee shall be paid.

Distribution of fertilizer materials to manufacturers or exchange between them is exempted.

The date of sale or delivery of the fertilizer;

The name, address, and copy of the driver’s license or picture identification card of the buyer or recipient;

The quantity of fertilizer sold or delivered; and

Any other information required by the Secretary.

Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Secretary shall maintain all records or reports requested under subsection (b) of this section in a manner that protects the identity and location of the distributor and buyer or recipient.

If the Secretary determines that the disclosure is necessary to protect the public, the Secretary may disclose the identity and location of the distributor and buyer or recipient to a federal, State, or local government or unit of government that requests the information in the course of performing its duties related to public safety.

The net weight;

The brand and grade under which the commercial fertilizer is distributed;

The guaranteed analysis giving the nominal percentage of every plant nutrient claimed to be contained in the fertilizer; and

Name and address of manufacturer.

Net weight;

The guaranteed analysis giving the nominal percentage of every plant nutrient claimed to be contained in the fertilizer; and

Name and address of the manufacturer. In addition, the amounts or kinds of materials used in the formulation may be shown.

Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a specialty fertilizer shall be labeled to contain all information required by subsection (a) of this section.

A specialty fertilizer used on turf shall be labeled to contain:

The information required under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection shall be printed in a legible and conspicuous manner on at least one side of the container, or if it does not appear on the face or display side of the container, it shall appear on the upper third of the side used.

Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, on or after April 1, 2011, a lawn fertilizer with an available phosphate (P2O5) content greater than 5%:

This subsection does not apply to seed starter fertilizer for use on newly established lawns or turf.

Net weight or other measure prescribed as satisfactory by the Secretary;

The brand under which the soil conditioner is distributed;

An accurate statement of composition and purpose; and

Name and address of the registrant.

Overuse of commercial fertilizer damages State waters, including the Chesapeake Bay; and

Customers concerned with protecting and restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay and other State waters should, before using a commercial fertilizer, receive a chemical analysis of the soil to be fertilized from a soil-testing laboratory.

Has evidence that the product is in compliance with the law; and

Provides a written release from the stop-sale order.

Certification requirements for operators of composting facilities; and

A classification scheme for compost.

Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, on or after April 1, 2011, a person may not sell or distribute for use or sale any fertilizer intended for use on established lawns or grass unless it is low phosphorous fertilizer.

This subsection does not apply to organic or natural organic fertilizer that is sold to a professional fertilizer applicator.

On or before April 1, 2011, a manufacturer of lawn fertilizer whose products are sold in the State shall reduce by 50% from 2006 levels the amount of available phosphate (P2O5) resulting from the application of its lawn care products within the State.

The amount of available phosphate (P2O5) resulting from the application within the State of lawn care products sold or distributed by a manufacturer may not exceed an average of 1.5% available phosphate (P2O5) if, prior to April 1, 2010, the manufacturer did not sell or distribute fertilizer in the State intended for use on established lawns or grass.

Beginning in 2011, a manufacturer of fertilizer whose products are sold in the State shall report the pounds of phosphorus in its lawn care products sold at retail locations in the State to the Department at the end of each calendar year.

Result in an application of:

Contain phosphorus, except:

Be labeled for use as a de–icer.

Result in an annual application of more than 2.5 pounds per 1,000 square feet of total nitrogen;

Result in an application of more than 80% of the annual recommended rate for total nitrogen established by the University of Maryland; or

Have a release rate of more than 0.7 pounds per 1,000 square feet of total nitrogen per month.

Results in an application of:

Contains phosphorus and is intended for use on turf unless the intended use of the fertilizer is:

Results in an annual application of more than 2.5 pounds per 1,000 square feet of total nitrogen;

Results in an application of more than 80% of the annual recommended rate for total nitrogen established by the University of Maryland; or

Has a release rate of more than 0.7 pounds per 1,000 square feet of total nitrogen per month.

Name of the manufacturer or importer, and the address of the manufacturer’s or importer’s principal office;

Name of the place where manufactured;

Brand or trade name of the material;

Name of the form of the material;

Net weight, if the material is sold in a package;

If in a ground or powdered form, fineness of the material showing the percentage passing the 20 mesh sieve, the 60 mesh sieve, and the 100 mesh sieve;

Minimum percent of calcium or magnesium expressed in either the elemental form or as calcium oxide (CaO) or magnesium oxide (MgO), and, in the case of gypsum, the minimum percent of calcium sulfate (CaSO4);

With respect to all burned forms of liming materials, including mixtures of burned and unburned liming materials, a statement of the total percent of calcium and magnesium expressed in either the elemental form or as calcium oxide (CaO) or magnesium oxide (MgO).

The Secretary finds is in violation of any provision of this subtitle or regulation under this subtitle; or

Has been found by federal or State authorities to cause unreasonable adverse effects to humans, animals, plants, or the environment.

Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Fund may be used only to defray partially the cost of inspection, sampling, analysis, and other expenses necessary for administering this title or Title 5, Subtitle 1 of this article.

Of each annual registration fee and each terminal registration fee collected under § 5–105 of this article, at least $10 shall be used only for activities of the Department relating to the collection, analysis, and reporting of data on pesticide use in the State.