WSR 17-16-164 EXPEDITED RULES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE [Filed August 2, 2017, 8:19 a.m.]
Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: Chapter 16-301 WAC, General seed regulations.
NOTICE
THIS RULE IS BEING PROPOSED UNDER AN EXPEDITED RULE-MAKING PROCESS THAT WILL ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THE AGENCY TO HOLD PUBLIC HEARINGS, PREPARE A SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT, OR PROVIDE RESPONSES TO THE CRITERIA FOR A SIGNIFICANT LEGISLATIVE RULE. IF YOU OBJECT TO THIS USE OF THE EXPEDITED RULE-MAKING PROCESS, YOU MUST EXPRESS YOUR OBJECTIONS IN WRITING AND THEY MUST BE SENT TO Henri Gonzales, Department of Agriculture, 1111 Washington Street S.E., Olympia, WA 98504-2560, AND RECEIVED BY October 2, 2017.
Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: The department is proposing to remove all references to "arbitration" in chapter 16-301 WAC, and change "arbitration" to "mediation" in WAC 16-301-015, due to changes in the underlying statute, chapter 15.49 RCW. SB 5075, effective July 23, 2017, amends RCW 15.49.071 Damages—Arbitration prerequisite to legal action and 15.49.091 Arbitration—Procedure; and repeals RCW 15.49.081 Arbitration—Filing fee—Rules, 15.49.101 Investigation of complaint by arbitration committee, and 15.49.111 Arbitration committee—Creation—Generally. To implement the repeal or amendment under SB 5075 of all "arbitration" provisions in sections of chapter 15.49 RCW, and the replacement of the arbitration requirements with mediation requirements under RCW 15.49.071 and [15.49].091, the department is repealing arbitration sections or subsections under chapter 16-301 WAC and is amending WAC 16-301-015 to require notice of the mediation requirement.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: Chapter 33, Laws of 2017, changed the mechanism for resolving disputes between seed buyers and seed dealers from arbitration to mediation under chapter 7.07 RCW. Therefore, the existing provisions for arbitration in chapter 16-301 WAC no longer apply. These rule amendments/repeals meet the criteria for expedited rule making under RCW 34.05.353 (1)(d) and (2)(c).
Statute Being Implemented: Chapter 33, Laws of 2017, chapter 7.07 RCW.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Name of Proponent: Department of agriculture, governmental.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Jeff Larsen, 1111 Washington Street S.E., Olympia, WA 98504-2560, (360) 902-1960; Implementation and Enforcement: Victor Shaul, 21 North 1st Avenue, Suite 203, Yakima, WA 98902-2663, (509) 249-6950.
August 2, 2017
Jason Ferrante
Assistant Director
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 14-20-050, filed 9/25/14, effective 10/26/14)
WAC 16-301-005 General seed standards—Definitions.
Definitions for terms used in this chapter and in chapters 16-302 and 16-303 WAC may be found in chapter 15.49 RCW, seed. For the purposes of these chapters, the following definitions shall apply unless otherwise provided for in law or rule:
"Agricultural seed" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(2) includes grass, forage, cereal, oil, fiber, and other kinds of crop seeds commonly recognized within this state as agricultural seeds, lawn seeds, and combination of such seeds, and may include common and restricted noxious weed seeds but not prohibited noxious weed seeds.
"AOSA" means the Association of Official Seed Analysts.
"AOSCA" means the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies.
"Approved trial grounds" means a specific parcel of land approved by the director for experimental or limited production or increase of bean seed.
(("Arbitration committee" means the committee established by the director under RCW 15.49.101 to hear and make determinations in mandatory, nonbinding, arbitration cases.))
"Bean" means common beans and adzuki beans.
"Blend" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(3) means seed consisting of more than one variety of a species, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole.
"Blending" as related to this chapter shall be the process of commingling two or more lots of seed to form one lot of uniform quality.
"Buyer" means a person who purchases seeds.
"Certifying agency" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(6) means:
(a) An agency authorized under the laws of any state, territory, or possession to certify seed officially and which has standards and procedures approved by the United States secretary of agriculture to assure the genetic purity and identity of the seed certified; or
(b) An agency of a foreign country determined by the United States Secretary of Agriculture to adhere to procedures and standards for seed certification comparable to those adhered to generally by seed-certifying agencies under (a) of this subsection.
(("Chairperson" means the person selected by the arbitration committee from among their numbers to preside.))
"Common bean" means Phaseolus vulgaris L.
"Complete record" means information which relates to the origin, treatment, germination and purity (including variety) of each lot of seed. Records include seed samples and records of declaration, labels, purchases, sales, cleaning, bulking, treatment, handling, storage, analyses, tests and examinations.
"Dealer" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(9) means any person who distributes seeds.
"Department" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(10) means the Washington state department of agriculture or its duly authorized representative.
"Director" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(11) means the director of the department of agriculture.
"Field standards" means the tolerances permitted as determined by established field inspection procedures.
"Fiscal year" means the twelve-month period July 1 through June 30.
"Flower seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(13) include seeds of herbaceous plants grown for their blooms, ornamental foliage, or other ornamental parts, and commonly known and sold as flower seeds in this state.
"Germination" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(15) means the emergence and development from the seed embryo of those essential structures which, for the kind of seed in question, are indicative of the ability to produce a normal plant under favorable conditions.
"Interagency certification" means the participation of two or more official certifying agencies in performing the services required to certify the same lot or lots of seed.
"Isolation standards" means the distance in feet from any contaminating source (i.e., distance from other fields of same species).
"Label" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(21) includes a tag or other device attached to or written, stamped, or printed on any container or accompanying any lot of bulk seeds purporting to set forth the information required on the seed label by chapter 15.49 RCW, and may include other information including the requirement for ((arbitration)) mediation.
"Land standards" means the number of years that must elapse between the destruction of a stand of a kind, and establishment of a stand of a specified class of a variety of the same kind (i.e., number of years out of production of same crop kind).
"Mixture, mixed or mix" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(24) means seed consisting of more than one species, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole.
"Nursery" means an area of two acres or less in which grass for seed production is seeded in rows with twenty-four inch minimum spacing to facilitate roguing.
"O.E.C.D." means the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development certification scheme.
"Off-type" means a plant or seed which deviates in one or more characteristics from that which has been described as being usual for the strain or variety.
"Official certificate" means a document issued by an official testing agency including but not limited to seed certification tags, bulk seed certification certificates, phyto-sanitary certificates, laboratory sanitary certificates, and other letters, tags, stamps, or similar documents certifying seed quality or condition.
"Official sample" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(25) means any sample taken and designated as official by the department.
"Official seed laboratory" means a seed testing laboratory approved by the director, such as, but not limited to, Washington State Seed Laboratory, 21 N 1st Avenue, Yakima, Washington; and Oregon State Seed Laboratory, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
"Origin" means the county within the state of Washington, or the state, territory, or country where a specific seed lot was grown.
"Person" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(27) means an individual, partnership, corporation, company, association, receiver, trustee or agent.
"Proprietary variety" means that crop variety for which a person has exclusive production and/or marketing rights.
"Representative sample" means a sample drawn in accordance with sampling procedures adopted in WAC 16-301-095.
"Seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(35) means agricultural or vegetable seeds, or other seeds as determined by rules adopted by the department.
"Seed labeling permit" means a permit issued by the department pursuant to RCW 15.49.400 to a person labeling seed for distribution in this state.
"Seed program advisory committee" means a committee of representatives from the small grains, pea, lentil, bean, vegetable, small seeded legumes, and grass seed industries selected by the program manager in consultation with the industry.
"Seed standards" means the tolerances permitted as determined by established seed inspection procedures.
"Serology" means precipitation, agglutination, immunodiffusion, or labeled antibody test methods (such as ELISA) that use the specificity of antigen-antibody reactions to detect and identify antigenic substances and the organisms such as viruses and bacteria that carry viruses.
"Stock seed" means breeders, prebasic, or like initial generation of seed.
"Sudangrass" means Sorghum bicolor x drummondii.
"University" means the Washington State University.
"USDA" means the United States Department of Agriculture.
"Vegetable seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011(40) include the seeds of all crops that are grown in gardens and on truck farms and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable or herb seeds in this state.
"WSCIA" means the Washington State Crop Improvement Association.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 14-20-050, filed 9/25/14, effective 10/26/14)
WAC 16-301-015 Seed labeling requirements for agricultural, vegetable, and flower seeds.
(1) Each container of agricultural, vegetable or flower seeds, that is sold, offered or exposed for sale, or transported within this state for sowing purposes, must bear or have attached to the container a plainly written or printed label or tag in the English language; and
(a) The label provides information required in WAC 16-301-060 through 16-301-085 on treated seeds in addition to the information required in subsection (2) of this section; and
(b) The label is placed in a conspicuous manner on the seed container; and
(c) The printed label or tag is not modified or denied in the labeling or on any label attached to the seed container.
(2) Each container of agricultural, vegetable, or flower seeds sold, offered or exposed for sale, or transported within this state for sowing purposes must bear "Requirement for ((arbitration)) mediation - The Washington State Seed Act, chapter 15.49 RCW, requires ((mandatory arbitration)) mediation of disputes involving allegedly defective seed. ((See chapter 16-301 WAC or contact the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Seed Program, 509-249-6950,))" on:
(a) The analysis tag; or
(b) A separate tag or label attached securely to each container; or
(c) Printed in a conspicuous manner on the side of each container; or
(d) Alternate wording may be approved in writing by the department to meet the needs of the industry.
(3) Except for grass seed mixtures, and hybrids that contain less than ninety-five percent hybrid seed, the label for agricultural seeds must contain the following information:
(a) The name of the kind and variety of each agricultural seed present in excess of five percent of the whole and the percentage by weight of each or if the variety is not listed with the certifying agency, the name of the kind and the words, "variety not stated." Hybrids must be labeled as hybrids; and
(b) The lot number or other lot identification; and
(c) The origin state or foreign country, if known. If the origin is not known, that fact shall be stated on the label; and
(d) The percentage, by weight, of all weed seeds present. The maximum weed seed content may not exceed two percent by weight; and
(e) The name and rate of occurrence in seeds per pound of each kind of restricted noxious weed seed present; and
(f) The percentage by weight of agricultural seeds, which may be designated as "crop seeds," other than those required to be named on the label; and
(g) The percentage by weight of inert matter; and
(h) The percentage of seed germination, exclusive of hard seed, and the percentage of hard seed, if present, or "total germination and hard seed" as a single percentage; and
(i) The calendar month and year the seed germination test was completed to determine such percentages; and
(j) The name and address of the person who labels, sells, offers, or exposes for sale seed within this state.
(4) For seed that is coated the label must also contain the following:
(a) The percentage of pure seed with coating material removed;
(b) The percentage of coating material shown as a separate item in close association with the percentage of inert material;
(c) The percentage of germination as determined on four hundred coated seed pellets, with or without seeds.
REPEALER
The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed:
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