6099-S

AN ACT Relating to weights and measures; amending RCW 19.94.010, 19.94.160, 19.94.175, 19.94.190, 19.94.255, 19.94.280, 19.94.320, and 19.94.360; and adding a new section to chapter 15.80 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 19.94.010 and 1992 c 237 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter and to any rules adopted pursuant to this chapter.

(a) "City" means a first class city with a population of over fifty thousand persons.

(b) "City sealer" means the person duly authorized by a city to enforce and administer the weights and measures program within such city and any duly appointed deputy sealer acting under the instructions and at the direction of the city sealer.

(c) "Commodity in package form" means a commodity put up or packaged in any manner in advance of sale in units suitable for either wholesale or retail sale, exclusive, however, of an auxiliary shipping container enclosing packages that individually conform to the requirements of this chapter. An individual item or lot of any commodity not in packaged form, but on which there is marked a selling price based on established price per unit of weight or of measure, shall be construed to be a commodity in package form.

(d) "Consumer package" or "package of consumer commodity" means a commodity in package form that is customarily produced or distributed for sale through retail sales agencies or instrumentalities for consumption by persons, or used by persons for the purpose of personal care or in the performance of services ordinarily rendered in or about a household or in connection with personal possessions.

(e) "Cord" means the measurement of wood intended for fuel or pulp purposes that is contained in a space of one hundred twenty‑eight cubic feet, when the wood is ranked and well stowed.

(f) "Department" means the department of agriculture of the state of Washington.

(g) "Director" means the director of the department or duly authorized representative acting under the instructions and at the direction of the director.

(h) "Fish" means any waterbreathing animal, including shellfish, such as, but not limited to, lobster, clam, crab, or other mollusca that is prepared, processed, sold, or intended for sale.

(i) "Net weight" means the weight of a commodity excluding any materials, substances, or items not considered to be part of such commodity. Materials, substances, or items not considered to be part of a commodity shall include, but are not limited to, containers, conveyances, bags, wrappers, packaging materials, labels, individual piece coverings, decorative accompaniments, and coupons.

(j) "Nonconsumer package" or "package of nonconsumer commodity" means a commodity in package form other than a consumer package and particularly a package designed solely for industrial or institutional use or for wholesale distribution only.

(k) "Meat" means and shall include all animal flesh, carcasses, or parts of animals, and shall also include fish, shellfish, game, poultry, and meat food products of every kind and character, whether fresh, frozen, cooked, cured, or processed.

(l) "Official seal of approval" means the uniform seal or certificate issued by the director or city sealer which indicates that a weights and measures standard or a weighing or measuring instrument or device conforms with the specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements adopted in RCW 19.94.195.

(m) "Person" means any individual, receiver, administrator, executor, assignee, trustee in bankruptcy, trust, estate, firm, copartnership, joint venture, club, company, business trust, corporation, association, society, or any group of individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, cooperative, fraternal, nonprofit, or otherwise.

(n) "Poultry" means all fowl, domestic or wild, that is prepared, processed, sold, or intended or offered for sale.

(o) "Service agent" means a person who for hire, award, commission, or any other payment of any kind, installs, inspects, checks, adjusts, repairs, reconditions, or systematically standardizes the graduations of a weighing or measuring instrument or device.

(p) "Ton" means a unit of two thousand pounds avoirdupois weight.

(q) "Weighing or measuring instrument or device" means any equipment or apparatus used commercially to establish the size, quantity, capacity, count, extent, area, heaviness, or measurement of quantities, things, produce, or articles for distribution or consumption, that are purchased, offered or submitted for sale, hire, or award on the basis of weight, measure or count, including any accessory attached to or used in connection with a weighing or measuring instrument or device when such accessory is so designed or installed that its operation affects, or may effect, the accuracy or indication of the device. This definition shall be strictly limited to those weighing or measuring instruments or devices governed by Handbook 44 as adopted under RCW 19.94.195.

(r) "Weight" means net weight as defined in this section.

(s) "Weights and measures" means the recognized standards or units of measure used to indicate the size, quantity, capacity, count, extent, area, heaviness, or measurement of any consumable commodity.

(t) "Secondary weights and measures standard" means ((~~any object~~)) the physical standards that are traceable to the primary standards through comparisons, used by the director, a city sealer, or a service agent that under specified conditions defines or represents a recognized weight or measure during the inspection, adjustment, testing, or systematic standardization of the graduations of any weighing or measuring instrument or device.

(2) The director shall prescribe by rule other definitions as may be necessary for the implementation of this chapter.

Sec. 2. RCW 19.94.160 and 1992 c 237 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

Weights and measures standards that are in conformity with the standards of the United States as have been supplied to the state by the federal government or otherwise obtained by the state for use as state weights and measures standards, shall, when the same shall have been certified as such by the national institute of standards and technology or any successor organization, be the ((~~state~~)) primary standards of weight and measure. The state weights and measures standards shall be kept in a place designated by the director and shall not be removed from such designated place except for repairs or for certification. These state weights and measures standards shall be submitted at least once every ten years to the national institute of standards and technology or any successor organization for certification.

Sec. 3. RCW 19.94.175 and 1992 c 237 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall establish reasonable, biennial inspection and testing fees for each type or class of weighing or measuring instrument or device required to be inspected and tested under this chapter. These inspection and testing fees shall be equitably prorated within each such type or class and shall be limited to those amounts necessary for the department to cover, to the extent possible, the direct costs associated with the inspection and testing of each type or class of weighing or measuring instrument or device.

(2) Prior to the establishment and each amendment of the fees authorized under this chapter, a weights and measures fee task force shall be convened under the direction of the department. The task force shall be composed of a representative from the department who shall serve as chair and one representative from each of the following: City sealers, service agents, service stations, grocery stores, retailers, food processors/dealers, oil heat dealers, the agricultural community, and liquid propane dealers. The task force shall recommend the appropriate level of fees to be assessed by the department pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, based upon the level necessary to cover the direct costs of administering and enforcing the provisions of this chapter and to the extent possible be consistent with fees reasonably and customarily charged in the private sector for similar services.

(3) The fees authorized under ((~~this chapter~~)) subsection (1) of this section may be billed only after the director or a city sealer has ((~~issued an official seal of approval for~~)) officially inspected and tested a weighing or measuring instrument or device or a weight or measure standard.

(4) All fees shall become due and payable thirty days after billing by the department or a city sealer. A late penalty of one and one-half percent per month may be assessed on the unpaid balance more than thirty days in arrears.

(5) Fees upon weighing or measuring instruments or devices within the jurisdiction of the city that are collected under this section by city sealers shall be deposited into the general fund, or other account, of the city as directed by the governing body of the city. ((On the thirtieth day of each month, city sealers shall, pursuant to procedures established and upon forms provided by the director, remit to the department for administrative costs ten percent of the total fees collected.))

(6) With the exception of subsection ((~~(7)~~)) (8) of this section, no person shall be required to pay more than the established inspection and testing fee adopted under this section for any weighing or measuring instrument or device in any two-year period when the same has been found to be correct.

(7) ((Whenever a special request is made by the owner for the inspection and testing of a weighing or measuring instrument or device, the fee prescribed by the director for such a weighing or measuring instrument or device shall be paid by the owner.)) The department or a city sealer may establish reasonable reinspection and testing fees for each type or class of weighing or measuring instrument or device required to be inspected and tested under this chapter when such a device has been found to be incorrect. These reinspection and testing fees shall be limited to those amounts necessary for the department or a city sealer to cover, to the extent possible, the direct costs associated with the reinspection and testing of each type or class of weighing or measuring instrument or device. At least thirty days prior to adopting the reinspection and testing fee in rule, the department shall consult with the weights and measures program advisory committee and submit a copy of the proposed fee schedule for review to the appropriate standing committees in the house of representatives and the senate. Investigations for cause shall not be construed as reinspections under this subsection.

(8) The department or a city sealer may establish reasonable inspection and testing fees for each type or class of weighing or measuring instrument or device specially requested to be inspected or tested by the device owner. These inspection and testing fees shall be limited to those amounts necessary for the department or city sealer to cover the direct costs associated with such inspection and testing. The fees established under this subsection shall not be set so as to compete with service agents normally engaged in such services.

Sec. 4. RCW 19.94.190 and 1992 c 237 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The director and duly appointed city sealers shall enforce the provisions of this chapter. The director shall adopt rules for enforcing and carrying out the purposes of this chapter including but not limited to the following:

(a) Establishing state standards of weight, measure, or count, and reasonable standards of fill for any commodity in package form;

(b) The establishment of technical and reporting procedures to be followed, any necessary report and record forms, and marks of rejection to be used by the director and city sealers in the discharge of their official duties as required by this chapter;

(c) The establishment of technical test procedures, reporting procedures, and any necessary record and reporting forms to be used by service agents when installing, repairing, inspecting, or standardizing the graduations of any weighing or measuring instruments or devices;

(d) ((The establishment of fee payment and reporting procedures and any necessary report and record forms to be used by city sealers when remitting the percentage of total fees collected as required under this chapter;

~~(e)~~)) The establishment of exemptions from the sealing or marking inspection and testing requirements of RCW 19.94.250 with respect to weighing or measuring instruments or devices of such character or size that such sealing or marking would be inappropriate, impracticable, or damaging to the apparatus in question;

((~~(f)~~)) (e) The establishment of exemptions from the inspection and testing requirements of RCW 19.94.165 with respect to classes of weighing or measuring instruments or devices found to be of such character that periodic inspection and testing is unnecessary to ensure continued accuracy; and

((~~(g)~~)) (f) The establishment of inspection and approval techniques, if any, to be used with respect to classes of weighing or measuring instruments or devices that are designed specifically to be used commercially only once and then discarded, or are uniformly mass‑produced by means of a mold or die and are not individually adjustable.

(2) These rules shall also include specifications and tolerances for the acceptable range of accuracy required of weighing or measuring instruments or devices and shall be designed to eliminate from use, without prejudice to weighing or measuring instruments or devices that conform as closely as practicable to official specifications and tolerances, those (a) that are of such construction that they are faulty, that is, that are not reasonably permanent in their adjustment or will not repeat their indications correctly, or (b) that facilitate the perpetration of fraud.

Sec. 5. RCW 19.94.255 and 1992 c 237 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Weighing or measuring instruments or devices that have been rejected under the authority of the director or a city sealer shall remain subject to the control of the rejecting authority until such time as suitable repair or disposition thereof has been made as required by this section.

(2) The owner of any weighing or measuring instrument or device that has been marked or tagged as rejected by the director or a city sealer shall cause the same to be made correct within thirty days or such longer period as may be authorized by the rejecting authority. In lieu of correction, the owner of such weighing and measuring instrument or device may dispose of the same, but only in the manner specifically authorized by the rejecting authority.

(((3) Weighing and measuring instruments or devices that have been rejected shall not again be used commercially until they have been officially reexamined and, if found to be correct, had an official seal of approval placed upon or issued for such weighing or measuring instrument or device by the rejecting authority.))

Sec. 6. RCW 19.94.280 and 1992 c 237 s 20 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) There may be a city sealer in every city and such deputies as may be required by ordinance of each such city to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(2) Each city electing to have a city sealer shall adopt rules for the appointment and removal of the city sealer and any deputies required by local ordinance. The rules for appointment of a city sealer and any deputies must include provisions for the advice and consent of the local governing body of such city and, as necessary, any provisions for local civil service laws and regulations.

(3) A city sealer ((~~shall~~)) may adopt the fee amounts established by the director pursuant to RCW ((~~19.94.165~~)) 19.94.175. No city shall adopt or charge an inspection, testing, or licensing fee or any other fee upon a weighing or measuring instrument or device that is in excess of the fee amount adopted under RCW ((~~19.94.165~~)) 19.94.175.

(4) A city sealer shall keep a complete and accurate record of all official acts performed under the authority of this chapter and shall submit an annual report to the governing body of his or her city and shall make any reports as may be required by the director.

Sec. 7. RCW 19.94.320 and 1992 c 237 s 22 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) In cities for which city sealers have been appointed as provided for in this chapter, the director shall have general ((~~supervisory powers over such~~)) oversight of city ((~~sealers~~)) weights and measures programs and may, when he or she deems it reasonably necessary, exercise concurrent authority to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

(2) When the director elects to exercise concurrent authority within a city with a duly appointed city sealer, the director's powers and duties relative to this chapter shall be in addition to the powers granted in any such city by law or charter.

Sec. 8. RCW 19.94.360 and 1969 c 67 s 36 are each amended to read as follows:

In addition to the declarations required by RCW 19.94.350, any commodity in package form, the package being one of a lot containing random weights, measures or counts of the same commodity ((~~and bearing the total selling price of the package~~)) at the time it is exposed for sale at retail, shall bear on the outside of the package a plain and conspicuous declaration of the price per single unit of weight, measure, or count and the total selling price of the package.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 15.80 RCW to read as follows:

All moneys collected under this chapter shall be placed in the weights and measures account in the state treasury created in RCW 19.94.185.