Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Agriculture Beneficial Substances topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee reviews uniform registration for beneficial agricultural products and adds $50 pesticide disposal fee
Summary
The Finance Committee examined H.484 provisions to harmonize registration of ‘beneficial substances’ used on crops and to add $50 to pesticide registration fees to fund disposal of unwanted pesticides; Joint Fiscal Office estimated the fee increase would raise about $615,000 annually.
At a May 16 Finance Committee meeting, legislative counsel Michael O'Grady and Joint Fiscal Office staff outlined provisions in H.484 that would create a uniform registration category for “beneficial substances” used in agriculture and add $50 to existing pesticide registration fees to fund disposal of unwanted or obsolete pesticides.
The committee heard that the bill adopts a model approach developed by national plant-food regulators to reduce inconsistent state-by-state definitions. "Registration. It's $85 per product for any of those fertilizers or beneficial substances," Michael O'Grady said, explaining the proposed per-product fee and that lime products would continue to be charged $50. O'Grady told the committee that the Department of Agriculture would deposit the fees into its special fund to implement the program.
Joint Fiscal Office analyst Jay Sufi told the committee the additional $50 on pesticide registrations would be deposited to the pesticide monitoring special fund and estimated the increase would raise about $615,000 a year for that fund. "The additional $50 fee would be deposited in the pesticide monitoring special fund. It'll be able to help cover the cost of disposing of unwanted or obsolete pesticides," Sufi said.
The bill defines “beneficial substance” to include plant amendments, biostimulants and inoculants and would explicitly add plant and soil inoculants (microbial products) to the registration requirement. O'Grady said those categories are newer to the market and had not consistently been regulated by the state. He noted some states charge higher registration fees — "In Rhode Island, it's $300 per product. In New Hampshire, I think it's about $140," he said — and that the proposed $85 fee is comparable to other states.
The bill also directs the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets to study sustainable funding options for pesticide collection and disposal, including the feasibility of extended producer responsibility programs for pesticides. O'Grady said the study will examine options to reimburse solid waste management entities that collect unwanted pesticides under existing household hazardous waste programs, and that the extra $50 fee is intended to cover those costs while the study proceeds.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about who pays the fee (manufacturers or registrants) and how revenue currently flows. The Joint Fiscal Office noted that product registrations and fee revenues have been flat over the past five years, which informed its estimate.
The committee did not vote on H.484 at the meeting and asked staff to bring additional fiscal information and to schedule further review next week. The Joint Fiscal Office will provide additional numeric estimates and the committee said it will invite the bill sponsor or their designee to explain the tax provisions that appear elsewhere in the bill.
