(a)  If it appears from the examination of any commercial fertilizer that any of the provisions of this chapter or the rules and regulations issued under this chapter have been violated, the director shall cause notice of the violations to be given to the registrant, distributor, or possessor from whom the sample was taken; any person notified shall be given opportunity to be heard under any rules and regulations that may be prescribed by the director. If it appears after the hearing, either in the presence or absence of the person so notified, that any of the provisions of this chapter or rules and regulations issued under this chapter have been violated, the director may certify the facts to the attorney general.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-18

  • Commercial fertilizer: means any substance containing one or more recognized plant nutrient(s) that is used for its plant nutrient content and that is designed for use or claimed to have value in promoting plant growth, except unmanipulated animal and vegetable manures, marl, lime, limestone, wood ashes and gypsum, and other products exempted by regulation of the director. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
  • Director: means director of the department of environmental management or his or her authorized agent. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
  • Distributor: means any person who imports, consigns, manufactures, produces, compounds, mixes, or blends commercial fertilizer, or who offers for sale, sells, barters, or otherwise supplies commercial fertilizer in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: includes individual, partnership, association, firm, and corporation. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3
  • Registrant: means the person who registers commercial fertilizer under the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-7-3

(b)  Any person convicted of violating any provision of this chapter or rules and regulations issued under this chapter shall be punished in the discretion of the court.

(c)  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as requiring the director or the director’s representative to report for prosecution or for the institution of seizure proceedings as a result of minor violations of the chapter when the director believes that the public interest will be best served by a suitable notice of warning in writing.

(d)  It is the duty of the attorney general to whom any violation is reported to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted and prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction without delay.

(e)  The director is authorized to apply for and the court to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating or continuing to violate any of the provisions of this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated under the chapter notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law. The injunction shall be issued without bond.

History of Section.
P.L. 1977, ch. 168, § 2.