La. Admin. Code tit. 7 § XXVII-128

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section XXVII-128 - Fees: Amount, Time of Payment

A. Fees are due and payable upon the receipt of an invoice from the department. A late payment shall be assessed for all invoices paid after 30 days from the date of the invoice. The amount which shall be assessed shall be 10 percent of the outstanding balance.

B. Applicable fees shall be charged for each request for the department to provide official inspection service or weighing service.

C. Schedule of Fees

1. The regular hours shall be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except legal holidays and declared half-holidays. All hours worked, that are not regular hours, shall be considered as overtime. Legal holidays and half-holidays shall be those legal holidays designated by the legislature in R.S. 1:55(B) and any other time declared to be a holiday or half-holiday by the governor of Louisiana in accordance with R.S. 1:55.

2. The hourly rate shall be $26 per hour, including travel time. Overtime hours shall be billed at one and one-half times the hourly rate and shall be assessed in half-hour increments.

3. Mileage shall be billed at the IRS standard mileage rate and applicable hourly rate for actual miles traveled from nearest inspection point. Changes to the mileage rate shall be effective when the IRS changes their standard mileage rate.

4. Official Services (including sampling except as indicated)

Online D/T sampling inspection service (sampling, grading and certification), per regular hour	$26
Overtime hourly rate, per hour	$39
Unit Inspection Fees:
Aflatoxin Testing, per sample	$30
Rail Car, per car	$20.50
Truck/Trailer, per carrier	$10
Barge, per 1,000 bushels	$2.60
Submitted sample inspection	$12.30
Rail Car (per sample)	$10.30
Truck/Trailer (per sample)	$5.30
Barge (per sample)	$25.30
Factor only determination, per factor (not to exceed full grade fee)	$5.20
Probe Sampling Barge (per barge)	$100
On-Line Sampling Barge (per hour)	$20
Vomitoxin test (applicant supplies kit)	$25
Vomitoxin test (LDAF supplies kit)	$35

D. Moisture Meter Registration and Inspection Fee

1. A registration fee of $20 per meter and an inspection fee of $40 per meter to shall be paid by the owner or user of every moisture measuring device used or held for use at any commercial facility which receives, holds, dries, stores, mills, processes or otherwise deals in agricultural commodities in the state, when such use or intended use is for the purpose of determining discounts or other price variances in connection with the purchase or sale of such commodity, said Each moisture meter device shall be registered with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

2. Registration shall be required on or before May 15 of each year or within five business days of acquisition of new or additional unregistered moisture measuring devices for the purpose set forth in Paragraph 1 of this Section. Registration forms shall be provided by the department and shall state the name and address of the commercial facility which owns or uses the device, the number of devices used and held for use, the brand name(s) of the device(s), and such other information as may be deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this Subchapter.

3. A moisture measuring device shall be deemed defective when an inspector determines after an inspection and testing that:

a. the moisture measuring device varies in tolerance in excess of one-half of one per cent with the testing device used by the inspector; or

b. the commercial facility does not have available the latest charts and calibration data for the type of commodity being tested; or

c. the facility does not have available accurate and proper scales and thermometers for use in conjunction with the type of moisture measuring device being used.

a. A moisture measuring device which is determined to be defective and which the defect cannot be immediately corrected shall be tagged in such a manner as to warn the public that the device is not in compliance with the law.

b. Notice shall be conspicuously posted indicating that a moisture measuring device has been deemed defective and the percentage by which the device has been determined to be out of tolerance.

5. Moisture measuring devices which have been registered and inspected and which have not been found defective shall bear an official tag or sticker from the department, placed on the devices by the inspector in such a manner as to be readily visible, bearing the year of inspection. Such tags or stickers shall be nontransferable.

6. All non-National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP) approved moisture measuring devices registered prior to May 15, 2010 shall be deemed suitable for use. In the event a non-NTEP moisture measuring device is deemed defective after May 15, 2010, it shall be taken out of service and replaced with an NTEP approved device.

7. Notwithstanding §128. D of this Part, all moisture measuring devices shall be NTEP approved devices.

La. Admin. Code tit. 7, § XXVII-128

Promulgated by the Department of Agriculture, Office of Agro-Consumer Services, Agricultural Commodities Commission, LR 12:287 (May 1986), amended LR 14:528 (August 1988), LR 19:889 (July 1993), LR 23:196 (February 1997), LR 27:815 (June 2001), amended by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Office of the Commissioner, Agricultural Commodities Commission, LR 30:197 (February 2004), amended by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Agricultural Commodities Commission, LR 37:504 (February 2011), Amended by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Office of Agro-Consumer Services, Agricultural Commodities Commission, LR 421502 (9/1/2016).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 3:3405, R.S. 3:3414.3 and R.S. 3:3422.