Montana Title 80. Agriculture § 80-10-206. Inspection, sampling, and analysis

(1) The department may sample, inspect, analyze, and test commercial fertilizers and soil amendments distributed in this state at a time and place and to an extent necessary to determine whether the commercial fertilizers or soil amendments are in compliance with this chapter. The department may enter any public or private premises during regular business hours in order to have access to commercial fertilizers or soil amendments subject to this chapter.

(2) The methods of analysis and sampling must be those adopted by the department from sources such as those of the association of official analytical chemists. The results of analysis, together with additional information the department considers advisable, must be transmitted promptly to the manufacturer and to the dealer or person in whose possession the product was sampled.

(3) The department, in determining whether any deficiency occurred in a commercial fertilizer or soil amendment, must be guided solely by the official sample obtained and analyzed as provided for in subsections (1) and (2). The department may arrange with other laboratories for specific analyses conducted as part of an official analysis.

(4) If on the basis of an inspection or the analysis of the official sample a commercial fertilizer or soil amendment is found to be subject to penalty or other legal action, the department shall forward to the responsible party notification of the violation. If no adequate evidence to the contrary is made available to the department, the report becomes official.

(5) Upon request, the department shall furnish to the responsible party a portion of any sample found subject to penalty or other legal action. The responsible party may challenge the department's determination of a violation within 30 days following the responsible party's receipt of the analysis. Upon receipt of the challenge, the department shall forward a portion of the remainder of the official sample to any recognized chemical laboratory of the responsible party's choice for analysis. If the results differ significantly from the department's analysis, the responsible party may request a referee analysis by a referee laboratory chosen by the department. Results of the referee analysis must be reported to the responsible party and to the department, and the referee analysis is considered official. If the department's initial analysis is sustained following a referee analysis, the responsible party that requested the referee analysis shall pay the costs of the referee analysis.