Subchapter VI — Enforcement and Appeals
ATCP 40.56 License or permit action.
ATCP 40.58 Stop sale and holding orders.
ATCP 40.60 Court enforcement.
ATCP 40.62 Administrative appeals.
Ch. ATCP 40 Note
Note: Chapter ATCP 40 as it existed on September 30, 2005 was repealed and a new chapter ATCP 40 was created effective October 1, 2005.
ATCP 40.01
ATCP 40.01
Purpose. This chapter has the following purposes:
ATCP 40.01(1)
(1) To protect Wisconsin consumers, including farmers and household users, against unfair and deceptive practices in the sale of fertilizers or soil or plant additives.
ATCP 40.01(2)
(2) To protect honest businesses against unfair and deceptive methods of competition.
ATCP 40.01(3)
(3) To prevent certain hazards to persons, property, and the environment.
ATCP 40.01 Note
Note: See s.
94.64, Stats. (fertilizer), s.
94.65, Stats. (soil or plant additives), s.
100.18, Stats. (fraudulent representations), s.
100.37, Stats. (hazardous substances), s.
100.42, Stats. (product safety), and ch.
ATCP 139 (consumer product safety).
ATCP 40.01 History
History: CR 04-140: cr.
Register September 2005 No. 597, eff. 10-1-05.
ATCP 40.02
ATCP 40.02
Definitions. In this chapter:
ATCP 40.02(1)
(1) “Active ingredient" means an element, chemical compound, or other substance that affects the efficacy, usefulness, or performance of a fertilizer, or soil or plant additive. “Active ingredient" includes all of the following:
ATCP 40.02(1)(c)
(c) Any other component declared, or required to be declared under this chapter, as an active ingredient on the product label.
ATCP 40.02(2)
(2) “Bulk fertilizer" or “bulk soil or plant additive" means a fertilizer or soil or plant additive that is distributed in unpackaged form, or in a container that holds more than 55 gallons of liquid or 100 lbs. of dry material.
ATCP 40.02(3)
(3) “Combination product" means any of the following:
ATCP 40.02(3)(e)
(e) A fertilizer or soil or plant additive combined with liming material.
ATCP 40.02(4)
(4) “Custom mixed fertilizer" means a fertilizer that a manufacturer mixes for a retail customer according to individual specifications provided by the retail customer.
ATCP 40.02(5)
(5) “Department" means Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection.
ATCP 40.02(6)
(6) “Distribute" means to import, consign, sell, offer for sale, solicit orders for sale, or supply for sale or use in this state. “Distribute" does not include the sale or delivery of manure represented only as manure, by the person who owns or operates the farm that produces the manure, for application on any of the following:
ATCP 40.02(7)
(7) “Enhancing element" means aluminum, cobalt, selenium, silicon, or sodium.
ATCP 40.02(8)
(8) “Fertilizer" means any substance that contains one or more plant nutrients, is used for its plant nutrient content, and is designed for use or claimed to have value in promoting plant growth. “Fertilizer" includes agricultural and nonagricultural fertilizers, fertilizer materials, mixed fertilizers, custom mixed fertilizers, and combination products containing fertilizer. “Fertilizer" does not include unmanipulated animal or vegetable manure, marl, liming material, wood ashes, or sewage sludge other than finished sewage sludge products.
ATCP 40.02(9)
(9) “Fertilizer-additive combination" means a fertilizer combined with a soil or plant additive, or a fertilizer that is represented as having plant growth benefits beyond those attributable to the fertilizer's plant nutrient contents. “Fertilizer-additive combination" includes a fertilizer that is represented to contain enhancing elements other than cobalt or sodium.
ATCP 40.02(10)
(10) “Fertilizer material" means a substance that meets all of the following criteria:
ATCP 40.02(10)(a)
(a) It is an element, a chemical compound, or a substance manufactured by chemical reaction.
ATCP 40.02(10)(c)
(c) It is a fertilizer component or is used to compound fertilizer.
ATCP 40.02(11)
(11) “Fertilizer-pesticide combination" means a fertilizer combined with a pesticide.
ATCP 40.02 Note
Note: For example, “weed and feed" products are fertilizer-pesticide combinations.
ATCP 40.02(12)
(12) “Finished sewage sludge product" means a product, consisting partly or entirely of sewage sludge, that has been disinfected or treated to facilitate sale or distribution. “Finished sewage sludge product" does not include sewage sludge distributed under a pollutant discharge elimination permit issued by the department of natural resources under s.
283.31 or
283.35, Stats.
ATCP 40.02(13)
(13) “Foliar fertilizer" means a fertilizer designed or labeled for direct application to plant foliage and intended for absorption through the plant's foliage.
ATCP 40.02(14)
(14) “Grade" means the percentage guarantees of total nitrogen (N), available phosphate (P
2O
5), and soluble potash (K
2O), stated in the same terms, order, and percentages as in the guaranteed analysis.
ATCP 40.02(15)
(15) “Guaranteed analysis" means the guaranteed percentage content by weight of each plant nutrient, active ingredient, and inert ingredient, stated according to s.
ATCP 40.10 or
40.26. For microbiological ingredients in a soil or plant additive, “guaranteed analysis" means the number of viable microorganisms or colony forming units per unit of dry weight or per unit of liquid volume.
ATCP 40.02(16)
(16) “Inert ingredient" means a component that does not affect product efficacy or performance.
ATCP 40.02(17)
(17) “Label" means a written, printed, graphic, or pictorial statement that is one of the following:
ATCP 40.02(17)(a)
(a) Part of, or attached to, a package containing fertilizer or a soil or plant additive.
ATCP 40.02(17)(b)
(b) Used to identify, for distribution or storage, a bulk fertilizer or a bulk soil or plant additive.
ATCP 40.02(18)
(18) “Labeling" means labels and other written, graphic or pictorial statements that accompany a fertilizer or a soil or plant additive, or that promote the sale or distribution of fertilizer or soil or plant additives. “Labeling" includes advertising and website materials that promote the sale or distribution of a fertilizer or soil or plant additive.
ATCP 40.02(20)
(20) “Manipulated manure" means manure that is ground, pelletized, mechanically dried, packaged, supplemented with plant nutrients or other substances, or otherwise treated in a manner designed to facilitate sale or distribution as a fertilizer or soil or plant additive. “Manipulated manure" does not include unpackaged manure that is modified solely as an incidental result of normal on-farm practices such as the following:
ATCP 40.02(20)(a)
(a) Addition of bedding, sand, or water for purposes of animal husbandry or barn cleaning.
ATCP 40.02(20)(b)
(b) Shredding, grinding, or agitating for purposes of manure handling or removal from a manure storage system.
ATCP 40.02(20)(c)
(c) Drying incidental to mechanical ventilation of animal confinement areas.
ATCP 40.02(21)(a)
(a) To process, granulate, compound, formulate, produce, mix, blend, or alter the composition of a fertilizer, fertilizer material, or soil or plant additive for distribution.
ATCP 40.02(21)(b)
(b) To package or label, for distribution, a fertilizer, fertilizer material, or soil or plant additive.
ATCP 40.02(22)
(22) “Micronutrient" means boron, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, or zinc.
ATCP 40.02(23)
(23) “Mixed fertilizer" means a fertilizer containing any combination or mixture of fertilizer materials, or a fertilizer material and any other substance. A fertilizer material containing impurities inherent in the manufacture of that fertilizer material does not constitute a “mixed fertilizer" unless the distributor claims that the impurities are plant nutrients, fertilizer materials, or soil or plant additives.
ATCP 40.02(24)
(24) “Nonagricultural fertilizer" means a fertilizer designed, labeled, and distributed for non-farm use, including use for home gardens, lawns, shrubbery, flowers, golf courses, parks, cemeteries, greenhouses, nurseries, or scientific research or experimentation.
ATCP 40.02(26)
(26) “Packaged fertilizer" means a fertilizer that is sold in a closed package or container. “Packaged fertilizer" includes packaged custom mixed fertilizer.
ATCP 40.02(27)
(27) “Packaged soil or plant additive" means a soil or plant additive that is sold in a closed package or container.
ATCP 40.02(28)
(28) “Percent" or “percentage" means percentage by weight.
ATCP 40.02(29)
(29) “Pesticide" has the meaning given in s.
94.67, Stats. “Pesticide" includes a fertilizer-pesticide combination and a pesticide-additive combination.
ATCP 40.02(30)
(30) “Pesticide-additive combination" means a pesticide combined with a soil or plant additive.
ATCP 40.02(31)
(31) “Plant nutrient" or “nutrient" means any of the following:
ATCP 40.02(32)
(32) “Primary plant nutrient" means nitrogen (N), available phosphate (P
2O
5), or soluble potash (K
2O).
ATCP 40.02(33)
(33) “Product" means a fertilizer or a soil or plant additive.
ATCP 40.02(34)
(34) “Product name" means a name, designation or trademark that identifies a product.
ATCP 40.02(35)
(35) “Ready-to-use liquid fertilizer" means a liquid fertilizer that is designed and labeled to be applied without prior mixing or dilution by the user.
ATCP 40.02(36)
(36) “Represent" means to state or imply by any means, including any oral, written, graphic or broadcast means.
ATCP 40.02(37)
(37) “Scientific evidence" means evidence that is logically derived from controlled experiments designed, conducted and reported according to the scientific method, using relevant experimental and statistical analytical procedures that are generally recognized and defensible as valid and appropriate among peers in the relevant scientific community. Testimonials are not “scientific evidence."
ATCP 40.02(38)
(38) “Secondary plant nutrient" means calcium, magnesium or sulfur.
ATCP 40.02(40)
(40) “Sewage sludge" means the solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated during the treatment of sewage in a treatment works. Sewage sludge includes scum or solids recovered in primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes, and also includes material derived from sewage sludge. Sewage sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of a sewage sludge incinerator, or grit or screenings generated during preliminary treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works.
ATCP 40.02(41)
(41) “Soil or plant additive" or “additive" means a substance, intended for application to seeds, soil, or plants, that is designed for use or claimed to have value in promoting or sustaining plant growth, improving crop yield or quality, promoting or sustaining the fertility of soil, or favorably modifying the structural, physical, or biological properties of the soil for agronomic or horticultural purposes. “Soil or plant additive" includes a combination product containing a soil or plant additive, and also includes any product represented to contain humate, humin, humic acid, fulvic acid, or other humic substances. “Soil or plant additive" does not include any of the following:
ATCP 40.02(41)(a)
(a) Fertilizer, other than a fertilizer-additive combination. A fertilizer is not considered a fertilizer-additive combination merely because its guaranteed analysis includes guarantees under s.
ATCP 40.10 for cobalt or sodium.
ATCP 40.02(41)(b)
(b) Liming material that is distributed solely for the purposes stated in s.
94.66 (1) (am), Stats., and is not part of a combination product.
ATCP 40.02(41)(c)
(c) Wood ashes, unmanipulated animal manure, or unmanipulated vegetable manure. This exemption does not apply to wood ashes or manure distributed under another name or description.
ATCP 40.02(41)(f)
(f) Perlite labeled as perlite, or vermiculite labeled as vermiculite, that is not mixed with any other substance.
ATCP 40.02(41)(g)
(g) Potting soil or similar mixtures of readily identifiable organic substances, unless labeled with performance claims associated with its use as a soil amendment.
ATCP 40.02(41)(h)
(h) Compost, peat moss, tree bark, wood shavings, and other readily identifiable organic substances that are commonly applied to soil, provided that all the following apply:
