Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 505 - AGRICULTURE
505 ILCS 120/ - Soil Amendment Act.

(505 ILCS 120/1) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-1)
Sec. 1.
Short title.
This Act may be cited as the Soil Amendment Act.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/5) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-5)
Sec. 5.
Authority.
This Act shall be administered by the Department of
Agriculture.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/10) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-10)
Sec. 10.
Definitions.
As used in this Act:
"Brand" means a term, design, trademark, product name, or other specific
designation under which individual soil amendments are distributed.
"Bulk" means in a nonpackaged form.
"Department" means the Department of Agriculture.
"Director" means the Director of the Department of Agriculture.
"Distribute" means offer or hold for sale, sell, barter, give away, ship,
deliver for shipment, receive and then deliver, or offer to deliver a soil
amendment in this State.
"Distributor" means any person who distributes a soil amendment in this
State.
"FIFRA" means the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
"Investigational allowance" means an allowance for variations in
analytical determination inherent in the taking, preparation, and analysis
of an official sample of a soil amendment.
"Label" means all written, printed, or graphic material on or attached to
the immediate container or wrapping or the statement accompanying a soil
amendment.
"Labeling" means the label and all other written, printed, or graphic
material accompanying a soil amendment or referring to it in any other
media used to disseminate information to the public in promoting the sale
of a soil amendment.
"Minimum percentage" means the percent of the soil amending ingredient that
must be present in a product before the product will be accepted for
registration or offered for sale.
"Official sample" means any sample of a soil amendment taken by the
Director or his or her agent or designee and designated as "official" by
the Director.
"Other ingredient" means the non-soil amending substance present in soil
amendment products.
"Percent" or "percentage" means a part of the whole by weight.
"Person" means an individual, partnership, association, fiduciary,
corporation, or other organized group of persons whether incorporated or not.
"Registrant" means the person who registers soil amendments under the
provisions of this Act.
"Soil amendment" means any substance or material about which it is
claimed that it will and is intended to improve the characteristics of the
soil or otherwise affect soil and therefore is claimed to enhance crop
production capacity or increase crop yield. The term does not include
fertilizer material, agricultural limestone, marl, burnt or hydrated lime,
sewage sludge produced by a sanitary district, or animal or vegetable
manure that has not been processed or manipulated to chemically alter it.
The term includes several soil and plant additive materials defined and
referred to as soil conditioners; or wetting agents and surfactants; or
biological inoculants and activators; or plant growth regulators and
stimulants. Any chemical registered as a pesticide under FIFRA is not a
soil amendment for purposes of this Act.
"Soil amending ingredient" means the substance in a soil amendment product,
whether a bacterial agent, mineral element, or chemical compound, that acts to
improve soil or enhance crop production but is not a fertilizing material.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/15) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-15)
Sec. 15.
Registration.
(a) On and after July 1, 1992, each separately identified soil amendment
shall be registered with the Director before being distributed in this
State. Application for registration shall be submitted on forms furnished
or approved by the Department and shall be accompanied by a fee of $250 per
product. A registration shall expire on December 31 of the year it is issued.
(b) The registrant shall submit to the Director at the time of
application for registration a copy of the label and any advertising
literature for the soil amendment. Upon approval by the Director, the
registrant shall be furnished a certified copy of the registration.
Before registering any soil amendment, the Director shall require
evidence to substantiate the claims made for the soil amendment and proof
of the value and usefulness of the soil amendment ingredient.
(c) The Director may, by rule, set the minimum amount of a soil
amendment ingredient and soil amendment ingredients that must be present
before a soil amendment product can be registered and distributed in this
State.
(d) A distributor shall not be required to register a soil amendment
product that is already registered under this Act if the label does not
differ in any respect.
(e) If an application for renewal of registration for a soil amendment
is not received within 30 days after the registration expiration date and
the soil amendment product is found to be distributed in the State, a
penalty of a $100 per product shall be assessed and added to the original
fee and shall be paid before registration will be granted.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/20) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-20)
Sec. 20.
Labeling.
(a) On and after July 1, 1992, the following information shall appear on
the face or display side in a readable and conspicuous form on every soil
amendment product container or shall accompany each bulk order of a soil
amendment product distributed in this State and shall be considered the label:
(b) The Director may require proof of claims made or usefulness or value
of any soil amendment product. The Director may rely on experimental data,
evaluations, or advice from sources such as the Agricultural Experiment
Station and other professionally trained scientists for the required proof.
(c) No soil amending ingredient may be listed or guaranteed on the label
without the permission of the Director. The Director shall allow
ingredients to be listed if satisfactory proof of value and usefulness is
provided that substantiates the usefulness and value of the ingredient and
supports the claims made. When a soil amending ingredient is allowed to be
listed or guaranteed, it must be determinable by laboratory methods and is
subject to inspection and official sample analysis.
(d) The Director shall require the listing on the label of all
substances included as other ingredients in each soil amendment product.
(e) The Director may allow labeling by volume rather than by weight.
(f) If the Director finds that a registered soil amendment product
contains plant nutrient ingredients, regardless of amount, he or she may
require the label to so state.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/25) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-25)
Sec. 25.
Cancellation, suspension, or refusal of registration.
(a) The Director may refuse to register a soil amendment or cancel or
suspend a soil amendment registration if:
(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/30) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-30)
Sec. 30.
Inspection, sampling analysis.
(a) The Director shall inspect, sample, and make analyses or test soil
amendments distributed within this State at any time and place, and to the
extent deemed necessary, to determine that soil amendment products
comply with the requirements of this Act or its rules.
(b) The Director may enter upon public or private premises during
regular business hours in order to have access to soil amendments subject to
this Act as well as records relating to their distribution.
(c) The methods of analysis and sampling shall be those adopted by the
Director from sources such as the Association of Official Analytical
Chemists (AOAC) or other comparable sources deemed appropriate by and
acceptable to the Director.
(d) The Director may, by rule, establish inspection procedures and fees
not to exceed 0.10 cents per pound for soil amendment products distributed
in this State.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/35) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-35)
Sec. 35.
Misbranding or adulteration.
(a) A soil amendment is misbranded if:
(b) A soil amendment that contains any deleterious or harmful agent in
amounts sufficient to render it injurious to man, animals, aquatic life,
or beneficial plants when used in accordance with label directions shall
be deemed adulterated.
(c) A soil amendment containing weed seed or unwanted crop seed shall be
deemed adulterated.
(d) A soil amendment that has a composition
different from that claimed on its label shall be deemed adulterated.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/40) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-40)
Sec. 40.
Stop sale; use or removal order.
(a) Whenever the Director has reason to believe a soil amendment is
being distributed in violation of this Act or its rules, he or she may
issue and serve a written order to stop sale, stop use, or regulate removal
upon an owner, operator, manager, or agent in charge of the soil amendment.
(b) The Director shall provide the registrant, if different from the
person served under subsection (a), with a copy of any order when corrective
action appears to be the responsibility of the registrant.
(c) If an owner, operator, manager, or agent is not available for service
of an order upon him or her, the Director shall attach the order to the soil
amendment product and notify the registrant.
(d) The Director shall remove or vacate an order by written notice when
the violated provisions of this Act or its rules have been complied with,
the conditions specified have been met, or the violation has been otherwise
disposed of by either administrative or judicial action.
(e) When the Director has reason to believe that a soil amendment being
distributed in this State may be injurious to plants, animals, or man when
used in accordance with label directions, he or she may issue an order to
remove the soil amendment from the State and establish requirements to
effect the expeditious removal of the soil amendment without adverse
effects to man or the environment.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/45) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-45)
Sec. 45.
Rules.
(a) The Director shall, after due notice and opportunity for public
hearing according to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, adopt any
rules necessary to administer, implement, and enforce this Act, including
but not limited to, regulations for: (i) exempt material; (ii) inspection;
(iii) labeling; (iv) sampling; (v) records; (vi) analytical methods; (vii)
form, minimum percentages, and investigational allowance and penalties of
either a soil amendment ingredient or soil amendment; (viii) misbranding;
(ix) adulteration; and (x) monetary penalties not otherwise set forth in
this Act.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/50) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-50)
Sec. 50.
Hearing; notice; injunction.
(a) The Department, over the signature of the Director, is authorized to
issue subpoenas and bring before the Department any person or persons in
this State to take testimony orally, by deposition, or by exhibit, in the
same manner prescribed by law in judicial proceedings and civil cases in
the circuit courts of this State. The Director is authorized to issue
subpoenas duces tecum for records relating to a soil amendment
distributor's or registrant's business.
(b) The Department, over the signature of the Director, may apply to any
court for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent
injunction restraining any person from violating or continuing to violate
any provision of this Act or its rules. An injunction issued under this
Section shall be issued without bond.
(c) When an administrative hearing is held, the hearing officer, upon
determination of a violation of this Act, shall levy and the Department
shall collect administrative penalties on a per-occurrence basis as follows:
(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/55) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-55)
Sec. 55.
Violations and prosecutions.
(a) Every person who individually or through an agent or employee
violates any provision of this Act or its rules is guilty of a business
offense and shall be fined not less than $1,000 plus all costs for each
violation. If the Director finds that a person has violated any provision
of this Act, the Director may institute a proceeding in the circuit court
of the county in which the violation occurred by filing with the State's
Attorney of that county any evidence deemed necessary for prosecution under
this Act. No proceeding under this subsection shall be instituted, however,
without the defendant first having been given the opportunity to appear
before the Director to introduce evidence on his or her behalf at a private
hearing. After the private hearing, or if the defendant or his or her agent
or attorney fails or refuses to appear, the Director shall proceed to
institute an action under this subsection if he or she is of the
opinion that the evidence warrants prosecution.
(b) The State's Attorney of the county in which the violation occurred or
the Attorney General, as the case may be, shall immediately institute
proceedings against any person charged with a violation if, in the
judgment of the State's Attorney or Attorney General, the evidence submitted
warrants that action. After judgment by the court in any case arising under
this Act, the Director shall, in his or her discretion, publish information
pertinent to the judgment issued by the court in any media he or she may
designate.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/60) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-60)
Sec. 60.
Administrative Review Law.
All final administrative decisions
under this Act are subject to judicial review under the Administrative
Review Law and its rules.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/65) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-65)
Sec. 65.
Severability.
The provisions of this Act are severable under
Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)

(505 ILCS 120/100) (from Ch. 5, par. 2801-100)
Sec. 100.
This Act takes effect upon becoming law.

(Source: P.A. 87-394.)