Colorado Department of Agriculture
Plant Industry Division
Rules and Regulations Pertaining to the Administration and Enforcement of the Colorado Nursery Act
8 CCR 1203-5
26.5.0	FEES
26-5.1	INSPECTION FEES - ACTUAL COST
A charge of thirty dollars ($30) per hour per inspector for actual inspection time shall be collected to defray the costs of inspections made pursuant to the statute. The minimum charge for each inspection made shall be the charge of one hour of inspection time.
26-5.2	REGISTRATION FEES
The fee for a registration shall be eighty ninety dollars ($80 $90) for each place of business.
26-10.0	Reserved REQUIRED RECORDS
26-10.1	RECORDS REQUIRED
All persons engaged in the business of selling nursery stock in this state shall keep records of all shipments of nursery stock imported from outside this state. These records shall be kept for a minimum of three years. Such records shall include the following information:
date stock was received; name and address of business from which stock was purchased; kind and type of nursery stock (including genus and species names); amount of nursery stock received; and container size, tree caliper or root ball size.
26-11.0	Reserved
26-12.0	Statements of Basis, Specific Statutory Authority and Purpose
The statements of basis and purpose for some rule changes are no longer in the Department files and are presumably in the state archives.
26-12.14	November 19, 2009 – Effective December 30, 2009
Statutory Authority
These amendments to the rules are proposed for adoption by the Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture (“CDA”) pursuant to his authority under the Colorado Nursery Act (the "Act"), § 35-26-111 C.R.S.
Purpose
The purposes of these proposed rule amendments are as follows:
1)	To increase the nursery registration fee from $80 to $90.
2)	To require records be kept of all nursery stock imported into the State of Colorado.
Factual and Policy Basis Issues
The factual and policy issues encountered when developing these rules include:
1) 	The nursery fund balance has been near zero for the past two years. Revenue from registration fees has been flat and has not kept up with the increases in operating expenses such as personal services and fuel costs since the last increase. Although the program is a cash funded program, the revenue generated does not cover the actual costs of the program and therefore the program is subsidized by general funds.
2)	The registration fee is capped in statute at $100 (35-26-106(1) C.R.S.)
3)	35-26-106(1) C.R.S. provides that the Commissioner shall, by rule or regulation, establish a registration fee for each place of business.
4)	The Colorado Nursery and Greenhouse Association supports this increase in the registration fee.
5)	The average number of nursery registrations per year is 1,700. Therefore this increase will generate an increase in revenue of $17,000 for the program.
6)	Registration fees have not been increased since November 1999.
7)	For several decades it has been known that movement of nursery stock is a primary mechanism of movement and introduction of plant pests.  In recent years it has become very apparent that new plant pests are moving into the State on nursery stock. Japanese beetle is an excellent example. It was introduced into a small area in the Denver Metro area and has now become established in two other areas. It is a significant pest in these locations. Emerald Ash Borer is another example of a devastating pest that has moved into many states in the east and mid-west but has not been found in Colorado yet.
8)	In order to document stock that is moving into the state so that pest surveillance activities and inspections can be conducted in the most efficient manner possible, the nursery registrants that are importing stock need to be required to keep records that the Department can review.
9)	35-26-108(1)(b) C.R.S already provides that “At any time during regular business hours, the Commissioner shall have free and unimpeded access upon consent or upon issuing or obtaining an administrative search warrant to all records required to be kept at any reasonable time and may make copies of such records for the purpose of carrying out any provision of this article or any rule made pursuant to this article.”
10)	A Japanese beetle quarantine is being proposed to lessen the pressure of Japanese beetles being transported into the state on nursery stock. These record keeping regulations will assist with enforcement of this quarantine.