47-26-909 - Powers and duties of the commissioner. - Tennessee Statutes

47-26-909. Powers and duties of the commissioner.

The commissioner shall:

     (1)  Maintain traceability of the state standards to the national standards in the possession of the National Institute of Standards and Technology;

     (2)  Enforce the provisions of this part;

     (3)  Issue reasonable regulations for the enforcement of this part, which regulations shall have the force and effect of law;

     (4)  Establish labeling requirements, establish standards of weight, measure, or count, and reasonable standards of fill for any packaged commodity; and may establish requirements for open dating information and requirements for the presentation of cost-per-unit information;

     (5)  Grant any exemptions from the provisions of this part or any regulations promulgated pursuant thereto when appropriate to the maintenance of good commercial practices within the state;

     (6)  Conduct investigations to ensure compliance with this part;

     (7)  Delegate to appropriate personnel any of these responsibilities for the proper administration of this office;

     (8)  Test annually the standards of weight and measure used by any city or county weights and measures jurisdiction within the state, and approve the same when found to be correct;

     (9)  Inspect and test, as often as the commissioner deems necessary, weights and measures kept, offered, or exposed for sale;

     (10)  Inspect and test, as often as the commissioner deems necessary, to ascertain if they are correct, weights and measures commercially used:

          (A)  In determining the weight, measure, or count of commodities or things sold, or offered or exposed for sale, on the basis of weight, measure, or count; or

          (B)  In computing the basic charge or payment for services rendered on the basis of weight, measure, or count;

     (11)  Test, from time to time, weights and measures used in checking the receipt or disbursement of supplies in institutions, for the maintenance of which funds are appropriated by the general assembly;

     (12)  Approve for use, and may mark, such weights and measures as are found to be correct, and shall reject and mark as rejected such weights and measures as are found to be incorrect. Weights and measures that have been rejected may be seized if not corrected within the time specified or if used or disposed of in a manner not specifically authorized. The commissioner may condemn and may seize the weights and measures found to be incorrect that are not capable of being made correct;

          (A)  Weights and measures that have been rejected under the authority of the commissioner or of a sealer shall remain subject to the control of the rejecting authority until such time suitable repair or disposition thereof has been made as required by this section;

          (B)  The owners of such rejected weights and measures shall cause the same to be made correct within the time frame allowed by the rejecting authority; or in lieu of this, may dispose of the same, but only in such manner as is specifically authorized by the rejecting authority;

          (C)  Weights and measures that have been rejected may only be used again commercially by permission of the rejecting authority until repairs have been completed;

          (D)  The purpose of this subdivision (12) is to authorize the commissioner to render inoperable such weights and measures as are found to be incorrect, until such time suitable repair or disposition thereof has been made. Nothing in this part shall be construed to authorize the commissioner or the commissioner's representative to confiscate and take actual physical possession of a weight and measure found to be incorrect, except as provided for in § 47-26-910(3);

     (13)  Weigh, measure, or inspect packaged commodities kept, offered, or exposed for sale, sold, or in the process of delivery, to determine whether they contain the amounts represented and whether they are kept, offered, or exposed for sale in accordance with this part or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. In carrying out the provisions of this section, the commissioner shall employ recognized sampling procedures such as are designated in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 133. No person shall:

          (A)  Sell or keep, offer, or expose for sale any package or commodity or amount of commodity that has been ordered off sale or marked or tagged as provided in this section, unless and until such package or amount of commodity has been brought into full compliance with legal requirements; or

          (B)  Dispose of any package or amount of commodity that has been ordered off sale or marked or tagged as provided in this section and has not been brought into compliance with legal requirements, in any manner except with the specific approval of the commissioner;

     (14)  Prescribe, by regulation, the appropriate term or unit of weight or measure to be used, whenever the commissioner determines that an existing practice of declaring the quantity of a commodity or setting charges for a service by weight, measure, numerical count, time, or combination thereof, does not facilitate value comparisons by consumers, or offers an opportunity for consumer confusion;

     (15)  Allow reasonable variations from the stated quantity of contents, which shall include those caused by loss or gain of moisture during the course of good distribution practice or by unavoidable deviations in good manufacturing practice only after the commodity has entered intrastate commerce;

     (16)  Provide for the training of weights and measures personnel, and may also establish minimum training and performance requirements which shall then be met by all weights and measures personnel, whether county, city, or state. The commissioner may adopt the training standards of the National Conference on Weights and Measures National Training Program;

     (17)  Investigate complaints made to the commissioner concerning violations of the provisions of this part and pursuant regulations, and shall, upon the commissioner's own initiative, conduct such investigations as the commissioner deems appropriate and advisable to develop information on prevailing procedures in commercial quantity determination and on possible violations of the provisions of this part and to promote the general objective of accuracy in the determination and representation of quantity in commercial transactions;

     (18)  Verify advertised prices, price representations, and point-of-sale systems, as deemed necessary, to determine the accuracy of prices and computations and the correct use of the equipment, and if such system utilizes scanning or coding means in lieu of manual entry, the accuracy of prices printed or recalled from a database;

     (19)  Require a fee for tolerance testing, calibration, and certifying any standards and testing equipment as performed by the department of agriculture that is used in the performance of service and testing functions with respect to weighing and measuring devices pursuant to the requirements of this chapter and subject to the following standards and schedules:

          (A)  The following fees apply to all test weights which are tolerance tested in determining if the value is within an acceptable range and certified. If the weight error exceeds the applicable tolerance, adjustment shall be required. Weights which are rejected or condemned, shall be assessed a fee for the test performed:  

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          (B)  The following fees apply to all weights that are calibrated to determine an actual value. Calibration means determining actual mass and apparent mass values. Tolerance testing fees shall be assessed on weights that can only be adjusted to a lower tolerance or are rejected for any reason:  

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          (C)  The following fees apply to volumetric flasks, graduates, or test measures:  

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          (D)  The following fees apply to pressurized provers:  

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          (E)  The following fees apply to tape measures and rigid rules:  

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          (F)  The following fees apply to liquid-in-glass thermometers:  

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          (G)  Any special tests or weight cleaning shall be billed at the rate of $50.00 per hour prorated to the nearest quarter of an hour, with a minimum of $25.00.

          (H)  The department may refuse to accept for testing any weight or measure the department deems unsuited for its intended use; and

     (20)  Require a fee for commercial weighing and measuring equipment pursuant to the requirements of this part and subject to the following schedule excluding where city or county weights and measures jurisdictions perform the service and testing functions with respect to the specific weighing and measuring equipment:

          (A)  Retail measuring equipment or pumps that dispense one product per nozzle delivering kerosene or motor fuel to individual users or vehicles: five dollars ($5.00) per nozzle;

          (B)  Retail measuring equipment or pumps that dispense multiple products per nozzle delivering kerosene or motor fuel to individual users or vehicles: fifteen dollars ($15.00) per nozzle;

          (C)  Liquid measuring equipment (or bulk meter) not defined in subdivisions (20)(A) or (B): eighty-five dollars ($85.00) providing for an annual inspection with prompt retests when minor maintenance allows for compliance;

          (D)  Liquid propane gas meter: eighty-five dollars ($85.00) providing for an annual inspection with prompt retests when minor maintenance allows for compliance;

          (E)  Scale (capacity less than 2501 pounds): five dollars ($5.00);

          (F)  Scale (capacity larger than 2500 pounds): seventy-five dollars ($75.00).

[Acts 1997, ch. 311, § 1; 2002, ch. 640, §§ 19, 20.]