Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
General. General criteria for Level 2 commercial manure
haulers are as follows:
(1) A person shall
obtain certification as a commercial manure hauler Level 2 prior to
land-applying manure.
(2) Manure
land-applied by a Level 2 certified commercial manure hauler shall only be
applied under the supervision of a Level 1 or Level 2 certified commercial
manure broker or a Level 3 certified commercial manure hauler acting as a
contract agent for an agricultural operator or commercial manure
broker.
(3) When acting as a
contract agent for an agricultural operator required by section 5 of the act
(3 P.
S. §
2010.5) to use a certified
commercial manure hauler or certified commercial manure broker, shall land
apply the manure in accordance with and based upon an approved nutrient
management plan or a nutrient balance sheet developed by a certified commercial
nutrient management specialist or a Level 2 certified commercial manure
broker.
(4) The Level 2 commercial
manure hauler shall maintain the records of manure transported or land-applied
as required by this chapter and the recordkeeping requirements of the nutrient
management regulations in 25 Pa. Code §
§83.341-83.344 (relating to recordkeeping
and informational requirements).
(b)
Application for Level 2
commercial manure hauler certification. To obtain a Level 2 commercial
manure hauler certification, a person shall request and review the Level 2
certification course training manual and take and pass the Level 2
certification written examination. Submission of the required examination for
certification as a Level 2 commercial manure hauler shall act as the
application for a Level 2 commercial manure hauler certificate. Upon receiving
and scoring the examination, the Department will send written notice to the
applicant. The written notice will inform the applicant whether he passed or
failed the examination. If the applicant has passed the examination, the
written notice will include a temporary certificate. The temporary certificate
will be valid for 30 days from the date of receipt. The holder of the temporary
certificate shall forward the appropriate certification fee to the Department
within that 30-day time period. Upon receipt of the appropriate fee, the
Department will mail the final certification to the holder of the temporary
certificate.
(c)
Conditional certification. This provision shall be utilized
only under circumstances established in this subsection.
(1)
Qualifying conditions.
Conditional certification may be utilized to certify a person as a Level 2
commercial manure hauler to cover an unforeseeable circumstance or event which
leaves the owner of the commercial manure hauler or commercial manure broker
business without personnel to haul and apply manure during critical times, or
when imminent environmental threat or harm exists.
(i) An unforeseeable circumstance or event
includes:
(A) Failure of a certified employee
to report to work because of illness.
(B) The resignation without notice of a
certified employee.
(C) The
unexplained absence of a certified employee.
(ii) An imminent environmental threat or harm
exists when circumstances may cause a manure storage area to overflow or breach
without prior warning. Circumstances include:
(A) A weather occurrence, such as
unexpectedly high amounts of rain or a natural disaster such as a
hurricane.
(B) Damage to the manure
storage.
(2)
General procedure for conditional certification. Applicants
for conditional certification shall comply with the following procedures:
(i)
Notification. Prior to
allowing the employee to haul or land-apply manure, the owner of the commercial
manure hauling or brokering business who wishes to have an employee
conditionally certified as a Level 2 commercial manure hauler shall be required
to contact the Department and notify the Department of the necessity of the
conditional certification. The notification must set forth the qualifying
condition necessitating conditional certification.
(ii)
Limitation on conditional
approvals. The Department will have the right to limit the number of
employees for which it will grant a conditional certification and the number of
times it will grant a conditional certification to a commercial manure hauler
or brokering business. Prior to denying a request, the Department will notify a
commercial manure hauler or broker that a future limitation will be imposed.
Any oral notification will be followed by a written notification.
(iii)
Necessity of conditional
certification. The owner of the commercial manure hauling or brokering
business shall set forth a reasonable and plausible explanation of why the
triggering circumstance or event was unforeseeable or delineate the
environmental harm or threat triggering the need for conditional certification.
The owner shall provide specific information regarding the reason conditional
certification is necessary.
(3)
Conditions and limitations of
approval. When conditional certification is utilized, the following
apply:
(i) The Department will provide on-line
and by means of fax the Level 2 workbook and a work sheet covering the
information necessary to conditionally certify a Level 2 commercial manure
hauler.
(ii) The employee who
wishes to become conditionally certified shall review the Level 2 workbook and
complete the work sheet.
(iii) The
employee and the employer shall sign the work sheet and fax the verified and
completed work sheet to the Department.
(iv) The work sheet shall be completed,
signed and faxed or scanned and e-mailed to the Department prior to the
conditionally certified person transporting or land applying manure.
(v) The employer shall mail the original copy
of the completed and signed work sheet to the Department within the 5 business
days for which the employee's conditional certification is valid.
(vi) The conditionally certified employee
shall take and pass the Level 2 commercial manure hauler test within 5 business
days of the employer notifying the Department of the conditional
certification.
(vii) Conditional
certification will be valid for 5 business days from the date of notification.
The conditionally certified employee may not continue to operate under the
conditional certification after the 5-day period has run and may not be granted
any extension.
(viii) Conditional
certification will be granted to a person only one time.
(ix) The owner of the commercial manure
hauling or brokering business shall agree to a date and location where the
conditionally certified employee will take the Level 2 commercial manure hauler
examination. The date shall be within 5 business days of the notification of
the conditional certification.
(4)
Land application
conditions. When the Department grants conditional certification, the
conditionally-certified employee shall land apply manure under the supervision
of a Level 3 certified commercial manure hauler or a Level 1 or 2 certified
commercial manure broker. A conditionally certified employee may not land apply
manure unless the conditions are met.
(d)
Denial of certification
. If an applicant for a Level 2 commercial manure hauler certification is
denied, the Department will notify the applicant, in writing and specifically
set forth the reasons for the denial. When a Level 2 commercial manure hauler
applicant is denied, the applicant shall be allowed to take the Level 2
commercial manure hauler written examination again and submit it as set forth
in subsection (b), to the Department. The applicant may not land-apply manure
until certified as a Level 2 commercial manure hauler.
This section cited in 7 Pa. Code §
130e.51 (relating to commercial
manure broker and hauler continuing education
requirements).
