2023 New Hampshire Revised Statutes › Title XL - Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Husbandry › Chapter 438 - Standards for Weights and Measures › Section 438:8 - Rulemaking Authority.

438:8 Rulemaking Authority. –
I. The commissioner shall adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, relative to:
(a) Standards of net weight, measure, or count, and reasonable standards of fill for any commodity in package form.
(b) Technical and reporting procedures to be followed and the report and record forms and marks of approval and rejection to be used by inspectors of weights and measures in the discharge of their official duties.
(c) Exemptions from the inspection requirements of RSA 438:14 with respect to weights and measures of such character or size that such inspection would be inappropriate, impracticable, or damaging, to the apparatus in question or from standards listed in RSA 438:8, II and RSA 438:8, III which may cause, in the opinion of the commissioner, disproportionate cost or undue economic hardship to a public solid waste management district, as defined in RSA 53-B, a public facility, as defined in RSA 149-M:4, or transfer station, as defined in RSA 149-M:4.
(d) Compulsory registration of servicemen and service agencies.
(e) Licensing of, and the technical and reporting procedures to be followed by, public weighmasters.
(f) Licensing of weighing and measuring devices used commercially.
(g) Specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for weights and measures of the character of those specified in RSA 438:10, designed to eliminate from use, without prejudice to apparatus that conforms as closely as practicable to the official standards, those:
(1) That are not accurate.
(2) That are not reasonably permanent in their adjustment or will not repeat their indications correctly.
(3) That facilitate the perpetration of fraud.
(h) The establishment and collection of fees for:
(1) [Repealed.]
(2) [Repealed.]
(3) Examinations.
(4) Placed-in-service forms, inspection report forms, and certification stamps.
(i) The imposition of fines and penalties under RSA 438:40.
(j) [Repealed.]
(k) The collection of fees set in departmental rules Agr 1410.02 through 1410.07.
(l) Procedures for investigating complaints about weights and measures generally.
II. The commissioner may also adopt, as part of the rules, the definitions and descriptive regulations published by the National Conference on Weights and Measures and amendments, supplements and revisions to such regulations. Rules under this paragraph need not be adopted in accordance with RSA 541-A, but when adopted, shall be filed with the director of legislative services.
III. The specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for commercial weighing and measuring devices, together with amendments thereto, as recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and published in National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 44 and supplements to Handbook 44, or in any publication revising or superseding Handbook 44, shall be the specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for commercial weighing and measuring devices of the state of New Hampshire, except as specifically modified, amended, or rejected by a rule adopted by the commissioner. For the purpose of this chapter, apparatus shall be deemed to be "correct" when it conforms to all applicable rules adopted as specified in this section. Other apparatus shall be deemed to be "incorrect."
III-a. In the case where solid waste, as defined in RSA 149-M:4, is weighed in a vehicle at a public facility, as defined in RSA 149-M:4, or transfer station, as defined in RSA 149-M:4, and such solid waste weighed is 200 pounds or less per load, paragraphs II and III shall not apply to such weighing devices. For the purposes of this paragraph, such solid waste weighed and collected shall be received only from a person resident in the town or municipality of which that public facility or public transfer station is a part. Such solid waste shall be assessed for 100 percent of the total net weight but such assessment shall not be for less than the minimum amount levied.
IV. The specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for standards used in the testing or calibration of commercial weighing and measuring devices, together with amendments thereto, as recommended by the National Conference on Weights and Measures, and published in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 105 series and supplements to the Handbook 105 series, or in any publication revising or superseding the Handbook 105 series, shall be the specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for standards used in the testing and calibration of commercial weighing and measuring devices of the state of New Hampshire, except as specifically modified, amended, or rejected by a rule adopted by the commissioner, and shall be adopted as part of this chapter and need not be adopted in accordance with RSA 541-A.
V. The operational guides, for use in the field evaluation of commercial weighing and measuring devices, by the bureau of weights and measures and registered servicemen, together with amendments thereto, as recommended by the National Conference on Weights and Measures, and published in the National Conference on Weights and Measures Publication 12, Examination Procedure Outlines for weighing and measuring devices, or in any publication revising or superseding Publication 12, shall be the evaluation procedures used in the field evaluation of weighing and measuring devices used commercially in the state of New Hampshire, except as specifically modified, amended, or rejected by a rule adopted by the commissioner, and shall be adopted as part of this chapter and need not be adopted in accordance with RSA 541-A.
Source.
1985, 72:1. 1989, 324:6, 7. 1991, 10:2. 1994, 100:5, eff. July 10, 1994. 2003, 42:1-4, eff. July 5, 2003. 2008, 286:2, 3, eff. Aug. 26, 2008. 2010, 358:3, eff. Sept. 18, 2010. 2011, 202:5, eff. July 1, 2011. 2012, 238:2, eff. June 18, 2012. 2023, 157:1, eff. Sept. 26, 2023.