Colorado Department of Agriculture
Plant Industry Division
Administration and Enforcement of the Organic Certification Act
8 CCR 1203-9
Section 2.	Certification of Producers and Handlers Under the National Organic Program
2.01.	All certification of organic producers and handlers shall be done by the Department in its capacity as an accredited certifying agent for the United States Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program and in accordance with the provisions of the Organic Food Production Act of 1990, 7 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq. (2018) , incorporated by reference herein, and the National Organic Program Final Rule, 7 C.F.R. Part 205 (2019) , incorporated by reference herein. Please refer to Section 5 for incorporation by reference information.
Section 3.	Fees
3.01.	Each applicant for certification shall be charged an annual, non-refundable certification fee  based on the direct and indirect cost of administering the Program, including but not limited to, the category or categories for which the applicant is seeking certification, the type, size and complexity of the operation, the timing of submission of the application with respect to when an inspection must be conducted and any other factors that affect the cost to perform required certification activities for the applicant. Applicants shall submit payment of this fee with their application for certification. Once certified, all producers and handlers certified under the program shall pay this fee on an annual basis for each subsequent year in which they wish to remain certified by the Department.  
3.02.	The certification fee will be calculated by combining a base fee of $500.00 for the Applicant’s primary scope with scope fees as set forth below. If more than one type of production occurs within a scope, the scope fee is based upon the production which produces the most income.  For operations that include multiple scopes, each additional scope incurs only a $1,000.00 base fee.  For the purposes of this Section 3, “primary scope” means the part of an applicant’s operation that produces the most income. 
 a.	Crop Scope Fees
i.	Dryland Acres
1. 	1 – 1,000 acres: $500.00
2. 	1,001 – 4,000 acres: $1,000.00
3.	4,001 – 7,500 acres: $2,100.00
4.	7,501 – 10,000 acres: $2,600.00
5.	10,001 or more acres:	 $3,100.00
ii.	Greenhouse/Specialty Crop
1.	1 – 12,000 square feet: $500.00
2.	12,001 – 15,000 square feet: $1,000.00
3.	15,001 or more square feet: $2,100.00
iii.	Irrigated Acres
1.	1 – 25 acres: $500.00
2.	26 – 200 acres:	$1,000.00
3.	201 – 1,000 acres: $2,100.00
4.	1,001 – 5,000 acres: $2,600.00
5.	5,001 or more acres: $3,100.00
iv.	Perennial Fruit
1.	1 – 5 acres: $500.00
2.	6 – 15 acres: $1,000.00
3.	16 – 30 acres: $1,500.00
4.	31 – 50 acres: $2,100.00
5.	51 or more acres:  $2,600.00
b. 	Livestock Scope Fees
i.	Cattle – Dairy/Beef
1.	1 – 100 head: $500.00
2.	101 – 300 head: $1,000.00
3.	301 – 1,000 head: $2,600.00
4.	1,001 – 5,000 head: $3,500.00
5.	5,001 or more head: $10,000.00
ii.	Poultry
1.	1 – 1,000 birds:	$500.00
2.	1,001 – 10,000 birds: $1,000.00
3.	10,001 – 25,000 birds: $2,100.00
4.	25,001 – 50,000 birds: $2,600.00
5.	50,001 or more birds: $3,100.00
iii.	Other (sheep, pigs, etc.)
1.	1 – 100 head: $500.00
2.	101 – 300 head:	$1,000.00
3.	301 – 1,000 head: $2,600.00
4.	1,001 – 5,000 head: $3,500.00
5.	5,001 or more head: $10,000.00
c.	Poultry and Livestock Processing Scope Fees
i.	Livestock Processing
1.	1 – 300 head:  $500.00
2.	301 to 500 head: $1,000.00
3. 	501 or more head: $2,100.00
ii.	Poultry Processing Scope Fees
1.	1 – 3,000 birds:	 $500.00
2.	3,001 – 9,000 birds: $1,000.00
3.	9,001 or more head: $2,100.00
d. 	Process Handler Scope Fees
If both single-ingredient and multi-ingredient products are requested for certification, the scope fee is based upon the highest fee of the two product categories.
i.	Multi-Ingredient Finished Products
1.	1 – 5 products: $500.00
2.	6 – 10 products: $1,000.00
3.	11 – 15 products: $1,500.00
4.	16 – 20 products: $2,000.00
5.	21 – 30 products: $2,500.00
6.	31 or more products:	$3,000.00
ii. 	Single-Ingredient Finished Products
1.	1 – 20 products: $500.00
2.	21 – 50 products: $1,000.00
3.	51 – 75 products: $1,500.00
4.	76 – 100 products: $2,000.00
5.	101 – 200 products: $2,500.00
6.	201 or more products: $3,000.00
e.	Wild Crop Scope Fees
i.	Wild Crop Harvesting
1.	1 – 2 sites: $500.00
2.	3 – 5 sites: $1,000.00
3.	6 or more sites: $2,100.00
3.03.	Depending upon the operation(s) that an applicant wishes to certify, an applicant may have more than one additional scope.
3.04.	In addition to the above annual fees, all applicants for and holders of certifications issued by the Department shall be required to pay the costs of any inspections necessary to obtain and maintain certification as follows:
a.	A flat-rate inspection fee of $150.00 per inspection that covers indirect costs of the inspection (e.g., mileage, travel, pre- and post-inspection review); and
b.	On-site inspection time will be charged at a rate of $45.00 per hour. 
3.05.	 	The base application fee of $500.00 is non-refundable. Any additional scope base fee(s) and the primary scope fees are non-refundable once the Colorado Department of Agriculture begins its initial review of the application. In order to obtain a refund, the applicant must inform the Colorado Department of Agriculture in writing that he/she/it no longer wishes to proceed with organic certification and must request a refund of the application fee(s). 
Section 5.  Incorporation by Reference 
5.01	All material incorporated by reference is made a part of these rules.  material incorporated by reference does not include later amendments to the incorporated material.
5.02.	Copies of all incorporated materials are available for public inspection during regular business hours at the Colorado Department of Agriculture, 305 Interlocken Parkway, Broomfield, Colorado 80021.
5.03.	Copies of incorporated materials are also available on-line as follows:
a. 	The Organic Food Production Act of 1990, 7 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq, (2018) is available at: http://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title7/chapter94&edition=prelim.
b. 	The National Organic Program Final Rule, 7 C.F.R. Part 205 (2019) is available at: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=158497554242ed518daf630850c57f63&mc=true&node=pt7.3.205&rgn=div5 .
Section 6 – 8 Reserved
9.14	Adopted June 12, 2019– Effective July 30, 2019
Statutory Authority
The amendments to the rules are adopted pursuant to the Organic Certification Act, § 35-11.5-104, C.R.S.
The purpose of these amendments is to carry out the provisions of the Organic Certification Act by:
1)	Updating the versions of all material incorporated by reference and combining all incorporated by reference language into a new section of the rules;
2)	Updating the address for the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Organic Program;
3)	Removing the cap on fees for providing certification services and including a fee schedule in the Rules;
4)	Increasing the rate for inspection fees; and
5)	Removing the limit on reimbursement rates for mileage.
Factual and Policy Issues
The factual and policy issues encountered when developing these rules include: 
1)	The Rules were last updated in 2011.  In that Time, newer versions of material incorporated by reference have been issued.  Therefore, the Department is updating its Rules to reflect the most recent versions of incorporated material.  In addition, because incorporated material appears in multiple sections of the Rules, the Department is consolidating all incorporation by reference information in a new Section 5. 
2)	The Department has moved its headquarters from Lakewood, Colorado, to Broomfield, Colorado.  The amended language updates the Department’s address. 
3)	The Organic Program fees currently do not cover the cost of providing certification services, and, therefore, the Department must increase base fees and scope fees to cover the cost of providing those services.  Because the Organic Certification Act authorizes the Department to charge for all direct and indirect cost of administering and implementing the Act and because the Act does not require a cap on fees, the Department has revised the language of the Rule to remove the cap and to be more consistent with the language in § 35-11.5-104(1)(a) concerning fees to fund the Program.
4)	The Department has historically calculated certification fees based upon the completion of an on-line form. To provide more certainty to the regulated community with respect to fees charged, the Organic Program has included the information in this form in the Rules.  Because the operations of participants in the Organic Program have increased in size and complexity since 2011, the Program has revised the scope fee categories and values included in the on-line form to reflect those changes. Save for large dairy or beef cattle operations, fees have increased step-wise across the board. The scope fee for beef or dairy cattle operations with over 1,000 head of cattle have increased beyond the step-wise amount because these operations frequently cover multiple geographic areas and have more complex organic system plans than smaller operations, which makes the operations more time-consuming and costly to certify. 
5)	The current rate charged for inspections only covers the actual cost for the inspector’s time based on the current salary and benefits. It does not cover indirect costs associated with the inspection, such as inspector training or specialized or emergency inspections, nor does it allow for inspectors’ future salary and benefit cost increases. By establishing a base inspection fee of $150.00, the Department can defray indirect costs, such as mileage, travel, and pre- and post-inspection review.  An increase in the per hour inspection fee to $45.00 enables the program to charge an amount closer to the actual costs of providing services.  
6)	Because travel is now included in the base inspection fee of $150.00 per inspection, a specific mileage reimbursement provision is not necessary.  This increase will also cover the amount currently charged to the Organic Program for mileage and vehicle use.