2019 Tennessee Code
Title 43 - Agriculture and Horticulture
Chapter 8 - Pesticides
Part 1 - General Provisions
§ 43-8-115. Agreements with certain municipal or county governments to implement the enforcement provisions of this chapter.
(a) Notwithstanding this section, § 43-8-114, § 62-21-118(b), § 62-21-129 or any other law to the contrary, the commissioner shall enter into an agreement with any municipal and/or county government, within any county having a population in excess of two hundred fifty thousand (250,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census, that requests authority to implement the enforcement provisions of this chapter, its equivalent or any part thereof, in its respective area of jurisdiction; provided, that each of the following conditions are met:
(1) The local government program standards are not less stringent than those of state law and regulations;
(2) The local government will adequately implement and enforce the program in the respective area of jurisdiction; and
(3) Upon execution of the agreement, the local government will be the sole entity responsible for implementation and enforcement of the local government program standards adopted.
(b) As used in subsection (a), “respective area of jurisdiction” means:
(1) In the case of a municipal government that enters into an agreement pursuant to subsection (a), the area lying within the corporate boundaries of the municipality; and
(2) In the case of a county government that enters into an agreement pursuant to subsection (a), the area lying within the boundaries of the county excluding that portion located within the corporate boundaries of a municipal government that has entered, or that subsequently enters, into an agreement pursuant to subsection (a).
(c) The commissioner shall retain the right to exercise oversight and evaluation of performance of local government and may terminate the agreement if, after an administrative hearing pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, it is found that the local program does not meet the state standards.
(d) Local governments that enter into an agreement pursuant to subsection (a) have the authority through their local legislative bodies to enact fees to provide for the administrative, regulatory and enforcement costs of the program.
