Finding No. 1:  The Department’s current policies and procedures regarding employee conflicts of interest do not require employees with inspection or enforcement responsibilities to submit annual statements disclosing all conflicts of interest or otherwise affirming the absence of any such impairments.

Finding No. 2:  The Department did not conduct food establishment inspections as frequently as required by its internal inspection frequency guidelines.

Finding No. 3:  Audit tests disclosed that many fertilizer manufacturers had not timely submitted monthly reports and fees and that the Department had done little to enforce provisions of law and rule designed to encourage timely licensee reporting and fee remittance.  Unassessed and uncollected penalties totaled approximately $173,000.

Finding No. 4:  The Department had not conducted a risk assessment for the programs regulated by the Division of Agricultural Environmental Services, Bureau of Compliance Monitoring.  The Bureau is responsible for regulating approximately 3,000 distributors of feed, seed, and fertilizer products; 15,000 feed, seed, and fertilizer retailers; and 12,000 pesticide dealers and applicators.

The Commissioner's response is included in its entirety at the end of this report as Exhibit A.