Chapter 953 | Rendering Plants

Section 953.21 | Rendering plant definitions.

• Effective: July 17, 2009
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 128th General Assembly

As used in this chapter:

(A) "Animal" means any animal, other than a human being, and includes domestic fowl, wild birds, fish, and reptiles, living or dead.

(B) "Licensee" means any person who is licensed in accordance with this chapter.

(C) "Loading platform" means any place operated by a licensee for loading dead animals, or parts thereof, onto trucks to take them to a rendering plant or composting facility.

(D) "Person" means any natural person, partnership, association, or corporation.

(E) "Raw rendering material" means any body, part of a body, or product of a body of any dead animal that is unwholesome, condemned, inedible, or otherwise unfit for human consumption.

(F) "Rendering plant" means any premises where raw rendering materials are converted into fats, oils, feeds, fertilizer, and other products.

(G) "Composting facility" means any premises, including structures and equipment, operating in accordance with rules adopted under section 3734.02 of the Revised Code and used for the controlled decomposition of organic solid material, including dead animals, that stabilizes the organic fraction of the material.

(H) "Conveyance" means a vehicle, trailer, or compartment.

Section 953.22 | Licensing of rendering operations.

• Effective: January 1, 2016
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 64 - 131st General Assembly

(A) No person shall engage in the business of disposing of, picking up, rendering, or collecting raw rendering material or transporting the material to a composting facility without a license to do so from the department of agriculture.

(B) This chapter does not apply to any of the following:

(1) A farmer who slaughters the farmer's own animals, raised by the farmer on the farmer's own farm, processes the farmer's own meat therefrom, and disposes of the farmer's raw rendering material only by delivery to a person licensed under section 953.23 of the Revised Code;

(2) A person whose only connection with raw rendering material is curing hides and skins;

(3) A person whose only connection with raw rendering material is operating a pet cemetery;

(4) A person who is conducting composting, as defined in section 939.01 of the Revised Code, in accordance with section 939.04 of the Revised Code;

(5) A person whose only connection with raw rendering material is trapping wild animals in accordance with a nuisance wild animal permit issued by the chief of the division of wildlife in the department of natural resources under rules adopted pursuant to section 1531.08 of the Revised Code;

(6) A county dog warden or animal control officer who transports raw rendering material only for disposal purposes.

Section 953.23 | Application for license for rendering operations.

• Effective: October 17, 2011
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 229 - 129th General Assembly

(A) Application for a license shall be made to the department of agriculture on a form prescribed by the department.

(B) Each application shall include all of the following:

(1) The name and address of the applicant;

(2) The applicant's proposed place of business;

(3) A detailed statement of the method that the applicant intends to use to dispose of, pick up, render, or collect raw rendering material or to transport it to a composting facility;

(4) Such other relevant information as the department may require.

(C) Each applicant shall submit the annual license fee with the application.

(1) The license fee for a person applying for an annual license to pick up or collect raw rendering material and dispose of the material to a licensee or in accordance with divisions (B) and (C) of section 953.26 of the Revised Code, or to transport raw rendering material to a composting facility, is twenty-five dollars per conveyance that is used to pick up or collect and dispose of or to transport raw rendering material. A late fee of ten dollars per conveyance shall be charged for each application that is received after the thirtieth day of November each year.

(2) The license fee for a person applying for an annual license to pick up or collect raw rendering material and to operate one or more rendering plants is three hundred dollars for each such plant. A late fee of one hundred dollars shall be charged for each application that is received after the thirtieth day of November each year.

(D) On receipt of an application and fee, under this section, the department shall inspect the means of conveyance and premises that the applicant proposes to use to dispose of, collect, pick up, or render raw rendering material or to transport it to a composting facility for profit.

(E) If the department finds that the applicant's means of conveyance, premises, and operation meet the requirements of this chapter and rules adopted thereunder, the department shall issue a license to the applicant to dispose of, pick up, render, or collect for profit raw rendering material or to transport it to a composting facility for profit.

(F) Each license issued under this section shall expire on the thirty-first day of December of each year. Each person licensed under this section shall make application for renewal of the person's license no later than the thirtieth day of November of each year.

(G) Application for renewal shall be in accordance with the requirements of this section for initial application for a license and the standard renewal procedure of sections 4745.01 to 4745.03 of the Revised Code.

(H) All money collected under this section shall be credited to the animal and consumer protection laboratory fund created in section 901.43 of the Revised Code.

Section 953.24 | Rendering plant sanitation.

• Effective: October 22, 1969
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 260 - 108th General Assembly

(A) Each rendering plant building shall:

(1) Be provided with floors constructed of concrete or some other nonabsorbent materials;

(2) Be maintained in a good state of repair;

(3) Have an adequate water supply, and be supplied with sufficient steam and steam hose or other equipment approved by the department of agriculture to clean the floors of the plant and its trucks;

(4) Have adequate drainage as determined by the department.

(B) All parts of the building and all equipment shall be kept in a sanitary condition and shall be cleaned at least once each day with steam or other methods approved by the department.

Section 953.25 | Disposal or rendering of raw rendering material requirements.

• Effective: August 10, 1994
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 73 - 120th General Assembly

(A) In the disposal or rendering of raw rendering material, all of the following requirements shall be met:

(1) All raw rendering material shall be processed or disposed of within forty-eight hours after its arrival at the rendering plant;

(2) Each cooking vat or tank shall be airtight, except for proper escapes for steam;

(3) Steam shall be disposed of so as to cause no nuisance;

(4) All skinning and dismembering of an animal body or part thereof shall be done within a building.

(B) Raw rendering material that is not disposed of to a licensee or as provided in division (B), (C), or (D) of section 953.26 of the Revised Code shall be buried at a depth of at least four feet.

Section 953.26 | Sale and use of raw rendering material.

• Effective: August 10, 1994
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 73 - 120th General Assembly

(A) No raw rendering material shall be fed to an avian, equine, ovine, bovine, or porcine animal.

(B) Except as provided in division (C) or (D) of this section, no raw rendering material shall be sold or offered for sale to a person who is not licensed under section 953.23 of the Revised Code unless the material is in a labeled wrapper or is in some other way identified or denatured in a manner approved by the department of agriculture. The label or identification shall state plainly in legible letters at least two inches high that the product is inedible and is not sold or intended for human consumption.

(C) Raw rendering material may be sold or otherwise transferred to a person who operates a mink ranch, dog kennel, zoo, captive wildlife farm, or pet food manufacturing plant and who has written permission from the department to handle raw rendering material.

(D) Raw rendering material may be sold or otherwise transferred to a person who operates a composting facility in accordance with rules adopted by the director of environmental protection under section 3734.02 of the Revised Code.

Section 953.27 | Regulations to administer rendering requirements.

• Effective: October 22, 1969
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 260 - 108th General Assembly

(A) The director of agriculture may promulgate, adopt, and enforce regulations to carry out this chapter.

(B) No person shall fail to comply with the regulations adopted by the department of agriculture under division (A) of this section.

Section 953.28 | Inspection of rendering operations.

• Effective: October 22, 1969
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 260 - 108th General Assembly

(A) Any authorized representative of the director of agriculture who has good reason to suspect that any premises or means of conveyance contains raw rendering material shall have free access to those premises or that means of conveyance at any reasonable time.

(B) The department of agriculture shall inspect each place or means of conveyance licensed under section 953.23 of the Revised Code at least once each year and may inspect it as often as the department finds necessary. The department shall furnish a report of the findings of each inspection to the licensee.

Section 953.29 | Conveying raw rendering material.

• Effective: October 22, 1969
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 260 - 108th General Assembly

(A) No raw rendering material shall be conveyed unless the means of conveyance is so constructed that no drippings or seepings can escape from such means of conveyance and the raw rendering material is covered.

(B) Each means of conveyance shall be thoroughly cleaned with steam, or such other method approved by the department of agriculture, at least once each day of its use for the conveyance of raw rendering material.

Section 953.30 | Loading platform requirements.

• Effective: October 22, 1969
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 260 - 108th General Assembly

(A) Each loading platform shall:

(1) Be provided with floors constructed of concrete or some other nonabsorbent material;

(2) Have an adequate supply of water and steam or other facilities to clean floors or means of conveyance;

(3) Have adequate drainage as determined by the department.

(B) Each loading platform, and all equipment used therewith, shall at all times be kept in a reasonably sanitary condition.

Section 953.31 | Suspension, revocation, or refusal of license.

• Effective: October 22, 1969
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 260 - 108th General Assembly

The department of agriculture may suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue a license issued under this chapter for any violation under this chapter, subject to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

Section 953.99 | Penalty.

• Effective: June 20, 1994
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 134 - 120th General Assembly

Whoever violates sections 953.21 to 953.31 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree; on each subsequent violation, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.