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Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez announced that Sonoma County – along with the District Attorney's Offices of San Diego, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, and San Bernardino -- reached a settlement with Tractor Supply West, resolving allegations that the company violated California's price accuracy laws, pesticide regulations, and greenwashing laws. As part of the settlement, Tractor Supply West agreed to pay $5.1 million in civil penalties, restitution, and costs.
The DAs alleged that Tractor Supply West engaged in a variety of illegal practices, including charging customers prices that are higher than their lowest advertised or posted price, selling pesticides without proper licenses, and selling products as “biodegradable,” even though they didn't meet the state's standards for making biodegradability claims.
Because products don't generally biodegrade when they are disposed of and end up in landfills, “biodegradability” claims are generally prohibited in California, unless they fall within one of the narrow exceptions permitted by law.
In announcing the settlement, Rodriguez said, “Businesses in California that fail to comply with all laws and regulations that have been enacted to protect consumers and the environment, cause injury to our citizens and our environment and also unfairly compete with businesses that incur the costs to comply with these laws.”
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