Relating to hemp, including the regulation of hemp, providing for enforcement and the confiscation and destruction or disposal of certain property, providing for fees, making appropriations, including penalties, and providing implementation and effective date provisions

The 2018 Farm Bill authorizes states to assume primary regulatory authority over the production of hemp by submitting a state plan (plan) for approval by the United States department of agriculture (USDA) which has days to approve, disapprove, or amend the plan. The 2018 Farm Bill provides that state regulations may be more but not less stringent than the federal regulations. HEMP LICENSES AND FEES. DALS is required to accept and approve or disapprove applications for the issuance of a hemp license (license) on a one-year basis subject to renewal. A license covers a crop site which cannot exceed contiguous acres. DALS may issue any number of licenses to a single applicant. However, a person is prohibited from holding more than crop sites under all current licenses issued to the person. DALS must assess and collect hemp fees (fees) for the issuance of a license and for an annual fall inspection until June 30, 2022. After that date, fees are to be established by rule based on the amount required to administer and enforce the provisions of the bill. Moneys collected from the fees are to be deposited into a hemp fund (fund) which are appropriated to DALS for purposes of administering and enforcing these provisions. REGULATIONS. DALS may adopt rules regulating the production, handling, transporting, or marketing of hemp which was produced on a licensee’s crop site. In addition, such hemp is not considered to be a controlled substance. Generally, production, possession, or distribution of a controlled substance is a criminal offense. The bill provides that new Code chapter 204 does not prohibit a person from producing, handling, transporting, marketing, or processing a hemp product. DALS is required to conduct an annual inspection of a licensee’s crop site and obtain a sample for official testing by a laboratory designated by DALS. In addition to an annual inspection, DALS may enter onto a crop site during reasonable hours to determine whether a licensee is acting in compliance with the bill’s requirements and may obtain a sample of the crop for official testing. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES. DALS may order the disposal of a crop produced on a licensee’s crop site if official test results indicate that a crop does not qualify as hemp. The disposal, including the crop’s destruction, must be at the licensee’s expense. DALS may also suspend or revoke a license if the licensee fails to comply with a requirement of the bill. A person who violates a provision of the bill is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $2,500. DALS or the attorney general may apply to district court to obtain an injunction to enforce the bill’s provisions. DALS may establish a program to correct certain violations committed negligently by a licensee including producing a crop having a maximum THC concentration that does not exceed percent. CONTINGENT IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE. Generally, the bill’s provisions are to be implemented when DALS certifies USDA has approved DALS’ state plan. APPROPRIATIONS. The bill appropriates moneys from the general fund of the state to DALS for deposit in the fund to take administrative actions, including the purchase of equipment, as deemed necessary or desirable by the department to carry out the bill’s provisions, including by preparing for the implementation of the bill. EFFECTIVE DATES. The bill takes effect upon enactment except for those provisions which make enactment contingent upon implementation of Code chapter 204 and those appropriating moneys to the fund which take effect on July 1, 2019.