SB 1409: Industrial hemp.

(1)Existing law governs the growth of industrial hemp and imposes specified procedures and requirements on a person who grows industrial hemp, not including an established agricultural research institution, as defined. Existing law defines industrial hemp to be the same as that term is defined in the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act, which defines that term as a fiber or oilseed crop, or both, that is limited to types of the plant Cannabis sativa L. with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content that does not exceed a specified THC limit, the plants seeds or resin, and specified substances and mixtures of the plant or its seeds or resin. Existing law requires that industrial hemp only be grown if it is on the list of approved hemp seed cultivars, which includes industrial hemp seed cultivars certified on or before January 1, 2013, by specific organizations, except as specified. Existing law requires industrial hemp to be grown only as a densely planted fiber or oilseed crop, or both. Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), added by Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, requires this crop to be grown in minimum acreages of ¹/₁₀ of an acre, except as specified. Existing law prohibits the ornamental and clandestine cultivation of industrial hemp plants, and, except under specified circumstances, pruning and tending of individual industrial hemp plants and culling of industrial hemp. Existing law requires sampling and laboratory testing of industrial hemp, as provided, to determine compliance with THC limits and destruction of industrial hemp that exceeds those limits. Existing law establishes timeframes for sampling of industrial hemp and, if applicable, destruction of industrial hemp that exceeds THC limits.

Existing law requires a grower of industrial hemp for commercial purposes and a seed breeder, as defined, to register with the county agricultural commissioner and to pay a registration or renewal fee, as specified. Existing law exempts established agricultural institutions from these registration requirements. Existing law requires that registration fees be deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and continuously appropriated for use in the administration and enforcement of these provisions. Existing law requires that an application for registration include information about the approved seed cultivar to be grown and whether the seed cultivar will be grown for its grain or fiber, or as a dual purpose crop, or, in the case of a seed breeder, for seed production. Under existing law, a registration issued pursuant to these provisions is valid for 2 years.

This bill would delete the requirement that industrial hemp seed cultivars be certified on or before January 1, 2013, in order to be included on the list of approved hemp seed cultivars. The bill would authorize industrial hemp to be produced by clonal propagation, as provided, of industrial hemp that is on the list of approved seed cultivars. The bill would also delete the prohibitions on ornamental cultivation of industrial hemp plants, pruning and tending of individual industrial hemp plants, and culling of industrial hemp. By removing limitations on the types of industrial hemp seed cultivars that may be cultivated, the means by which industrial hemp may be produced, and the purposes for which industrial hemp may be cultivated, with payment of a registration or renewal fee, the bill would establish new sources of revenue for a continuously appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would authorize a county agricultural commissioner or a county, as appropriate, to retain the amount of a registration or renewal fee necessary to reimburse direct costs incurred by the commissioner in the collection of the fee. The bill would also authorize the board of supervisors of a county to establish a registration or renewal fee to cover other costs of the county agricultural commissioner and the county of implementing, administering, and enforcing these provisions, as provided.

Under the bill, industrial hemp would no longer be defined in the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act as a fiber or oilseed crop. The bill would delete the requirement that industrial hemp be grown as a densely planted fiber or oilseed crop. By modifying the characterization of a crop for which AUMA sets a minimum acreage, the bill would amend AUMA. The bill would also delete the requirement that an application for registration include information about whether a seed cultivar is being grown for its grain or fiber, or as a dual purpose crop. However, the bill would require that an application include the seed cultivars state or county of origin. Under the bill, a registration issued pursuant to these provisions would be valid for one year instead of 2 years. The bill would require a sample of industrial hemp collected for THC testing to be taken with the grower or seed breeder present, and would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish, by regulation, procedures for sampling of industrial hemp, as provided. The bill would require a laboratory test report on the sample to be issued by a department-approved laboratory, and would require the sample to be tested using a department-approved testing method. The bill would require THC content to be measured on a dry-weight basis for purposes of determining whether a sample exceeds THC limits. The bill would establish new timeframes for sampling of industrial hemp and, if applicable, destruction of industrial hemp that exceeds THC limits.

The bill would require established agricultural research institutions, before cultivating industrial hemp, to provide the Global Positioning System coordinates of the planned cultivation site to the county agricultural commissioner of the county in which the site is located.

(2)Existing federal law, the Agricultural Act of 2014, authorizes an institution of higher education, as defined, or a state department of agriculture, as defined, to grow or cultivate industrial hemp under an agricultural pilot program, as defined, under certain conditions, including the condition that a state department of agriculture is authorized to promulgate regulations to carry out the pilot program in accordance with specified purposes.

This bill would also authorize the Department of Food and Agriculture, as part of the industrial hemp registration program, to establish and carry out, by regulation, an agricultural pilot program pursuant to the federal Agricultural Act of 2014 in accordance with those specified purposes.

(3)The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, an initiative measure, authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a ²/₃ vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature, except as provided.

This bill would declare that its provisions further specified purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.