SB 292

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law governs the cultivation of industrial hemp in this state and establishes a registration program administered by county agricultural commissioners and the Department of Food and Agriculture for growers of industrial hemp, hemp breeders, and established agricultural research institutions, as defined. Existing law requires specified registrants that grow industrial hemp, before the harvest of each crop, to obtain a laboratory test report indicating the THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) levels of a random sampling of the industrial hemp, and requires that sampling to occur no more than 30 days before harvest. Existing law requires a registrant that grows industrial hemp to destroy the industrial hemp grown upon receipt of a laboratory test report indicating a percentage concentration of THC that exceeds a specified level. Unless otherwise provided, a violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would instead require the sampling to occur within a timeframe determined by the department. The bill would require a registrant to destroy or dispose of the industrial hemp grown upon receipt of a laboratory test result described above. The bill would require that laboratory test reports of hemp include the measurement of uncertainty, as defined, associated with the test results. The bill would also require laboratories to use appropriate, validated methods and procedures for all testing activities, including when estimating the measurement of uncertainty. By adding new requirements for hemp testing, the violation of which could be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the registration application for an established agricultural research institution and hemp breeder to include, among other things, a plan for testing all of the plants cultivated. Existing law requires the registration application for a grower of industrial hemp to include, among other things, the approved cultivar to be grown, including the state or county of origin. This bill would require the testing plan of an established agricultural research institution and hemp breeder to provide for testing of a representative sample, instead of all, of the plants cultivated. The bill would require a grower of industrial hemp to include the country of origin, instead of the county of origin, of the approved cultivar in the registration application. (3) Existing law creates the Industrial Hemp Advisory Board, consisting of 13 members appointed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, to advise the secretary and make recommendations on all matters pertaining to industrial hemp. Under existing law, the membership of the board includes, among other members, 5 members who are registered growers of industrial hemp and one member who is a representative of the Hemp Industries Association or its successor industry association. This bill would change the membership of the board by increasing the number of members who are registered growers of industrial hemp to 6 and eliminating the member who is a representative of the Hemp Industries Association from the board. (4) Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to submit specified registration information to the United States Department of Agriculture. This bill would instead require the department to submit information relating to registrations described in a specified federal regulation to the United States Department of Agriculture. The bill would require each registered established agricultural research institution, registered grower of industrial hemp, and registered hemp breeder to report to the Farm Service Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture specified information regarding its hemp production in the state, including the location, acreage, and license or registration number associated with each location in the state where hemp will be produced. By imposing new reporting requirements, the violation of which could be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) 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. Existing federal law, the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended by the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, requires a state desiring to have primary regulatory authority over the production of industrial hemp in the state to submit to the United States Secretary of Agriculture, through the state department of agriculture, a plan, with specified contents, under which the state monitors and regulates hemp production. Existing state law authorizes the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish and carry out an agricultural pilot program in accordance with the above-described provision of the federal Agricultural Act of 2014. Before cultivating industrial hemp, existing state law requires an established agricultural research institution 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. This bill would make both of these provisions of state law inoperative on the date on which a state plan for California is approved by the United States Secretary of Agriculture, and would repeal these provisions on January 1 of the following year. (6) Existing law establishes certain enforcement procedures with respect to industrial hemp that become operative as of the effective date that a state plan to regulate the production of industrial hemp is approved pursuant to the federal Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended by the federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. Under existing law, these procedures require the enforcement of the approved state plan to comply with specified provisions of that federal law. In accordance with that federal law, these procedures require a grower of industrial hemp, established agricultural research institution, or hemp breeder that the Secretary of Food and Agriculture determines has violated the approved state plan to be subject to certain consequences depending on whether the violation is negligent or whether the violation is committed intentionally or with recklessness or gross negligence. This bill would revise these enforcement procedures to conform to the requirements for a state plan under that federal law by specifying that a grower of industrial hemp, established agricultural research institution, or hemp breeder, as a result of a negligent violation, is not subject to any criminal enforcement action by the state or a local government. (7) This bill would make other related changes to provisions governing the cultivation of industrial hemp. (8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.