FYI.
USDA is drafting hemp regulations for publication in the Federal Register and public comment. It is USDA’s goal to have regulations in effect by the fall of 2019 to accommodate the 2020 planting season.
As required by the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA is developing a system in which States and Indian tribes submit plans to USDA for approval to administer hemp production in their areas. USDA will provide a plan for those individual producers in States and Tribes that do not wish to submit their own plan. USDA will not begin reviewing plans until regulations go into effect.
During the 2019 planting season, the 2018 Farm Bill specifies that States, Tribes and institutions of higher education may continue operating under authorities of the 2014 Farm Bill until 12 months after USDA establishes the plan and regulations required under the 2018 Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill requires each plan to include the following:
- a practice to maintain relevant information regarding land on which hemp is produced in the State or territory of the Indian tribe, including a legal description of the land, for a period of not less than 3 calendar years;
- a procedure for testing, using postdecarboxylation or other similarly reliable methods, delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration levels of hemp produced in the State or territory of the Indian tribe;
- a procedure for the effective disposal of: plants, whether growing or not, that are produced in violation of this subtitle; and products derived from those plants;
- a procedure to comply with the enforcement procedures under subsection (e) of the Farm Bill;
- a procedure for conducting annual inspections of, at a minimum, a random sample of hemp producers to verify that hemp is not produced in violation of this subtitle;
- a procedure for submitting the information described in section 297C(d)(2) of the Farm Bill to the Secretary not more than 30 days after the date on which the information is received; and
- a certification that the state or Indian tribe has the resources and personnel to carry out the practices and procedures described in clauses (i) through (vi) of the Farm Bill.
Comments and questions about the 2018 Farm Bill implementation of Hemp Production may be submitted to farmbill.hemp@usda.gov.