Amended in Senate April 11, 2013

Amended in Senate April 1, 2013

Senate BillNo. 566


Introduced by Senator Leno

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Mansoor)

February 22, 2013


An act to add Division 24 (commencing with Section 81000) to, and to repeal Section 81003 of, the Food and Agricultural Code, and to amend Section 11018 of, and to add Section 11018.5 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to industrial hemp.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 566, as amended, Leno. Industrial hemp.

Existing law makes it a crime to engage in any of various transactions relating to marijuana, as defined, except as otherwise authorized by law, such as the Medical Marijuana Program. For purposes of these provisions, marijuana is defined as not including the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks, except the resin extracted therefrom, and fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant which is incapable of germination.

This bill would revise the definition of “marijuana” so that the term would exclude industrial hemp, as defined, except where the plant is cultivated or processed for purposes not expressly allowed. The bill would define industrial hemp as a fiber or oilseed crop, or both, that is limited to the nonpsychoactive types of the plant Cannabis sativa L. and the seed produced therefrom, having no more than 310 of 1% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained in the dried flowering tops, and that is cultivated and processed exclusively for the purpose of producing the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks, except the resin or flowering tops extracted therefrom, fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant that is incapable of germination.

The bill would enact provisions relating to growing industrial hemp that would impose specified procedures and requirements on a person who grows industrial hemp, except when grown by an established agricultural research institution or seed breeder, as defined, that would become operative when authorized under federal law. The bill would require a person growing the industrial hemp to obtain, before the harvest of each crop, a laboratory test of a random sample of the crop to determine the amount of THC in the crop. The bill would require the laboratory test report to be issued by a laboratory registered by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and would require the person growing industrial hemp to make the report available to law enforcement officials and specified other persons. The bill would require all industrial hemp seed sold for planting in California to be from a crop having no more than 310 of 1% THC contained in a random sampling of the dried flowering tops and tested under these provisions, and would require the destruction of crops exceeding that content, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to regulate the development, growth, and sale of industrial hemp seed harvesting and activities regarding the sale of viable industrial hemp seeds, and would authorize the department to promulgate additional regulations to ensure compliance with these provisions or with federal law.

The bill would provide that growing industrial hemp shall not be construed to authorize, among other things, the possession, outside of a field of lawful cultivation, of resin, flowering tops, or leaves that have been removed from the hemp plant, except as necessary to perform the required laboratory testing. This bill would require the Attorney General and the Hemp Industries Association to submit reports to the Legislature by January 1, 2019, or 5 years after the provisions of the measure are authorized under federal law, whichever is later, regarding the economic and law enforcement impacts of industrial hemp cultivation.

The bill would state the findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to industrial hemp.

By revising the scope of application of existing crimes relating to marijuana, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

By specifying the conditions of cultivation, the violation of which would be a misdemeanor pursuant to other provisions of existing law, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.

This bill would provide that the provisions of this act would not become operative unless authorized under federal law, and, when the provisions become operative, would require the Attorney General to post the fact that this act has become operative on its Internet Web site.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P3    1

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
2California Industrial Hemp Farming Act.

3

SEC. 2.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

4(a) Industrial hemp is an agricultural crop produced in at least
530 nations, including Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany,
6Romania, Australia, and China, and is used by industry to produce
7thousands of products, including paper, textiles, food, oils,
8automotive parts, and personal care products.

9(b) The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
10has ruled in Hemp Industries Association v. Drug Enforcement
11Administration, (9th Cir. 2004) 357 F.3d 1012, that the federal
12Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. Sec. 812(b))
13explicitly excludes nonpsychoactive hemp from the definition of
14marijuana, and the federal government has declined to appeal that
15decision.

16(c) The federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 specifies the
17findings to which the government must attest in order to classify
18a substance as a schedule I drug and those findings include that
19the substance has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted
20medical use, and has a lack of accepted safety for use, none of
21which apply to industrial hemp.

P4    1(d) According to estimates by the Hemp Industries Association,
2sales of industrial hemp products in the United States have grown
3steadily since 1990 to more than $500 million annually in 2012.

4(e) California manufacturers of hemp products currently import
5from around the world tens of thousands of acres’ worth of hemp
6seed, oil, and fiber products that could be produced by California
7farmers at a more competitive price, and the intermediate
8processing of hemp seed, oil, and fiber could create jobs in close
9proximity to the fields of cultivation.

10(f) In 1999, the Assembly passed House Resolution 32, which
11resolved that “the domestic production of industrial hemp can help
12protect California’s environment, contribute to the growth of the
13state economy, and be regulated in a manner that will not interfere
14with the enforcement of marijuana laws.”

15(g) Assessment of the economic benefits of industrial hemp
16cultivation and determination of possible impacts on the
17enforcement of laws prohibiting illicit marijuana cultivation are
18important concerns.

19(h) It is the intent of the Legislature that law enforcement not
20be burdened with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) testing of industrial
21hemp crops when cultivation is in compliance with Section 11018.5
22of the Health and Safety Code; therefore, the cultivation of
23industrial hemp will be tightly controlled and enforced by the
24Department of Food and Agriculture consistent with the following:

25(1) Farmers shall not cultivate industrial hemp in acreages
26smaller than five acres, and no acreage of industrial hemp shall be
27comprised of plots smaller than one acre. The tending of individual
28plants, as well as ornamental and clandestine cultivation,begin delete areend deletebegin insert is end insert
29 expressly prohibited.

30(2) Farmers are required, before harvest, to obtain a laboratory
31test report from a federally registered laboratory documenting that
32the THC content of their crop is within the legal limit and farmers
33must destroy crops that fail the THC test.

34(3) Farmers must retain an original copy of the THC test report
35for the planting seed and the harvested crop for two years, make
36original copies available to law enforcement officials upon request,
37and are required to provide an original copy to each person
38purchasing, transporting, or otherwise obtaining the fiber, oil, cake,
39or seed of the plant from the farmer.

P5    1(4) Although they have no psychoactive effect, any resin,
2flowering tops, or leaves of the industrial hemp plant that are
3removed from the lawful field of cultivation shall be, by definition,
4marijuana and subject to prosecution. Farmers should take care to
5ensure that all flowering tops and leaves remain in the lawful field
6of cultivation after the harvest of seed or fiber. There is no lawful
7reason to harvest, collect, or process the flowering tops of industrial
8hemp.

9(5) In addition to plant structure, height, and method of planting,
10the horticultural tending of cannabis plants indicates to law
11enforcement that it is marijuana and not industrial hemp. Signs of
12horticultural tending include, but are not limited to, pathways or
13rows within the field to provide access to each plant, the pruning
14of individual plants, or the culling of male plants from the field.

15

SEC. 3.  

Division 24 (commencing with Section 81000) is added
16to the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:

17 

18Division 24.  Industrial Hemp

19

 

20

81000.  

For purposes of this division, “industrial hemp” has the
21same meaning as that term is defined in Section 11018.5 of the
22Health and Safety Code.

23

81001.  

(a) Except when grown by an established agricultural
24research institution or seed breeder, industrial hemp shall be grown
25only as a densely planted fiber or oilseed crop, or both, in acreages
26of not less than five acres, and no portion of an acreage of industrial
27hemp shall include plots of less than one contiguous acre.
28Ornamental and clandestine cultivation, as well as the pruning,
29culling, and tending of individual plants, of industrial hemp is
30prohibited. All plots shall have adequate signage indicating they
31are industrial hemp.

32(b) Industrial hemp shall include products imported under the
33Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2013) of the
34United States International Trade Commission, including hemp
35seed, per subheading 1207.99.03, hemp oil, per subheading
361515.90.80, true hemp, per heading 5302, true hemp yarn, per
37subheading 5308.20.00, and woven fabrics of true hemp fibers,
38per subheading 5311.00.40.

39(c) Except when industrial hemp is grown by an established
40agricultural research institution or seed breeder, a person who
P6    1grows industrial hemp under this section shall, before the harvest
2of each crop and as provided below, obtain a laboratory test report
3indicating the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels of a random
4sampling of the dried flowering tops of the industrial hemp grown.

5(1) Sampling shall occur as soon as practicable when the THC
6content of the leaves surrounding the seeds is at its peak and shall
7commence as the seeds begin to mature, when the first seeds of
8approximately 50 percent of the plants are resistant to compression.

9(2) The entire fruit-bearing part of the plant including the seeds
10shall be used as a sample. The sample cut shall be made directly
11underneath the inflorescence found in the top one-third of the plant.

12(3) The laboratory test report shall be issued by a laboratory
13registered with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, shall
14state the percentage content of THC, shall indicate the date and
15location of samples taken, and shall state the Global Positioning
16System coordinates and total acreage of the crop. If the laboratory
17test report indicates a percentage content of THC that is equal to
18or less than three-tenths of 1 percent, the words “PASSED AS
19CALIFORNIA INDUSTRIAL HEMP” shall appear at or near the
20top of the laboratory test report. If the laboratory test report
21indicates a percentage content of THC that is greater than
22three-tenths of 1 percent, the words “FAILED AS CALIFORNIA
23INDUSTRIAL HEMP” shall appear at or near the top of the
24laboratory test report.

25(4) If the laboratory test report indicates a percentage content
26of THC that is equal to or less than three-tenths of 1 percent, the
27laboratory shall provide the person who requested the testing not
28less than 10 original copies signed by an employee authorized by
29the laboratory and shall retain one or more original copies of the
30laboratory test report for a minimum of two years from its date of
31sampling.

32(5) If the laboratory test report indicates a percentage content
33of THC that is greater than three-tenths of 1 percent and does not
34exceed 1 percent, the person who grows industrial hemp shall
35submit additional samples for testing of the industrial hemp grown.

36(6) A person who grows industrial hemp shall destroy the
37industrial hemp grown upon receipt of a first laboratory test report
38indicating a percentage content of THC that exceeds 1 percent or
39a second laboratory test report pursuant to paragraph (5) indicating
40a percentage content of THC that exceeds three-tenths of 1 percent.
P7    1If the percentage content of THC exceeds 1 percent, the destruction
2shall take place within 48 hours after receipt of the laboratory test
3report. If the percentage content of THC in the second laboratory
4test report exceeds three-tenths of 1 percent, the destruction shall
5take place as soon as practicable, but no later than 45 days after
6receipt of the second test report.

7(7) Paragraph (6) does not apply to industrial hemp grown by
8an established agricultural research institution or seed breeder if
9the destruction of the industrial hemp grown will impede the
10development of types of industrial hemp that will comply with the
11three-tenths of 1 percent THC limit established in this section.

12(8) A person who intends to grow industrial hemp and who
13complies with this section shall not be prosecuted for the cultivation
14or possession of marijuana as a result of a laboratory test report
15that indicates a percentage content of THC that is greater than
16three-tenths of 1 percent but does not exceed 1 percent.

17(9) Paragraph (8) does not apply to industrial hemp grown by
18an established agricultural research institution or seed breeder.
19Established agricultural research institutionsbegin insert or seed breedersend insert shall
20be permitted to cultivate or possess industrial hemp with a
21laboratory test report that indicates a percentage content of THC
22that is greater than three-tenths of 1 percent if that cultivation or
23possession contributes to the development of types of industrial
24hemp that will comply with the three-tenths of 1 percent THC limit
25established in this section.

26(10) The person who grows industrial hemp shall retain an
27original signed copy of the laboratory test report for two years
28from its date of sampling, make an original signed copy of the
29laboratory test report available to law enforcement officials or their
30designees upon request, and shall provide an original copy of the
31laboratory test report to each person purchasing, transporting, or
32otherwise obtaining from the person who grows industrial hemp
33the fiber, oil, cake, or seed of the plant.

34(d) The department shall regulate the development, growth, and
35sale of industrial hemp seed harvesting and activities regarding
36the sale of viable industrial hemp seeds.

37(e) The department may promulgate additional regulations to
38ensure compliance with this division or federal law.

39(f) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
40following meanings:

P8    1(1) “Established agricultural research institution” means a public
2or private institution or organization that maintains land for
3agricultural research, including colleges, universities, agricultural
4research centers, and conservation research centers.

5(2) “Seed breeder” means an individual or public or private
6institution or organization that develops viable industrial hemp
7seed intended for sale or research.

8

81002.  

This division shall not be construed to authorize any
9of the following, and all of the following are prohibited:

10(a) The possession, outside of a field of lawful cultivation, of
11resin, flowering tops, or leaves that have been removed from the
12hemp plant, except as is necessary to perform testing pursuant to
13subdivision (c) of Section 81001.

14(b) Any ornamental or clandestine cultivation of the industrial
15hemp plant.

16(c) Any pruning, culling, or tending of individual industrial
17hemp plants, except when the action is necessary to perform the
18THC testing pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 81001.

19(d) Any cultivation of industrial hemp in acreages of less than
20five acres, or any acreage comprised of plots of less than one
21contiguous acre, except when the industrial hemp is grown by an
22established agricultural research institutionbegin insert or seed breederend insert.

23

81003.  

(a) Not later than January 1, 2019, or five years after
24the provisions of this division are authorized under federal law,
25whichever is later, the Attorney General shall report to the
26Assembly and Senate Committees on Agriculture and the Assembly
27and Senate Committees on Public Safety the reported incidents,
28if any, of the following:

29(1) A field of industrial hemp being used to disguise marijuana
30cultivation.

31(2) Claims in a court hearing by persons other than those
32exempted in subdivision (c) of Section 81001 that marijuana is
33industrial hemp.

34(b) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
35submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
36Code.

37(c) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
38section is repealed on January 1, 2023, or four years after the date
39that the report is due, whichever is later.

P9    1

81004.  

Not later than January 1, 2019, or five years after the
2provisions of this division are authorized under federal law,
3whichever is later, the Hemp Industries Association shall report
4the following to the Assembly and Senate Committees on
5Agriculture and the Assembly and Senate Committees on Public
6Safety:

7(a) The economic impacts of industrial hemp cultivation,
8processing, and product manufacturing in California.

9(b) The economic impacts of industrial hemp cultivation,
10processing, and product manufacturing in other states that may
11have permitted industrial hemp cultivation.

12

81005.  

This division shall not become operative unless
13authorized under federal law.

14

SEC. 4.  

Section 11018 of the Health and Safety Code is
15amended to read:

16

11018.  

“Marijuana” means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa
17L., whether growing or not; the seedsbegin delete thereofend deletebegin insert of that plantend insert; the
18resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound,
19manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant,
20its seeds or resin. It does not include industrial hemp, as defined
21in Section 11018.5, except where the plant is cultivated or
22processed for purposes not expressly allowed for by Division 24
23(commencing with Section 81000) of the Food and Agricultural
24Code.

25

SEC. 5.  

Section 11018.5 is added to the Health and Safety
26Code
, to read:

27

11018.5.  

“Industrial hemp” means a fiber or oilseed crop, or
28both, that is limited to nonpsychoactive types of the plant Cannabis
29sativa L. and the seed produced therefrom, having no more than
30three-tenths of 1 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained
31in the dried flowering tops, and that is cultivated and processed
32exclusively for the purpose of producing the mature stalks of the
33plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the
34seeds of the plant, or any other compound, manufacture, salt,
35derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks, except the
36resin or flowering tops extracted therefrom, fiber, oil, or cake, or
37the sterilized seed of the plant that is incapable of germination.

38

SEC. 6.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
39Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
40the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
P10   1district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
2infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
3for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
4the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
5the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
6Constitution.

7

SEC. 7.  

(a) This act shall not become operative unless
8authorized under federal law.

9(b) When this act becomes operative, the Attorney General shall
10post the fact that this act has become operative on its Internet Web
11site.



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