September 22, 2010, Introduced by Rep. Lemmons and referred to the Committee on Agriculture.
A bill to define and regulate industrial hemp; to provide for
licensure of certain persons engaged in the growing or processing
of industrial hemp; to provide for certain powers and duties for
certain state agencies; to provide for the creation of certain
funds; and to provide for certain remedies and penalties.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be know and may be cited as the
"Michigan industrial hemp act".
Sec. 3. As used in this section:
(a) "CBL" means cannabiniol, a nonpsychotropic compound.
(b) "Department" means the Michigan department of agriculture.
(c) "Grower" means a person engaged in the planting,
cultivating, harvesting, or producing of industrial hemp, or any 1
or more of those activities.
(d) "Industrial hemp" means a mature seed of the plant
Cannabis sativa L. with no more than 3/10 of 1% THC or a growing
plant with a THC level above 3/10 of 1% if the CBL to THC ratio is
not less than 2 to 1.
(e) "Person" means a corporation, partnership, association,
limited liability company, or other legal entity,
(f) "Processor" means a person that cleans, grades, dries,
preserves, grinds, mills, or otherwise preserves or changes the
form of industrial hemp for the purpose of marketing it.
(g) "THC" means tetrahydrocannabinol ((6aR,
10aR)-6a, 7, 8, 10a-tetrahydro-6, 6, 9-trimethyl-3-pentyl-6H-
dibenzo [b, d] pyran-1-ol), a psychotropic compound.
Sec. 5. (1) A person shall not engage in the business of being
a grower or processor of industrial hemp unless licensed under this
act as a grower or processor, or both. Licensure under this act
shall be for a 1-year period, beginning January 1 of each year.
(2) The department shall issue a license in either or both
categories to an applicant who submits the appropriate license fee
and a completed application supplied by the department. The
department shall issue the license to the individual who operates
the business or to the qualifying officer operating the business.
(3) If a license is applied for by a corporation, partnership,
association, limited liability company, or other entity, the
applicant shall designate 1 of its officers, partners, members, or
managing agent as a qualifying officer. The qualifying officer
shall obtain and maintain the license under this act. The
qualifying officer shall be responsible for exercising the
supervision or control of the business operation necessary to
secure full compliance with this act and the rules promulgated
under this act. In the case of a license issued under this
subsection, each qualifying officer shall provide a copy of his or
her operator's license or state personal identification card to the
department for use by the department only for identification
purposes. The qualifying officer shall be at least 18 years of age
and meet the requirements for a license under this act.
(4) A person may submit a joint application for both a
grower's and a processor's license. An application shall be
accompanied by 1 of the following license fees:
(a) In the case of a grower, a fee of $150.00 or a fee
computed on the basis of $5.00 per acre used to grow industrial
hemp, whichever is larger.
(b) In the case of a processor, a fee of $150.00.
(c) In the case of a joint application, a fee of $200.00.
(5) The industrial hemp regulatory fund is created within the
state treasury. The department shall deposit license fees and
administrative fines under this act into the fund. The state
treasurer may receive money or other assets from any other source
for deposit into the fund. The state treasurer shall direct the
investment of the fund and shall credit to the fund interest and
earnings from fund investments. Money in the fund at the close of
the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not lapse to the
general fund. The department shall be the administrator of the fund
for auditing purposes. The department shall expend money from the
fund, upon appropriation, only for enforcement and administration
of this act.
(6) An applicant for a grower license shall submit
documentation acceptable to the department indicating that the type
of seeds to be planted are a variety certified to have not more
than 3/10 of 1% THC, the legal description of the land to be used
to grow industrial hemp, field locations using geopositioning
instrumentation along with an official aerial United States
department of agriculture farm service agency map or any other
method approved by the department, and a copy of any contract to
grow industrial hemp. The department shall not issue a license as a
grower to a person who does not demonstrate at least 10 acres of
land designated for the growing of industrial hemp.
(7) An applicant for a processor license shall submit
documentation acceptable to the department indicating the names of
any persons to whom industrial hemp is proposed to be sold or
marketed and the location and a drawing of the premises upon which
the processing operation will occur.
(8) The department shall not issue a license to any person
whose qualifying officer, owner, or operator has been convicted on
any felony charges regarding the use, possession, or distribution
of a controlled substance.
(9) In the case of both categories of license, the applicants
shall submit to the department both of the following:
(a) The fingerprints of the applicant, if the applicant is an
individual, or of the qualifying officer, and all individuals who
may be involved in the producing or handling of industrial hemp.
Those fingerprints shall be submitted to the department of state
police and the federal bureau of investigation for a state and
national criminal history background check and shall be accompanied
by a fingerprint processing fee in the amount prescribed by section
3 of 1935 PA 120, MCL 28.273, as well as any fees imposed by the
federal bureau of investigation. The results of the national
criminal history background check as returned by the federal bureau
of investigation to the department of state police shall be used by
the department to make a determination for the purposes of
subsection (8). The fingerprints required to be taken under this
subsection may be taken by a law enforcement agency or any other
person determined by the department of state police to be qualified
to take fingerprints. The information obtained by the department
under this subsection is confidential and shall only be used for a
determination of license eligibility.
(b) A list of all individuals who may be involved in the
producing or handling of industrial hemp. Within 30 days of any
change of the list, the licensee must update this list and submit
it to the department in writing or electronically.
(10) All nonexempt plant material grown under this act must be
exported or sold by a grower to a United States drug enforcement
administration registered processor or a processor licensed under
this act.
(11) Before issuing a license under this act, the department
shall submit a list of the applicants for licensure to the United
States drug enforcement agency for its approval. If the United
States drug enforcement agency does not approve the issuance of a
license within 60 days after submission of the list by the
department, the approval of the United States drug enforcement
agency is presumed.
Sec. 7. (1) In order to avoid the inadvertent dissemination of
industrial hemp, a licensee shall do all of the following:
(a) Ensure that all equipment that is used to sow or harvest
the hemp is thoroughly cleaned after each use.
(b) Ensure that industrial hemp seed is covered during
transport.
(c) Ensure that random industrial hemp plants not located in a
field licensed to produce are destroyed before reaching the seed-
producing stage.
(2) The department shall promulgate rules under the
administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to
24.328, to implement and administer the activities described in
subsection (1).
Sec. 9. (1) A grower shall supply the following information to
the department by July 1 of each year:
(a) A certification of the final planted acreages of
industrial hemp on a form prescribed by the department.
(b) Documentation indicating that the seed planted was of a
type and variety certified to have no more than 3/10 of 1% THC. The
documentation must include laboratory test results from a
laboratory acceptable to the department.
(c) A report of the name, address, and telephone number of any
person from whom all seed used in the production of industrial hemp
was purchased and of any purchaser of industrial hemp seed and
nonexempt plant parts at the time of the sale.
(2) The licensee shall notify the department within 15 days
after a change in the name, address, or telephone number of the
licensee or a change in the ownership of the land used to cultivate
industrial hemp.
(3) A grower shall notify the department a minimum of 2 weeks
before the intended harvest date to allow the commissioner to take
and test samples. A grower or processor shall notify the department
of the intended location of all storage facilities using
geopositioning instrumentation.
(4) A licensee must request and receive approval to harvest
from the department prior to harvest. If the department does not
approve the harvest within 5 days after the request is received,
the approval is presumed.
Sec. 11. Any recognized university research center and its
agricultural experiment stations must comply with all licensing
requirements except for the criminal history background check and
must report all storage facilities containing industrial hemp seed
using geopositioning instrumentation to the department by December
31 of each year.
Sec. 13. A licensee shall allow law enforcement and department
officials to enter industrial hemp fields at any time to monitor
and test the industrial hemp crop. Industrial hemp
fields must be readily accessible for monitoring and testing
purposes and must have open access at a minimum of 1 side of the
field.
Sec. 15. (1) After notice and an opportunity for a hearing
under the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL
24.201 to 24.328, the department may suspend or revoke a license of
a violation of this act or rules adopted under this act, may assess
an administrative fine of not more than $500.00, and may issue
appropriate orders to implement any sanction, including forfeiture
of the right to grow industrial hemp for a period of up to 5 years.
(2) The department may order the destruction of all crops,
grain, oil, or fiber that was produced in a manner inconsistent
with or in violation of the requirements of this act.
Sec. 17. (1) A person shall not advertise industrial hemp in a
fashion that would indicate that industrial hemp, its derivatives,
or any product made from those derivatives is psychoactive.
(2) A person may not plant bin-run or noncertified seed.
Sec. 19. The remedies contained in this act are cumulative.
The use of any remedy available under this act does not prohibit
the use of any other remedy or sanction otherwise available under
law.
Sec. 21. This act takes effect March 1, 2011.