LB263 LB263
2023 2023
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 263
Introduced by Agriculture Committee: Halloran, 33, Chairperson; Brewer,
43; Hansen, B., 16; Holdcroft, 36; Hughes, 24; Riepe, 12.
Read first time January 10, 2023
Committee: Agriculture
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act; to amend
2 sections 2-503, 2-504, 2-505, 2-506, 2-508, 2-509, 2-510, 2-511,
3 2-514, 2-515, and 2-517, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and
4 section 28-401, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022; to
5 change and update federal references; to define a term; to eliminate
6 obsolete provisions; to change provisions relating to the state plan
7 for regulation of hemp and rules and regulations, fees, duties,
8 violations, and testing and transporting of hemp; to provide for
9 remediation of certain hemp; to change a meeting requirement for the
10 Nebraska Hemp Commission; to harmonize provisions; to repeal the
11 original sections; to outright repeal section 2-5701, Revised
12 Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022; and to declare an emergency.
13 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 2-503, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
2 amended to read:
3 2-503 For purposes of the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act:
4 (1) Acceptable hemp THC level has the same meaning as in 7 C.F.R.
5 part 990 990.1, as such part section existed on January 1, 2023 2020;
6 (2) Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 means section 10113 of the
7 federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Public Law 115-334, and any
8 regulations adopted and promulgated under such section, as such section,
9 act, and regulations existed on January 1, 2023 2020;
10 (3) Approved testing facility means a testing facility approved by
11 the department;
12 (4) Broker means a person who engages or participates in the
13 marketing of hemp by acting as an intermediary or negotiator between
14 prospective buyers and sellers;
15 (5) Commercial sale means the sale of products in the stream of
16 commerce, at retail, wholesale, and online;
17 (6) Commission means the Nebraska Hemp Commission;
18 (7) Cultivate or cultivating means planting, watering, growing, and
19 harvesting a hemp plant or crop. The presence of plants of the plant
20 Cannabis sativa L. growing as uncultivated, naturalized plants in the
21 environment is not cultivating hemp for purposes of the Nebraska Hemp
22 Farming Act;
23 (8) Cultivator means a person who cultivates hemp;
24 (9) Department means the Department of Agriculture;
25 (10) Director means the Director of Agriculture or his or her
26 designee;
27 (11) GPS coordinates means latitude and longitude coordinates
28 derived from a global positioning system;
29 (12) Handle or handling means possessing or storing hemp plants or
30 hemp plant parts prior to cultivation, in the process of cultivation, or
31 after being harvested or dried but before processing. Handle or handling
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1 also includes possessing or storing such hemp plants or hemp plant parts
2 in a vehicle for any period of time other than during its actual
3 transport from the premises of a person licensed to cultivate or process
4 hemp to the premises of another licensee. Handle or handling does not
5 include possessing, storing, or transporting finished hemp products or
6 hemp seeds;
7 (13) Hemp means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such
8 plant, including the viable seeds of such plant and all derivatives,
9 extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers,
10 whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration
11 of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Hemp shall be
12 considered an agricultural commodity. Notwithstanding any other provision
13 of law, hemp shall not be considered a controlled substance under the
14 Uniform Controlled Substances Act;
15 (14) Licensee means an individual or a business entity possessing a
16 license issued by the department under the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act,
17 including authorized employees or agents of such licensee, to cultivate,
18 handle, process, or broker hemp;
19 (15) Location ID means the unique identifier established by a
20 licensee for each unique set of GPS coordinates where hemp is cultivated,
21 handled, or processed;
22 (16) Lot means a contiguous area in a field, greenhouse, or indoor
23 growing structure containing the same variety or strain of hemp
24 throughout such area;
25 (17) Measurement of uncertainty has the same meaning as in 7 C.F.R.
26 part 990 990.1, as such part section existed on January 1, 2023 2020;
27 (18) Person means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited
28 liability company, association, postsecondary institution, or other legal
29 entity;
30 (19) Postsecondary institution means a postsecondary institution as
31 defined in section 85-2403 that also meets the requirements of 20 U.S.C.
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1 1001, as such section existed on January 1, 2019;
2 (20) Process or processing means converting hemp plants or plant
3 parts into a marketable form;
4 (21) Processor-handler means a person who handles or processes hemp;
5 (22) Remediation has the same meaning as in 7 C.F.R. part 990, as
6 such part existed on January 1, 2023;
7 (23) (22) Site means an area defined by the same legal description
8 in a field, greenhouse, or other outdoor area or indoor structure, or for
9 a mobile processor, such processor's primary place of business;
10 (24) (23) THC means tetrahydrocannabinol; and
11 (25) (24) USDA-licensed hemp producer means a person licensed by the
12 United States Department of Agriculture to produce hemp as provided in 7
13 C.F.R. part 990, subpart C, as such regulations existed on January 1,
14 2023 2020.
15 Sec. 2. Section 2-504, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
16 amended to read:
17 2-504 (1) Subject to the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, it shall be
18 lawful:
19 (a) For a licensee or his or her employee or agent to cultivate,
20 handle, process, or broker hemp in Nebraska and to transport hemp outside
21 of Nebraska; and
22 (b) To possess, transport, sell, and purchase lawfully produced hemp
23 products.
24 (2) The department shall establish, operate, and administer a
25 program to license and regulate cultivators, processor-handlers, and
26 brokers that meets the requirements of the federal Agriculture
27 Improvement Act of 2018 and the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act.
28 (3) The director may alter or amend the state plan as provided under
29 section 2-516 and the department may adopt and promulgate rules and
30 regulations to implement the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act and administer
31 programs, including, but not limited to, the following:
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1 (a) Practices to maintain relevant information regarding land where
2 hemp is cultivated, handled, or processed in the state, including a legal
3 description of such land, for a period of not less than three calendar
4 years;
5 (b) Procedures governing the sampling, chain of custody, and testing
6 of hemp cultivated, handled, or processed in the state;
7 (c) Procedures for the effective destruction of plants cultivated,
8 handled, or processed in violation of the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act and
9 hemp products made from those plants;
10 (d) Procedures implementing enforcement provisions outlined in the
11 Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, including factors to be considered when
12 issuing administrative fines;
13 (e) A procedure for conducting, at a minimum, annual inspections of
14 a random sample of hemp cultivators and processor-handlers to verify that
15 hemp is not cultivated, handled, or processed, or handled in violation of
16 the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act or the state plan as described in section
17 2-516. The department may, at its discretion, conduct other inspections
18 of a cultivator's or processor-handler's operation, including all sites
19 registered with the department;
20 (f) A procedure for submitting required information to the United
21 States Secretary of Agriculture not more than thirty days after the
22 information is received;
23 (g) Standards governing the approval and denial of license
24 applications by cultivators, processor-handlers, and brokers;
25 (h) Developing a bill of lading form for use by a person
26 transporting hemp as provided in section 28-476. Such bill of lading
27 shall, at a minimum:
28 (i) Identify the transporting person;
29 (ii) List a traceable reference, in accordance with the federal
30 Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, to the lot in which the hemp was
31 grown, matching the lot listed on the test results or other documentation
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1 required by section 2-515 or section 28-476; and
2 (iii) Indicate the owner, shipping point of origin, and destination
3 of the hemp;
4 (i) In consultation with the Nebraska State Patrol, standards for
5 transporting hemp in this state to ensure that marijuana or any other
6 controlled substance is not disguised as hemp and transported into,
7 within, or through this state;
8 (j) Record-keeping requirements and procedures, including
9 cultivation, harvest, and destruction reports and deadlines for the
10 submission of such reports; and
11 (k) Any other standard, practice, or procedure required by the
12 Nebraska Hemp Farming Act or the federal Agriculture Improvement Act of
13 2018.
14 Sec. 3. Section 2-505, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
15 amended to read:
16 2-505 (1) Hemp may only be cultivated by a USDA-licensed hemp
17 producer or a person meeting the requirements of section 2-5701 or in
18 compliance with this section.
19 (2) Before a person may be licensed to cultivate hemp under the
20 Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, such person shall submit an application on a
21 form prescribed by the department that includes, but is not limited to,
22 the following:
23 (a) If the applicant is an individual, the applicant's full name,
24 birthdate, mailing address, telephone number, and valid email address;
25 (b) If the applicant is an entity and not an individual, (i) the
26 name of the applicant, mailing address, telephone number, and valid email
27 address, (ii) the full name of each officer, director, partner, member,
28 or owner owning in excess of ten percent of equity or stock in such
29 entity, (iii) the full name of each key participant as defined in 7
30 C.F.R. part 990, as such part existed on January 1, 2023 990.1, and (iv)
31 the birthdate, title, mailing address, telephone number, and valid email
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1 address of each such person or key participant;
2 (c) The proposed acreage to be cultivated or the square footage of a
3 greenhouse or other indoor space to be cultivated;
4 (d) The street address, legal description, location ID, and GPS
5 coordinates for each field, greenhouse, building, or other site where
6 hemp will be cultivated. The site information may be verified by the
7 department; and
8 (e) Maps depicting each site where hemp will be cultivated, with
9 appropriate indications for entrances, field boundaries, and specific
10 locations corresponding to the GPS coordinates provided under subdivision
11 (d) of this subsection.
12 (3) Before a person may be licensed to cultivate hemp under the
13 Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, such person shall submit with the application
14 a nonrefundable application fee as set by the department pursuant to
15 section 2-508.
16 (4) Before a person may be licensed to cultivate hemp under the
17 Nebraska Hemp Farming Act, such person shall submit a site registration
18 fee as set by the department pursuant to section 2-508. The site
19 registration fee shall be paid for each separate site where the applicant
20 will cultivate hemp. Subsequent modifications to the sites listed in the
21 application shall be submitted on forms prescribed by the department
22 along with a site modification fee and shall only take effect upon
23 written approval of the department. The applicant must certify that all
24 sites where hemp is to be cultivated are under the control of the
25 applicant and that the department shall have unlimited access to all such
26 sites.
27 (5) After the department receives approval by the United States
28 Secretary of Agriculture for the state plan described in section 2-516,
29 an initial cultivator license application may be submitted at any time,
30 except that the department may set a cutoff date for applications ahead
31 of the growing season. An initial cultivator license issued by the
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1 department expires on December 31 in the calendar year for which it was
2 issued.
3 (6) A renewal application for a license to cultivate hemp shall be
4 submitted on forms prescribed by the department. A renewal application is
5 due by December 31 and shall be accompanied by the cultivator license fee
6 and the site registration fee for all sites listed in the renewal
7 application. The renewal cultivator license is valid from January 1 or
8 when the license is granted, whichever is later, through December 31 next
9 following.
10 (7) A cultivator license shall lapse automatically upon a change of
11 ownership or location, and a new license must be obtained. The licensee
12 shall promptly provide notice of change in ownership or location to the
13 department.
14 (8) An application and supporting documents submitted to the
15 department under this section are not public records subject to
16 disclosure pursuant to sections 84-712 to 84-712.09. Such information may
17 be submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture pursuant to
18 the requirements of the federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 or
19 any other federal statute, rule, or regulation, and may be submitted to
20 law enforcement.
21 Sec. 4. Section 2-506, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
22 amended to read:
23 2-506 (1) Except for handling by an approved testing facility, a
24 USDA-licensed hemp producer, or a cultivator licensed under section
25 2-505, a person shall not handle, process, handle, or broker hemp plants
26 or plant parts in this state unless the person meets the requirements of
27 section 2-5701 or is in compliance with this section and licensed as a
28 processor-handler or broker under the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act.
29 (2) Before a person may be licensed to handle, process, handle, or
30 broker hemp in this state, such person shall submit an application on a
31 form prescribed by the department that includes, but is not limited to,
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