OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 364 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 364’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Dobos and Klopfenstein
Effective date:
Jeff Grim, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
▪ Exempts certain noncommercial seed sharing activities from the laws governing seed
labeling, permitting, inspection, advertising, and sales reporting.
▪ Aligns the list of weeds that must be removed from a toll road, railroad, or electric
railway to the list of noxious weeds that must be removed from other roads and road
right-of-ways.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Seed sharing
The bill exempts certain noncommercial seed sharing activities from the laws governing
seed labeling, permitting, inspection, advertising, and sales reporting (“seed laws”). Under the
bill, “noncommercial seed sharing” means the distribution or transfer of ownership of seeds
with no compensation or remuneration. However, “noncommercial seed sharing” does not
include the distribution or transfer of seeds if the seeds are (1) given as compensation for work
or services rendered, (2) collected outside of Ohio, or (3) patented, treated, or contain noxious
weed species or invasive plants.1
Specifically, the bill exempts from the seed laws, noncommercial seed sharing that
supports any of the following activities:
1. Conservation of pollinators and threatened or endangered species;
This analysis was prepared before the report of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources
Committee appeared in the Senate Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
1 R.C. 907.01(OO).
December 10, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
2. Planting and creation of native plant habitats;
3. Propagation of native plants for their specific conservation; and
4. Operation of a seed library, provided that the seed library ensures that any seeds
exchanged among the seed library’s members or the general public are open-pollinated,
public domain varieties.2
A “seed library” is a nonprofit, governmental, or cooperative organization or association
to which both of the following apply:
1. It is established for the purpose of facilitating the donation, exchange, preservation, and
dissemination of seeds among the seed library’s members or the general public; and
2. The use, exchange, transfer, or possession of seeds acquired by or from the non-profit,
governmental, or cooperative organization or association are obtained free of charge.3
Noxious weeds
The bill eliminates certain weeds from the list of weeds that a superintendent or
manager of a toll road, railroad, or electric railway must remove within the limits or right-of-
way of the toll road or railway. The bill then aligns that list with the list of noxious weeds
designated by the Director of Agriculture that must be removed from other roads and road
right-of-ways. The weeds removed from the list include common thistle, wild lettuce, wild
mustard, ragweed, milkweed, and ironweed. According the Department of Agriculture, the
removal of milkweed from the list is important because it is a beneficial plant that is essential
for monarch butterfly habitat, and it is no longer a species of concern for agriculture.4
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 12-14-23
Reported, H. Agriculture 05-22-24
Passed House (91-0) 06-12-24
Reported, S. Agriculture & Natural Resources ---
anhb0364rs-135/ks
2 R.C. 907.09(A)(4).
3 R.C. 907.01(PP).
4 R.C. 4959.11; R.C. 5579.04, not in the bill.
P a g e |2 H.B. 364
As Reported by Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources
Statutes affected: As Introduced: 907.01, 907.09, 4959.11
As Reported By House Committee: 907.01, 907.09, 4959.11
As Passed By House: 907.01, 907.09, 4959.11