HF 2105 (LSB 5309YH (3) 88)

HOUSE FILE 2105

BY  SHIPLEY

A BILL FOR

An Act eliminating acreage limitations for the production of hemp, and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 204.2, subsection 3, Code 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  “Crop site” or “site” means a single contiguous parcel of agricultural land suitable for the planting, growing, or harvesting of hemp, if the parcel does not exceed forty acres.
    Sec. 2.  Section 204.4, subsection 6, Code 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   6.  A person may hold any number of licenses at the same time. However, the person shall not hold a legal or equitable interest in a licensed crop site, if the total number of acres of all licensed crop sites in which the person holds all such interests equals more than forty acres. 
    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   HEMP PRODUCTION —— ACREAGE LIMITATION. This bill amends Code chapter 204, the Iowa hemp Act (IHA) (Code section 204.1), which in part requires the department of agriculture and land stewardship (DALS) to regulate the production of hemp. Hemp is defined as a species of cannabis (sativa L.) having a maximum concentration of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol that does not exceed three-tenths of 1 percent (Code section 204.2). DALS is required to establish and administer a process to issue and renew one-year hemp licenses to qualified producers (Code section 204.4). DALS may issue any number of licenses to a qualified producer so long as all licensed crop sites do not exceed a total of 40 acres. The bill eliminates the 40-acre limitation.
   BACKGROUND. The IHA must comply with the relevant provisions of the federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-334, that allows states and tribes to assume primary regulatory authority over the production of hemp by submitting a plan for approval by the United States department of agriculture (USDA). DALS is required to prepare the state plan, any amended state plan, or amendment to an approved state plan, by adopting rules pursuant to Code chapter 17A (Code section 204.3). The USDA has published interim rules to implement the federal legislation (7 C.F.R. pt. 990). The USDA has neither approved nor disapproved Iowa’s state plan.
   EFFECTIVE DATE. The bill takes effect upon enactment.