House File 2088 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2088 BY MOMMSEN A BILL FOR An Act relating to acreage limitations for the production of 1 hemp, and including effective date provisions. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5928YH (2) 89 da/ns
H.F. 2088 Section 1. Section 204.2, subsection 5, Code 2022, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 5. “Crop site” or “site” means a single contiguous parcel 3 of agricultural land suitable for the planting, growing, or 4 harvesting of hemp, if the parcel does not exceed forty one 5 hundred acres. 6 Sec. 2. Section 204.4, subsection 6, Code 2022, is amended 7 to read as follows: 8 6. A person may hold any number of licenses at the same 9 time. However, the person shall not hold a legal or equitable 10 interest in a licensed crop site, if the total number of acres 11 of all licensed crop sites in which the person holds all such 12 interests equals more than forty one hundred acres. 13 Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate 14 importance, takes effect upon enactment. 15 EXPLANATION 16 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 17 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 18 ACREAGE LIMITATION —— EXCEPTION. This bill amends Code 19 chapter 204, the Iowa Hemp Act (IHA), which in part requires 20 the department of agriculture and land stewardship (DALS) to 21 regulate the production of hemp. Hemp is defined as a species 22 of cannabis (sativa L.) having a maximum concentration of 23 delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol that does not exceed three-tenths 24 of 1 percent on a dry weight basis (Code section 204.2). DALS 25 is required to establish and administer a process to issue 26 and renew one-year hemp licenses to qualified producers (Code 27 section 204.4). Until June 30, 2022, a qualified producer is 28 subject to an interim license fee based on the size of the 29 licensed crop site, equaling not more than a base amount plus 30 $5 per acre. The base amount is $500 for a licensed crop site 31 that is five acres or less; $750 for a licensed crop site that 32 is more than five acres but not more than 10 acres; and $1,000 33 for each licensed crop site that is more than 10 acres. During 34 the interim period, the producer is also subject to an annual 35 -1- LSB 5928YH (2) 89 da/ns 1/ 2
H.F. 2088 base inspection and official test fee of not more than $1,000. 1 On and after June 30, 2022, permanent license and inspection 2 fees are established by rules adopted by DALS for each 12-month 3 period based on the costs of administering and enforcing the 4 IHA which may be based on the size of a licensed crop site (Code 5 section 204.5). Two compatible acreage limits apply: (1) a 6 licensed crop site must be 40 acres or less and (2) the total 7 number of acres of all licensed crop sites must be 40 acres or 8 less. The bill increases these limits to 100 acres (amended 9 Code sections 204.2 and 204.4). 10 BACKGROUND. The IHA must comply with the relevant sections 11 of the federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Pub. L. 12 No. 115-334, that allows states and tribes to assume primary 13 regulatory authority over the production of hemp by submitting 14 a plan for approval by the United States department of 15 agriculture (USDA). Effective April 8, 2020, the secretary of 16 agriculture published an advisory notice that the state plan 17 for the production of hemp was certified by the United States 18 department of agriculture in IAB Vol. XLII, No. 21 (4/8/20), 19 p. 2630. 20 EFFECTIVE DATE. The bill takes effect upon enactment. 21 -2- LSB 5928YH (2) 89 da/ns 2/ 2