Industrial Hemp Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3755 To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to exempt industrial hemp from certain requirements under the hemp production program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 30, 2023 Mr. ROSENDALE (for himself and Ms. HOULAHAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to exempt industrial hemp from certain requirements under the hemp production program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Industrial Hemp Act 4 of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXEMPTIONS OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP UNDER HEMP 6 PRODUCTION PROGRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 297A of the Agricultural 8 Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1639o) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3755 IH (1) in paragraph (1)— 1 (A) by striking the period at the end and 2 inserting ‘‘; and’’; 3 (B) by striking ‘‘means the plant’’ and in- 4 serting the following: ‘‘means— 5 ‘‘(A) the plant’’; and 6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(B) industrial hemp.’’; 8 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 9 (6) as paragraphs (4) through (7), respectively; and 10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(3) INDUSTRIAL HEMP.—The term ‘industrial 13 hemp’ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. if the 14 harvested material is only— 15 ‘‘(A)(i) the stalks of that plant; 16 ‘‘(ii) fiber produced from those stalks; or 17 ‘‘(iii) any other manufacture, derivative, 18 mixture, or preparation of those stalks (except 19 cannabinoid resin extracted from those stalks); 20 ‘‘(B) whole grain, oil, cake, nut, hull, or 21 any other compound, manufacture, derivative, 22 mixture, or preparation of the seeds of that 23 plant (except cannabinoid resin extracted from 24 the seeds of that plant); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3755 IH ‘‘(C) viable seeds of that plant produced 1 solely for production or manufacture of any ma- 2 terial described in subparagraph (A) or (B).’’. 3 (b) STATE AND TRIBAL PLANS.—Section 297B of 4 the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1639p) 5 is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a)— 7 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)— 8 (i) by redesignating clauses (ii) 9 through (vii) as clauses (iii) through (viii), 10 respectively; 11 (ii) by inserting after clause (i) the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(ii) a procedure by which a hemp 14 producer shall designate the type of pro- 15 duction of the hemp producer as— 16 ‘‘(I) industrial hemp; or 17 ‘‘(II) hemp for any purpose;’’; 18 (iii) in clause (iii) (as so redesig- 19 nated), by inserting ‘‘, excluding industrial 20 hemp,’’ after ‘‘hemp’’; and 21 (iv) in clause (viii) (as so redesig- 22 nated), by striking ‘‘(vi)’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘(vii)’’; 24 (B) in paragraph (3)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3755 IH (i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 1 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘Nothing’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub- 3 paragraph (C), nothing’’; and 4 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(C) PREEMPTION.— 7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 8 vided in clause (ii), no State or Indian 9 tribe may establish or continue in effect 10 any law that— 11 ‘‘(I) regulates the production of 12 industrial hemp in compliance with 13 this subtitle; and 14 ‘‘(II) is more stringent than this 15 subtitle. 16 ‘‘(ii) VIOLATIONS WITH HIGHER CUL- 17 PABILITY.—Clause (i) shall not apply to 18 any law relating to any violation of or de- 19 scribed in subsection (e)(3).’’; and 20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(4) INSPECTIONS OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRO- 22 DUCERS.—With respect to annual inspections of in- 23 dustrial hemp producers under paragraph 24 (2)(A)(vi)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3755 IH ‘‘(A) the inspection shall be a visual in- 1 spection; 2 ‘‘(B) if a producer fails a visual inspection 3 under subparagraph (A), the State or Indian 4 tribe may require the producer to provide to the 5 State or Indian tribe documentation that dem- 6 onstrates a clear intent and in-field practices 7 consistent with the designation of the type of 8 production as industrial hemp under paragraph 9 (2)(A)(ii)(I), including seed tags, sales con- 10 tracts, a Farm Service Agency report, harvest 11 techniques, or a harvest inspection; and 12 ‘‘(C) if a producer fails to provide docu- 13 mentation demonstrating a clear intent and in- 14 field practices described in subparagraph (B), 15 the State or Indian tribe may require chemical 16 testing on harvested material of the producer 17 that failed the visual inspection under subpara- 18 graph (A).’’; 19 (2) in subsection (e)— 20 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)(iii), by striking 21 ‘‘basis.’’ and inserting ‘‘basis, unless the hemp 22 producer designated the type of production as 23 industrial hemp under subsection 24 (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I).’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3755 IH (B) in paragraph (3)— 1 (i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 2 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘neg- 3 ligence—’’ and inserting ‘‘negligence, or 4 knowingly produced a crop that is incon- 5 sistent with the designation of the type of 6 production of the hemp producer as indus- 7 trial hemp under subsection 8 (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I)—’’; 9 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii)— 10 (I) in the clause heading, by 11 striking ‘‘EXCEPTION’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘EXCEPTIONS’’; 13 (II) by striking ‘‘person growing’’ 14 and inserting the following: ‘‘person— 15 ‘‘(I) growing’’; 16 (III) in subclause (I) (as so des- 17 ignated), by striking the period at the 18 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 19 (IV) by adding at the end the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(II) that designates the type of 22 production of the person as industrial 23 hemp under subsection 24 (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I).’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3755 IH (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(D) PRODUCTION INCONSISTENT WITH 3 INDUSTRIAL HEMP DESIGNATION.—Any person 4 who knowingly produces a crop that is incon- 5 sistent with the designation of the type of pro- 6 duction of the person as industrial hemp under 7 subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I) shall be ineligible to 8 participate in the program established under 9 this section for a period of 5 years beginning on 10 the date of the violation.’’; and 11 (3) in subsection (f)(2), by inserting ‘‘, exclud- 12 ing industrial hemp,’’ after ‘‘hemp’’. 13 (c) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.—Section 297C 14 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 15 1639q) is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (a)— 17 (A) in paragraph (2)— 18 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 19 (B) through (F) as subparagraphs (C) 20 through (G), respectively; 21 (ii) by inserting after subparagraph 22 (A) the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3755 IH ‘‘(B) a procedure by which a hemp pro- 1 ducer shall designate the type of production of 2 the hemp producer as— 3 ‘‘(i) industrial hemp; or 4 ‘‘(ii) hemp for any purpose;’’; and 5 (iii) in subparagraph (C) (as so redes- 6 ignated), by inserting ‘‘, excluding indus- 7 trial hemp,’’ after ‘‘hemp’’; and 8 (B) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(3) INSPECTIONS OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRO- 10 DUCERS.—With respect to annual inspections of in- 11 dustrial hemp producers under paragraph (2)(F)— 12 ‘‘(A) the inspection shall be a visual in- 13 spection; 14 ‘‘(B) if a producer fails a visual inspection 15 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may re- 16 quire the producer to provide to the Secretary 17 documentation that demonstrates a clear intent 18 and in-field practices consistent with the des- 19 ignation of the type of production as industrial 20 hemp under paragraph (2)(B)(i), including seed 21 tags, sales contracts, a Farm Service Agency 22 report, harvest techniques, or a harvest inspec- 23 tion; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3755 IH ‘‘(C) if a producer fails to provide docu- 1 mentation demonstrating a clear intent and in- 2 field practices described in subparagraph (B), 3 the Secretary may require chemical testing on 4 harvested material of the producer that failed 5 the visual inspection under subparagraph (A).’’; 6 (2) in subsection (c)(3)— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘report the production’’ 8 and inserting the following: ‘‘report to the At- 9 torney General— 10 ‘‘(A) the production’’; and 11 (B) in subparagraph (A) (as so des- 12 ignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (b) to the At- 13 torney General.’’ and inserting the following: 14 ‘‘subsection (b); and 15 ‘‘(B) the production of a crop inconsistent 16 with the designation of the type of production 17 of the producer of the crop as industrial hemp 18 under subsection (a)(2)(B)(i).’’; and 19 (3) in subsection (d)(2)— 20 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 21 and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec- 22 tively; and 23 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 24 the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3755 IH ‘‘(B) for each hemp producer described in 1 subparagraph (A), the designation of the type 2 of production of the hemp producer under sub- 3 section (a)(2)(B);’’. 4 SEC. 3. REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES. 5 The Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate regula- 6 tions and guidelines to implement the amendments made 7 by this Act as expeditiously as practicable. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3755.IH H3755 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS