Related Rules or Statutes
There are no directly related rules or statutes, other than those cited above.
Plain Language Analysis
The Pilot Program is designed to study the development industrial hemp in Wisconsin. Growers and Processors will provide information to the Department related to hemp production. As part of the Pilot Program, the Department is also establishing a voluntary seed certification program for industrial hemp.
Fiscal Impact
This emergency rule will have a fiscal impact on the Department’s operations. Under this emergency rule, the Department must issue licenses to persons planning to plant, grow, cultivate, harvest, handle, or process industrial hemp in Wisconsin. Department staff must review each application and all supporting information, and perform a background check on each applicant. Department staff will also be responsible for field inspections, sampling, and compliance. Research collected from each grower will be analyzed by Department staff annually.
Program administration will occupy at least 2 FTE staff in the Department’s Division of Agricultural Resource Management (this does not include legal, managerial, the Department’s central accounting, or other indirect staff support). The cost for the 2 FTE staff will be $200,000 per year, including salary, fringe benefits, and support costs.
Analysis of Supporting Documents used to Determine Effect on Small Business
Because this program is voluntary for all participants, no substantial analysis was required to determine the effect on small business.
Business Impact
This emergency rule will have no adverse effect on small business. The Pilot Program is voluntary and thus imposes no cost on businesses. By offering licenses to persons electing to grow industrial hemp under the Pilot Program, agricultural producers and businesses may benefit from this new opportunity to produce industrial hemp in the state. Applicants will be required to pay a non-refundable license fees. Licensees will be charged an annual fee to include actual costs incurred by the Department.
Surrounding State Programs
Minnesota currently operates an industrial hemp program. Additionally, many other states are in various stages of implementation of industrial hemp program (ex. Kentucky, New York, and North Dakota).
Data and Analytical Methodologies
The Department gathered information from several states and the federal government, related to regulations, sampling and testing protocols, compliance, importation, etc. Staff at the Department reviewed this information and the Department’s legal authority, in drafting this emergency rule.
Department Contact
Questions and comments related to this rule may be directed to:
Jennifer Heaton-Amrhein
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
2811 Agriculture Drive
Madison, WI 53718
Phone: (608) 224-4500
______________________________________________________________________________
FINDING OF EMERGENCY
A finding of emergency is not required. Section 15 of 2017 Act 100 provides that the Department is not required to provide a finding of emergency for a rule promulgated under this section. EMERGENCY RULE
Industrial Hemp
ATCP 22.01 Purpose. This chapter implements the industrial hemp program created under s. 94.55, Stats. ATCP 22.02 Definitions. As used in this chapter:
(1) “Applicant” means a person who has submitted a license application for a grower license or processor license.
(2) “Certified seed source” means hemp seed that is certified according to Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies standards or other certification standards approved by the department.
(3) “DEA” means the United States Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration.
(4) “Department" means the state of Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection.
(5) “Destroyed” means incinerated, tilled under the soil, made into compost, or disposed of in another manner approved by the department.
(6) “Distribute" means to sell, offer to sell, exchange, barter, or solicit orders for the sale of industrial hemp or otherwise supply or furnish industrial hemp to purchasers of industrial hemp in this state, whether or not the transactions are made wholly or partially in this state or another state.
(7) “Facility” means a space for handling, storing or processing industrial hemp.
(8) “Field” means a contiguous land area or greenhouse, registered with the department, on or in which a licensee plans to grow industrial hemp.
(9) “Fit for commerce certificate” means a document issued by the department or another state attesting that the industrial hemp has been tested for THC concentration and is in compliance with this chapter or another state’s industrial hemp pilot program under Section 7606 of the Agricultural Act of 2014.
(10) “Grower license” means the document that is issued by the department to a person after a successful application and review process and following departmental receipt of a signed licensing agreement and submission of all licensing fees.
(11) “Industrial hemp" means the plant Cannabis sativa, or any part of the plant including the seeds, having a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis or the maximum concentration allowed under federal law up to 1 percent, whichever is greater. “Industrial hemp” includes a substance, materials, or product only if it is designated as a controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act under 21 USC 801 to 971 or the Uniform Controlled Substances Act under ch. 961 or both. (12) “Industrial hemp research program” means the department’s “agricultural pilot program” established under s. 94.55, Stats., and this chapter. (13) “Licensee” means a person possessing a grower license or processor license.
(14) “Person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision, or other legal entity.
(15) “Processor license” means a document that is issued to a person after a successful application and receipt of all fees.
(16) “Registration” means the annual submission by a licensee of a registration form provided by the department, registration fees, and research agreement or other information as required by the department.
(17) “Registration fee” means the applicable amount that shall be paid by a licensee annually in order to maintain its license.
(18) “Research agreement” means a contract between the department and the licensee, detailing the rules of the industrial hemp research program. This is a legally binding agreement between the state of Wisconsin and the applicant. Failure to adhere to the research agreement may result in removal from the pilot program.
(19) “THC” means delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or delta-9-THC.
ATCP 22.03 Pilot program license.
(1) Grower license required. No person may operate as an industrial hemp grower without a grower license from the department. A grower license does not expire, but an annual registration must be completed by December 31 each year. A grower license may not be transferred to another person. The grower license allows a person to possess, cultivate, grow and harvest industrial hemp under Wisconsin law.
(2) Grower license application. A person applying for a grower license shall apply on a form provided by the department. An applicant shall provide all of the following to the department:
(a) The applicant’s legal name and address and any other name under which the applicant does business. If the applicant is a business entity, the full name of the business, the principal Wisconsin business location address, the full name of the individual who is authorized to sign on behalf of the business entity, phone number and email address.
(b) If the applicant is a business entity, the name, title and email address of the individual who will be primarily responsible for the industrial hemp operations of the business entity and who will be the subject of the federal and state criminal background check.
(c) Informed consent form authorizing the department to conduct a federal and state criminal background check.
(d) The global positioning system coordinates for each field, greenhouse, building, or site where industrial hemp will be planted, grown or cultivated.
(e) Maps depicting each field and facility where industrial hemp will be grown or processed with appropriate designation for entrances, field boundaries, and specific locations corresponding to the global positioning system coordinates or street address.
