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This email is to notify you that proposed (i.e. draft) rules are available for public comment and that ODA will hold a hearing in October for these proposed rules. If approved these rules will go into effect January 1, 2021.
The 2018 Farm Bill (Farm Bill) created a federal framework for regulating hemp through the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Farm Bill requires states that want to have the delegated authority to regulate hemp in their state to submit a state plan to USDA for review and approval within a year of the USDA publishing their rules. The USDA published Interim Final Rules (IFR) on October 31, 2019. ODA is updating their rules to meet the Farm Bill and IFR requirements in order to submit a state plan for review to the USDA.
The primary changes being made are:
- background check requirements,
- changes to pre-harvest sampling requirements,
- transportation requirements for intermediate hemp commodities, and
- updates to enforcement.
There is a possibility that the US Congress may pass a bill extending the time states can continue to operate under the 2014 Farm Bill. These rules include a new rule that limits these changes if that were to happen.
Please send written comments to the Rules Coordinator, Amy Bingham, at abingham@oda.state.or.us no later than 5:00 pm on October 16, 2020.
On October 8, 2020 at 9:00 AM, there will be a public hearing on proposed rules. The hearing will be held virtually using GoToMeeting. The information is available on the hemp website under Hemp Laws and Rules or at the link below.
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