PDFWAC 16-305-060

Industrial hemp grower license.

(1) A person must obtain an industrial hemp grower license prior to planting or growing any industrial hemp in this state, including growing any industrial hemp seed crop. A licensed grower may sell or exchange industrial hemp produced under the license to any licensed industrial hemp processor or grower. A fit for commerce certificate issued by the department under WAC 16-305-130 must be obtained by a grower prior to transporting any industrial hemp from the grower's registered land area.
(2) Any information obtained by the department regarding a grower's growth of industrial hemp may be provided to law enforcement agencies and fire and rescue agencies by the department without further notice to the licensee.
(3) The department may inspect and sample a grower's licensed operations and must have unrestricted access to all industrial hemp plants, plant parts, grain and seeds within a registered land area whether growing or not, and all land and facilities used by a grower for the growing and storage of industrial hemp, pesticide storage or housing, and all documents and records pertaining to the licensee's industrial hemp business operations.
(4) The licensee must pay all applicable fees adopted under this chapter and under the industrial hemp seed rules for any required inspections and testing. Samples may be taken at the department's discretion for testing.
(5) No registered land area or storage area may contain cannabis plants or parts thereof that the licensee knows or has reason to know are of a variety that will produce a plant that when tested will produce more than three-tenths of one percent THC concentration on a dry weight basis. No licensee shall use any such variety for any purpose associated with the growing of industrial hemp.
(6) Industrial hemp may not be grown within four miles of any field or facility being used to grow marijuana as licensed under chapter 314-55 WAC. For calculation purposes, for outdoor fields licensed under chapter 314-55 WAC, four miles means from any field border of any registered land area, and for indoor facilities licensed under chapter 314-55 WAC, four miles means from any exterior or interior border wall.
(7) All licenses are valid for one year from date of issuance, and may be renewed in successive years. Each annual renewal shall require the payment of application renewal fees and license renewal fees.
(8) Unless approved by the department for continuous licensing, any plant material that is not harvested during the license period in which it was planted must be destroyed.
(9) Any licensee that wishes to change the registered land area(s) after issuance of the license, must submit to the department for approval an updated legal description, global positioning system location, and map specifying the proposed changes to the registered land area(s), pay fees and obtain the department's approval documented as an amendment to the license. The department may deny the requested change for good cause. The fee to change the registered land area(s) after issuance of the license is two hundred dollars.
(10) A copy of each license issued by the department under this section shall be forwarded by the department to the sheriff of each county where the industrial hemp is licensed to be grown.
(11) Signs provided by the department must be posted by each grower stating that the grower is a licensed industrial hemp research program participant. The grower must post such signs on at least each side of every field listed on the application, including the principal entry point(s) of each field.
(12) Licensees growing industrial hemp for seed certification must also follow the requirements in chapter 16-302 WAC.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 15.120.030 and chapter 34.05 RCW. WSR 17-09-034, § 16-305-060, filed 4/13/17, effective 5/14/17.]