WSR 17-08-090 PERMANENT RULES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE [Filed April 5, 2017, 8:35 a.m., effective May 6, 2017] Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: This rule-making order amends chapter 16-302 WAC, General rules for seed certification and chapter 16-303 WAC, Seed assessment, fees for seed services and seed certification. These amendments modify the existing seed certification rules to include industrial hemp by establishing the requirements, standards, and fees for participation in the voluntary industrial hemp seed certification program.
RCW 15.120.030(3) allows the department to adopt rules for administration of an industrial hemp seed certification program pursuant to chapter 15.49 RCW.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 16-302-050, 16-302-460, 16-302-465, 16-302-470, 16-303-200, and 16-303-320.
Other Authority: Chapter 34.05 RCW.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 17-05-113 on February 15, 2017.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 6, Amended 6, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: April 5, 2017.
Derek I. Sandison
Director
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 14-20-050, filed 9/25/14, effective 10/26/14)
WAC 16-302-050 Submitting an application for seed certification.
(1) Seed certification application due dates are:
(a) For seed certified by the department: Alfalfa, clover, grasses and rapeseed (seedling applications) - Within sixty days of planting. Seedling applications will not be accepted if received more than one hundred five days after planting.
(b) Hybrid canola or hybrid rapeseed - Fall plantings February 1st; Spring plantings - Twenty-one days after planting.
(c) Sunflower twenty-one days after planting.
(d) Notification of a seedling field to be harvested for certification the same year of planting is due July 31st with the required fees.
(i) Bean - July 1st.
(ii) Corn - June 1st.
(iii) Industrial hemp - Twenty-one days after planting.
(2) For seed certified by the Washington state crop improvement association (WSCIA):
(a) Field pea, chickpea, lentil, millet, and small grains (both winter and spring varieties) - June 1st.
(b) Buckwheat and soybean - July 1st.
(c) Sorghum - July 15th.
(d) Forest tree seed certification - Refer to specific crop requirements in chapter 16-319 WAC.
(3) An application for seed certification must be submitted to the certifying agency each year a grower plans to produce seed for certification of annual crops (beans, peas, grain).
(4) A renewal application for seed certification must be submitted to the certifying agency after a stand is established each year that a grower plans to produce seed for certification of perennial crops (alfalfa, clover, grass). Due dates for renewal applications are as follows:
(a) Alfalfa and clover - June 15th.
(b) Grass - May 1st.
(5) Applications received after the due date are assessed a late application fee.
(6) No renewal application for seed certification may be accepted after the due date if a field inspection cannot be conducted prior to harvest except at the discretion of the certifying agency.
Woody Plants and ((Forbes)) Forbs Certification Standards
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 14-20-050, filed 9/25/14, effective 10/26/14)
WAC 16-302-460 Standards for woody plants, ((Forbes)) forbs, and other reclamation species certification.
(1) The general seed certification definitions and standards in this chapter are basic and together with WAC 16-302-465 through 16-302-470 constitute the standards for woody plants and ((Forbes)) forbs certification.
(2) Fees for seed certification are assessed ((by the certifying agency)) as established in chapter 16-303 WAC.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 14-20-050, filed 9/25/14, effective 10/26/14)
WAC 16-302-465 Land requirements and field standards for woody plants, ((Forbes)) forbs, and other reclamation species.
(1) The life of a stand shall be unlimited as long as seventy-five percent of the plants present in the stand are those that were planted originally.
(2) To be eligible for the production of certified class of seed, a field must not have grown or been seeded to the same species during the previous four years for foundation, three years for registered, and two years for certified.
(3) A seed field inspection must be made the year of establishment and at least once each year that seed is to be harvested. This inspection will be made at a time when plant development allows for the detection of factors such as off-type varieties and weed contamination.
(4) Isolation for seed production the minimum distance from a different variety or wild hybridizing populations are as follows:
Volunteer plants may be cause for rejection or reclassification of a seed field.
(5) Specific field tolerances:
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 14-20-050, filed 9/25/14, effective 10/26/14)
WAC 16-302-470 Seed standards for woody plants, ((Forbes)) forbs, and other reclamation species.
SEED STANDARDS
Standards for ((Certified)) Industrial Hemp Seed Certification
NEW SECTION
WAC 16-302-840 Standards for industrial hemp seed production.
(1) The general seed certification definitions and standards in this chapter are basic and together with WAC 16-302-845 through 16-302-865 constitute the standards for industrial hemp seed certification.
(2) Fees for seed certification are assessed as established in chapter 16-303 WAC.
(3) All growers of industrial hemp certified seed crops are required to be licensed under the department's industrial hemp licensing rules adopted under chapter 15.120 RCW.
(4) Only varieties of industrial hemp approved by the department shall be eligible for certification. An approved variety must be a variety recognized by an international organization recognized by the department, such as the association of official seed certifying agencies or the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) seed scheme.
(5) The allowable area of an industrial hemp seed crop area or seed production field may be determined and limited by the department under the terms of rules adopted under chapter 15.120 RCW.
(6) All industrial hemp fields established for seed certification shall be planted with thirty-inch row spacing to facilitate inspection, roguing, and harvesting.
(7) Growers must post signage approved by the department on at least four sides, including the main entry point of each authorized field.
(8) Growers are required to obtain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) test results as required by rules adopted under chapter 15.120 RCW.
NEW SECTION
WAC 16-302-845 Definitions specific to industrial hemp seed production.
"Dioecious type" means a type of industrial hemp that has male and female flowers on separate plants.
"Industrial hemp" means all parts and varieties of the genera Cannabis, cultivated or possessed by a grower, whether growing or not, that contain a THC concentration of 0.3 percent or less by dry weight. Industrial hemp does not include plants of the genera Cannabis that meet the definition of "marijuana" as defined in RCW 69.50.101.
"Industrial hemp seed production" means an industrial hemp seed production field established with an appropriate generation of certified seed intended to produce a subsequent generation of certified seed.
"Monoecious type" means a type of industrial hemp that has male and female flowers on the same plant.
"Too male" means an intersexual plant that exceeds the ratio of male and female flowers as described in the variety description.
"Unisexual female" means a monoecious type of industrial hemp plant that has sterile male and fertile female flowers.
"Unisexual female hybrid" means a hybrid where the A line is a unisexual female type and the B line produces male fertile flowers.
"Variety" means a subdivision of a kind that is distinct, uniform, and stable; "distinct" in the sense that the variety can be differentiated by one or more identifiable morphological, physiological, or other characteristics from all other varieties of public knowledge; "uniform" in the sense that variations in essential and distinctive characteristics are describable; and "stable" in the sense that the variety will remain unchanged in its essential and distinctive characteristics and its uniformity when reproduced or reconstituted as required by the different categories of varieties.
"Volunteer plant" means an industrial hemp plant that results from a previous crop.
NEW SECTION
WAC 16-302-850 Land requirements for industrial hemp seed certification.
Land requirements for the production of an industrial hemp seed crop are as follows:
(1) Crops must not be planted on land where foreseeable volunteer growth from a previous crop may cause contamination detrimental to certification.
(2) Fields for foundation and registered classes must not be planted on land which in the previous five years grew a different crop of industrial hemp or marijuana.
(3) Crops for certified class must not be planted on land which in the previous three years produced a crop of industrial hemp or marijuana.
NEW SECTION
WAC 16-302-855 Isolation requirements for industrial hemp seed certification.
Isolation requirements for industrial hemp seed production are as follows:
(1) Isolation areas must be kept free of any harmful plants that can cause contamination. Not more than one plant per eleven square feet of harmful contaminants (species that can cross pollinate with the inspected crop) is permitted within the required isolation distance(s) adjacent to the inspected crop. The conditions of each crop are assessed by the department, which may alter this standard, usually by reducing the number of contaminant plants permitted per square yard, according to identified contamination risks.
(2) Foundation, registered and certified industrial hemp must be isolated from any marijuana production licensed by the liquor and cannabis board by a distance of fifteen miles.
(3) Industrial hemp seed production crops for certification must be isolated from all other industrial hemp varieties or fields not meeting the varietal purity requirements for certification as follows:
NEW SECTION
WAC 16-302-860 Field inspection standards and tolerances for industrial hemp seed certification.
(1) Industrial hemp seed production crop fields shall be inspected by the department in three stages.
(a) The first inspection should be conducted before female (pistillate) flowers of the inspected crop are receptive and after the formation of male (staminate) flowers before pollen is shed.
(b) The second inspection should be conducted during the receptive stage of the female plants in the inspected field, normally within three weeks of first inspection.
(c) The third inspection should be conducted within ten days prior to harvest. The grower must notify the department of anticipated harvest date. Fields not harvested within ten days of the third inspection will require an additional inspection and THC test.
(d) Isolation areas will be inspected for volunteer plants and harmful contaminants at each department inspection.
(2) Off-type male flowers must be removed by the grower prior to producing pollen and evidence of removal must be identifiable during the department's crop inspection.
Rogued male flowers must be removed from the field and buried or otherwise destroyed by the grower to prevent pollen production.
(3) If dioecious male plants start flowering before removal from field, all plants around them must be destroyed by the grower within a radius of ten feet for foundation seed, six feet for registered seed and three feet for certified seed.
If dioecious male plants or if other off-type male flowers are found to be shedding pollen during any inspection, an additional inspection will be required within seven days to verify adequate control of detrimental pollen. An additional reinspection fee will be assessed by the department.
(4) Plant samples will be taken by the department for THC testing at the third inspection. Test results in excess of 0.3% THC will be cause for rejection and the field may be subject to destruction.
The seed crop for certification may be harvested after the third inspection and the THC sample has been submitted for testing. However, no seed or other industrial hemp by-products may be transported off of the registered land area until THC testing with a result of 0.3% THC or less has been received and a release notice to the grower has been issued by the department.
(5) Intersexual plant type ratios shall not exceed the limits when defined in the variety description by the breeder.
(6) Excessive weeds or other factors that prevent varietal purity and identity determination shall be cause for the department to reject the affected field for certification purposes.
(7) Fields planted in such a manner that prevents inspector access shall be cause for the department to reject the affected field for certification purposes unless the grower remedies the condition in a timely manner as required by the department.
(8) Maximum impurity standards must not be exceeded based on six replicated counts of ten thousand plants according to the following table:
NEW SECTION
WAC 16-302-865 Seed standards for industrial hemp seed certification.
Seed standards for industrial hemp seed production crops are as follows:
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 12-19-065, filed 9/17/12, effective 10/18/12)
WAC 16-303-200 Seed program testing fees.
Seed testing fees are as follows:
(((1)))
/1 Standard 400 seed germination test.
(((2))) /2 Crops not listed in the above table will be charged by the category that they fit into.
/3 Germination requires 400 seed TZ according to AOSA rules.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 12-19-065, filed 9/17/12, effective 10/18/12)
WAC 16-303-320 Certification fees for seed certified by the department.
Seed certification fees apply to seed classes identified in WAC 16-302-015, as follows:
(1) Fees apply to both new and renewal applications.
The seed processor is responsible for seed certification fees including sampling, testing, production and final certification fees, and may accept responsibility for any other additional fees associated with certification. Fees for services such as O.E.C.D. and sod quality, etc., are in addition to the fees listed in this section.
(2) Other fees associated with grass seed certification:
Out-of-state origin seed tagged with interagency certification tags.
(3) Reissuance of certification tags is $0.15 per tag or a minimum fee of $13.00.
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