License Authorizations.  The Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) licenses cannabis businesses in Washington.  A cannabis producer licensee may produce, harvest, trim, dry, cure, and package cannabis into lots for sale at wholesale to cannabis processor licensees and to other cannabis producer licensees.  A cannabis processor licensee may process, dry, cure, package, and label usable cannabis, cannabis concentrates, and cannabis-infused products for sale at wholesale to cannabis processors and retailers.

Cannabis Waste Disposal Rules.  Current LCB rules outline the methods by which solid and liquid wastes generated during cannabis production and processing must be stored, managed, and disposed of.  The methods differ based on the type of waste and whether the waste is designated as dangerous under the Hazardous Waste Management Act (HWMA).  The waste generator is responsible for evaluating their waste to determine if it is designated dangerous waste.  Some of the wastes that must be evaluated against the dangerous waste regulations include waste from cannabis flowers, trim, and solid plant material used to create an extract, waste solvents used in the cannabis process, discarded plant waste, and cannabis extract that fails to meet quality testing.

Cannabis waste that does not designate as dangerous waste must be rendered unusable by grinding and incorporating the waste with other specified ground materials so the resulting mixture is at least 50 percent non-cannabis waste by volume.  LCB may approve other methods to render cannabis waste unusable.  After the waste is rendered unusable, it must be properly disposed of at a permitted facility.

Hazardous Waste Management Act.  In implementing the HWMA, the Department of Ecology (Ecology) requires dangerous waste generators to properly dispose of waste at approved dangerous waste management sites and facilities.  Persons who generate dangerous waste are responsible for identifying their wastes as such based on characteristics including the waste's corrosiveness, ignitability, toxicity, and reactivity.  Dangerous wastes means any discarded, useless, unwanted, or abandoned substances, including, but not limited to, certain pesticides, or any residues or containers of such substances which are disposed of in such quantity or concentration as to pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, wildlife, or the environment.  Hazardous waste means and includes all dangerous and extremely hazardous waste, including substances composed of both radioactive and hazardous components.

Cannabis waste means solid waste generated during cannabis production or processing that has a THC concentration of 0.3 percent or less, and does not include hemp or industrial hemp.

A licensed cannabis producer and a licensed cannabis processor may sell cannabis waste to a person not licensed by LCB if:

• the cannabis waste would not be designated as dangerous or hazardous waste under the HWMA and any relevant rules adopted by Ecology or cannabis waste disposal rules adopted by LCB; and
• the licensee notifies LCB and the Washington State Department of Agriculture before the sale.

Cannabis waste not sold in accordance with relevant laws must be rendered unusable before leaving a licensed producer, processor, or laboratory.  LCB may adopt rules to implement the bill.