USDA Asks Six States To Resubmit Hemp Regulatory Plans With Federal Edits In Mind

Six states that submitted hemp regulatory plans to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are being asked to make revisions and resubmit before they’re approved. For reasons that aren’t immediately clear, the federal agency did not accept proposed rules for the newly legal crop from California, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah. Industry advocates suspect that the states are pushing for additional flexibility in USDA’s interim final rule. “As we have done from day one, [Colorado Department of Agriculture] is working through the state plan submission and approval process in a careful and comprehensive manner to best serve the needs of Colorado,” Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg said in a press release on Tuesday. “Given the many changes at the federal level, we are working hard to create a stable and sound regulatory environment so that Colorado’s hemp industry can continue to lead the nation,” she said. Westword reported that Colorado regulators included certain provisions in their proposal that are at odds with USDA’s requirements. For example, they wanted hemp to be tested at independent facilities, whereas USDA’s rules mandate that the crop be tested only at labs certified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Arizona was previously listed as a state pending resubmission of their plan, but that has since been updated to say “under review,” indicating that regulators made edits and sent a revised proposal back to the agency. USDA approved hemp regulatory plans for Maryland and the Lower Sioux Indian Community earlier this month, bringing the…

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Source : MJ moment
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