Bill Summaries: S313 INDUSTRIAL HEMP. (NEW)

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  • Summary date: Nov 5 2015 - View Summary

    AN ACT TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE AND LEGITIMACY OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP RESEARCH, TO PROVIDE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH PORTIONS OF THE FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL ACT OF 2014, AND TO PROMOTE INCREASED AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT. Enacted October 31, 2015. Section 2 is effective on the first day of the month following the adoption of permanent rules pursuant to Section 3. The remainder is effective October 31, 2015.


  • Summary date: Sep 28 2015 - View Summary

    House committee substitute makes the following changes to the 2nd edition.

    Deletes the provisions of the previous edition and replaces it with the following.

    Enacts new Article 50E, Industrial Hemp, in GS Chapter 106.

    Sets out the General Assembly's findings and purpose. Defines terms as they are used in the new Article, including certified seed, commercial use, grower, hemp products, industrial hemp and tetrahydrocannabinol or THC.

    Establishes the five-member North Carolina Hemp Commission (Commission), with members serving staggered four-year terms. Sets out membership requirements, and provides for naming a chair, filling vacancies, removing members, member reimbursement, establishing a quorum, and staffing.

    Sets out the Commission's nine powers and duties, including establishing an agricultural program to grow or cultivate industrial hemp in the state; pursuing any permits or waivers from federal agencies necessary for the establishment of the industrial hemp cultivation pilot program established by this Article; issuing licenses allowing a person, firm, or corporation to cultivate industrial hemp for commercial purposes to the extent allowed by federal law; and studying and investigating marketplace opportunities for hemp products to increase the job base in the state by means of employment related to the production of industrial hemp. 

    Requires the Commission to get funding from sources other than the state of at least $200,000 before undertaking any of its powers and duties under this new Article. Sets out further provisions concerning the return of unspent funds and carry over of funds.

    Amends GS 90-87 to exempt from the definition of marijuana industrial hemp when the industrial hemp is produced and used in compliance with rules issued by the Board of Agriculture upon the recommendation of the Commission.

    Allows the Board of Agriculture to adopt temporary rules to implement the act and requires the adoption of permanent rules as recommended by the Commission.

    The changes to GS 90-87 are effective on the first day of the month following the adoption of permanent rules. 

    The act expires on June 30 of the fiscal year in which the Commission adopts and submits to the Governor and to the Revisor of Statutes a resolution that a state pilot program allowing farmers to lawfully grow industrial hemp is no longer necessary because (1) the US Congress has enacted legislation that removes industrial hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act and (2) the legislation has taken effect.

    Changes the act's titles.


  • Summary date: Jul 22 2015 - View Summary

    House committee substitute makes the following changes to the 1st edition. Adds the following provisions.

    Enacts new provision in GS 20-79.4(b) authorizing the issuance of a Carolina Panthers license plate with the specified design. Establishes a special plate fee of $30 and requires that $20 of that amount be transferred quarterly with 1/2 going to the Keep Pounding Fund of the Carolina Healthcare Foundation, Inc., to support cancer research at the Carolina Medical Center, and 1/2 of that amount going to the Carolina Panthers Charities Fund of the Foundation for the Carolinas to be used to create new athletic opportunities for children, support their educational needs, and promote healthy lifestyles for families. Prohibits the Division of Motor Vehicles from issuing and producing any more special registration plates developed for the Carolina Panthers under GS 20-79.4(b)(185).

    Enacts new provision in GS 20-79.4(b) authorizing the issuance of a NC Surveyors license plate with the specified design. Establishes a special plate fee of $25 and requires that $15 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the North Carolina Society of Surveyors Education Foundation, Inc., to be used for financial assistance to those interested in pursuing or continuing to pursue an education in the field of surveying. 

    Enacts new provision in GS 20-79.4(b) authorizing the issuance of a North Carolina Sheriffs' Association license plate with a logo and phrase selected by the Association. Establishes a special plate fee of $30 and requires that $20 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the North Carolina Sheriff's Association, Inc., to be used for support the Association's operating expenses. 

    Enacts new provision in GS 20-79.4(b) authorizing the issuance of two different Save the Honey Bee license plates with the specified designs. Establishes special plate fees of $15 for each plate. For the first plate, requires that $5 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the North Carolina State University Apiculture Program; for the second plate, requires that $5 of that amount be transferred quarterly, with half going to the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation to be used to support the Honey Bee Haven and honey bee educational programs and half of the money going to the North Carolina State University Apiculture Program to be used to support work on honey bee biology and apicultural science.

    Reauthorizes the Military Veteran special registration plate without a required minimum number of applications and specifies that the plate is not subject to the new plate development process or plate expiration provisions. Reenacts the plate fee amount. These provisions are effective 90 days after becoming law.

    Reauthorizes the Order of the Long Leaf Pine special registration plate without a required minimum number of applications and specifies that the plate is not subject to the new plate development process or plate expiration provisions. Reenacts the plate fee amount. 

    Authorizes the Revisor of Statutes to make specified types of changes.


  • Summary date: Mar 17 2015 - View Summary

    Amends GS 20-79.4(b)(190) concerning special registration plate for registers of deeds, clarifying that they are issuable to a register of deeds of counties of North Carolina. Includes additional language for who is considered a "retired register of deeds" for the purposes of receiving the special registration plate, providing that a person is a "retired register of deeds" if they (1) have at least 10 years of service as a register of deeds of a county of this state and (2) no longer hold office for any reason other than removal under GS 161-27.