The purpose of this item is to develop a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors on a proposed ordinance restricting the processing, manufacturing, sale, and storage of industrial hemp in Yolo County. The Board requested Planning Commission feedback on the proposed ordinance during a meeting on December 17, 2019.
BACKGROUND
The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from Schedule 1 of the federal Controlled Substances Act, effective January 1, 2019. Hemp is no longer federally regulated as a controlled substance and there is increasing interest in hemp cultivation and related activities, such as seed production. Industrial hemp is a form of cannabis that, under state law, must contain no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry weight basis. This chemical difference is the principal means of distinguishing between industrial hemp and cannabis cultivated for medical and recreational purposes, and hemp is similar in appearance and odor to cannabis.
As the Planning Commission may be aware, the County currently has a moratorium on the cultivation of industrial hemp. The moratorium will expire on January 14, 2021. It includes limited exemptions for the cultivation of nursery stock, transplants, research or seed breeding, provided such activities are conducted indoors (including in greenhouses) and meet other requirements (e.g., security, pollen control). The Agricultural Commissioner has general oversight of exempt cultivation activities. The current moratorium ordinance (as modified by the Board on November 19, 2019) is included as Attachment B. The ordinance does not regulate the non-cultivation activities—i.e., processing, manufacturing, storage and sales—that are the subject of the new ordinance included for consideration with this staff report.
The Board has directed County staff to consider and recommend a regulatory approach to industrial hemp cultivation that balances several factors, including potential economic opportunities for local growers, cross-pollination risks (with both cannabis and hemp), demands upon law enforcement, concerns about ineffective crop THC-level sampling, and nuisance odors. A working group that includes local growers, hemp experts from UC Davis, law enforcement, the Agricultural Commissioner and other stakeholder is currently reviewing these issues with staff to assist in formulating a regulatory approach for Board consideration prior to expiration of the cultivation moratorium in early 2021.
THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE
As noted, the existing moratorium ordinance applies only to hemp cultivation. County staff regularly receive inquiries concerning non-cultivation activities involving industrial hemp. These inquiries range from questions about storing hemp prior to its distribution, processing harvested hemp (cutting, trimming, drying, and related activities), and manufacturing hemp-related products such as cigarettes with hemp cultivated outside of California. State and federal regulation of these activities is not fully developed, though legislation regulating some aspects of hemp product manufacturing and sales is currently pending in the Legislature (see AB 228, Attachment C). As even a cursory review of AB 228 shows, the marketing and sale of hemp products presents an array of consumer safety issues that require a uniform statewide approach.
As indicated above, on December 17, 2019 the Board directed staff to develop an ordinance banning all such activities. The Board also included hemp storage within the range of activities to be included in the ordinance, though it recognized the potential need to evaluate storage further (including but not limited to including a “grandfather” clause for existing hemp storage occurring in Yolo County). In providing this direction, the Board acknowledged the possibility of revisiting the ban upon the adoption of a state regulatory framework covering such activities.
The attached ordinance responds to the Board’s direction. The ordinance includes a straightforward ban on processing and manufacturing activities, as well as a ban on the commercial sale of industrial hemp products to consumers. The ordinance takes a more nuanced approach to storage, banning storage at facilities not current used for the hemp storage as of the effective date of the ordinance. In order to take advantage of the limited exemption for continued storage at facilities already in such use, the facility owner or lessee has to register with the Agricultural Commissioner prior to the effective date of the ordinance and provide certified laboratory results demonstrating the commodity is industrial hemp rather than cannabis. Finally, the ordinance also contains enforcement provisions that (like the cultivation moratorium ordinance) incorporate the abatement process set forth in the County’s cannabis licensing ordinance. Restrictions in the ordinance are not applicable to currently exempt cultivation activities, but only to the extent they can demonstrate that manufacturing, processing, sales and storage are incidental to their authorized cultivation activities.
County staff will present the proposed ordinance to the Board of Supervisors on February 25, 2020. As part of that presentation, staff will include any feedback from the Planning Commission. That feedback is requested following the conclusion of the public hearing on this item. |