State agriculture departments and hemp industry advocates joined together to send letters to Congress and the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday to express concern about the pending expiration of the 2014 hemp pilot program.
The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) and National Industrial Hemp Council (NIHC) said that they appreciate USDA’s development of interim regulatory guidelines for the crop under the more sweeting 2018 Farm Bill, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, several states have not been able to create their own plans to get into compliance by the October 31 deadline.
With that in mind, they asked congressional leaders to pass supplementary appropriations legislation to extend the earlier pilot program though 2021 to give states more time to craft rules. The groups said they support the House inclusion of such an extension in their agriculture spending bill, but they’re concerned that “the annual appropriations bills may not be completed before the extension is vitally needed.”
“Many states were able to transition from their hemp pilot programs to a USDA state approved plan. Notwithstanding this progress, many states will be unable to meet the forthcoming deadline,” the letter states. “These states have cited that due to the unprecedented national COVID-19 pandemic, state regulators have been unable to work with their state legislatures to acquire necessary statuary amendments.”
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