2018 Code of Virginia
Title 3.2 - Agriculture, Animal Care, and Food
Chapter 41.1 - Industrial Hemp
§ 3.2-4114.2. Authority of Commissioner; notice to law enforcement; report

A. The Commissioner may charge a nonrefundable fee not to exceed $50 for (i) any application for registration or renewal of registration allowed under this chapter and (ii) tetrahydrocannabinol testing allowed under this chapter. All fees collected by the Commissioner shall be deposited in the state treasury.

B. The Commissioner may establish a minimum size for a production field that shall qualify a person for a Virginia industrial hemp research program grower registration.

C. The Commissioner shall notify the Superintendent of State Police of the locations of all industrial hemp production fields and process sites.

D. The Commissioner shall forward a copy or appropriate electronic record of each registration issued by the Commissioner under this chapter to the chief law-enforcement officer of the county or city where industrial hemp will be grown or processed.

E. The Commissioner shall be responsible for monitoring the industrial hemp grown or processed by a person registered pursuant to subsection A of § 3.2-4115 and shall provide for random testing of the industrial hemp, at the cost of the grower or processor, for compliance with tetrahydrocannabinol limits and for other appropriate purposes established pursuant to § 3.2-4114. In addition to any routine inspection and sampling, the Commissioner may inspect and sample the industrial hemp at any production field or process site during normal business hours without advance notice if he has reason to believe a violation of this chapter is occurring or has occurred.

F. The Commissioner may require a grower or processor to destroy, at the cost of the grower or processor and in a manner approved of and verified by the Commissioner, any Cannabis sativa that the grower grows or the processor processes that has been tested and is found to have a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol that is greater than that allowed by federal law.

G. The Commissioner may advise the Superintendent of State Police or the chief law-enforcement officer of the appropriate county or city when a grower grows or a processor processes any Cannabis sativa with a concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol that is greater than that allowed by federal law.

H. The Commissioner may pursue any permits or waivers from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration or appropriate federal agency that he determines to be necessary for the advancement of a higher education industrial hemp research program or the Virginia industrial hemp research program.

I. The Commissioner may cooperatively seek funds from public and private sources to implement a higher education industrial hemp research program or the Virginia industrial hemp research program.

J. By December 1 of each year, the Commissioner shall report on the status and progress of any higher education industrial hemp research program and the Virginia industrial hemp research program to the Governor and to the General Assembly and shall submit such report for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports.

2018, cc. 689, 690.