Sections 2-501 to 2-518 shall be known and may be cited as the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act.
For purposes of the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act:
(1) Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 means section 10113 of the federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Public Law 115-334, and any regulations adopted and promulgated under such section, as such section, act, and regulations existed on January 1, 2024;
(2) Cultivate or cultivating means planting, watering, growing, and harvesting a hemp plant or crop. The presence of plants of the plant Cannabis sativa L. growing as uncultivated, naturalized plants in the environment is not cultivating hemp for purposes of the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act;
(3) Hemp means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, including the viable seeds of such plant and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Hemp shall be considered an agricultural commodity. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, hemp shall not be considered a controlled substance under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act;
(4) Person means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, postsecondary institution, or other legal entity;
(5) State-program-licensed hemp producer means a person licensed under a USDA-approved state or tribal program as authorized under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 and includes the authorized employees or agents of such person;
(6) USDA means the United States Department of Agriculture; and
(7) USDA-licensed hemp producer means a person licensed by the USDA to produce hemp as provided in 7 C.F.R. part 990, subpart C, as such regulations existed on January 1, 2024, and includes the authorized employees or agents of such person.
(1) Hemp may be cultivated in this state by a USDA-licensed hemp producer, in accordance with such producer's USDA-issued license, or by a state-program-licensed hemp producer, in accordance with such producer's license under a USDA-approved tribal program.
(2) Hemp may only be transported pursuant to section 2-515.
The Nebraska Hemp Program Fund is established. The fund terminates on January 1, 2025, and the State Treasurer shall transfer any money in the fund on such date or as soon thereafter as administratively possible to the Noxious Weed Cash Fund.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, any USDA-licensed hemp producer or state-program-licensed hemp producer transporting hemp shall carry with the hemp being transported a copy of the USDA license or state program license under which it was cultivated and a copy of the test results pertaining to each lot of hemp being transported.
(2) A USDA-licensed hemp producer or state-program-licensed hemp producer under a USDA-approved tribal program cultivating hemp in this state shall maintain a record of shipments of hemp shipped from or received by such producer. Such record shall, for each shipment of hemp, indicate the date of shipment, identify the point of origin and destination, identify the name of the person sending and receiving the shipment, and include the vehicle identification number of the vehicle transporting the hemp.
(3) Any USDA-licensed hemp producer or state-program-licensed hemp producer transporting hemp cultivated under such producer's USDA license or state program license shall not be required to carry a copy of the test results relating to such hemp as provided in subsection (1) of this section if such producer carries with the hemp being transported a copy of the applicable USDA license or state program license and is transporting:
(a) Hemp between two registered sites listed on the producer's USDA or state program license application;
(b) Samples of hemp for testing to determine the tetrahydrocannabinol level; or
(c) Live hemp plants to a registered site listed on the producer's USDA or state program license application prior to cultivating such hemp plants.
(4) Any person who is carrying or transporting hemp who is not a USDA-licensed hemp producer or state-program-licensed hemp producer shall only carry or transport hemp if such hemp meets the following requirements:
(a) The hemp is carried or transported with a bill of lading stating the owner of the hemp, the point of origin of the hemp, and the destination of the hemp;
(b) The hemp is carried or transported with a copy of the valid USDA or state program license under which the hemp was cultivated;
(c) The hemp is carried or transported with a copy of the test results pertaining to each lot of hemp being transported; and
(d) The hemp is not unloaded or in any way removed from the vehicle transporting such hemp unless authorized by state or federal law enforcement.
(5) No person shall transport or carry hemp in this state concurrently with any other plant material that is not hemp.
The Hemp Promotion Fund is established. The fund terminates on January 1, 2025, and the State Treasurer shall transfer any money in the fund on such date or as soon thereafter as administratively possible to the Noxious Weed Cash Fund.