(1) Any person desiring to cultivate and
handle hemp in Georgia must submit a complete and accurate Hemp Grower License
Application online at the Department's website, agr.georgia.gov.
(2) Any person producing or intending to
produce hemp must have a valid Hemp Grower License prior to receiving,
producing, cultivating, handling, or storing hemp. A valid license means that
the license has been issued and is unexpired, unsuspended, and
unrevoked.
(3) As part of the Hemp
Grower License Application, each applicant must submit to the Department the
following:
(a) An annual Hemp Grower License
fee of $50.00 per acre cultivated up to a maximum application fee of $5,000.00;
1. The applicant must provide the maximum
total acres of hemp intended to be cultivated in fields during the relevant
licensing period.
2. Applicants
cultivating hemp in covered growing facilities must identify the maximum number
and size, in square footage, of covered growing facilities intended to be used
for cultivation during the relevant licensing period.
3. The license fee will not be prorated for
fractions of acres. Fractional acreage will be rounded up to the next whole
number for fee calculation purposes.
4. Each covered growing facility in which
hemp is cultivated will be considered a separate acre for fee calculation
purposes. Acreage calculations for each covered growing facility will be
determined on a 43,560 square-foot basis.
5. Any Licensee who cultivates more acreage
than is listed on the Hemp Grower License Application will be deemed to have
violated their Hemp Grower License and will be subject to enforcement under the
Georgia Hemp Farming Act and these Rules.
(b) Contact information including, but not
limited to:
1. Name;
2. Street Address;
3. Mailing Address;
4. Telephone Number; and
5. Email Address.
(c) If the applicant is a business entity,
information including, but not limited to:
1.
Legal business name or trade name;
2. Business structure type;
3. Address of the principal business
location;
4. Primary contact
information;
5. Current Certificate
of Existence obtained through the Georgia Secretary of State's Office;
i. If an applicant is an entity formed in a
foreign jurisdiction, including a different State, it must submit an equivalent
certificate of existence from its home jurisdiction, as well as a Georgia
Certificate of Authority to conduct business.
6. Employer Identification Number (EIN);
and
7. Name, title, and current
primary contact information, including telephone number and email address, for
each owner, key participant, and person holding a beneficial interest in the
Hemp Grower License for which an application is being made.
(d) Information sufficient for
locating fields and covered growing facilities to be used to cultivate and
harvest hemp, specifically;
1. If hemp is
cultivated or is intended to be cultivated in a field:
i. A legal description, obtained from the
relevant county courthouse property records, of land on which hemp will be
cultivated or handled;
ii. GPS
coordinates provided in decimal of degrees and taken at the approximate center
of each Grow Site; and
iii. An
aerial map or photograph that clearly shows the boundaries and dimensions of
each Grow Site in acres or square feet.
2. If hemp is cultivated or is intended to be
cultivated in a covered growing facility:
i. A
legal description, obtained from the relevant county courthouse property
records, of land on which hemp will be cultivated or handled;
ii. GPS coordinates provided in decimal of
degrees and taken at the approximate entrance of the covered growing facility
composing the Grow Site;
iii. The
approximate dimension or square feet of the covered growing facility composing
the Grow Site; and
iv. An aerial
map or photograph that clearly shows the boundaries and dimensions of each Grow
Site in acres or square feet.
(e) Information sufficient for locating hemp
storage facilities including, but not limited to:
1. A legal description, obtained from the
relevant county courthouse property records, of land on which hemp will be
stored;
i. A licensee need not identify a
field as a storage facility to the extent that a licensee leaves harvested hemp
to ret in a field. However, a licensee must identify a field as a storage
facility if the licensee intends to bail or otherwise prepare the hemp for long
term storage in the field.
2. GPS coordinates provided in decimal of
degrees and taken at the approximate entrance of each storage
facility;
3. The approximate
dimension or square feet of each storage facility; and
4. An aerial map or photograph that clearly
shows the boundaries and dimensions of each storage facility.
(f) An attestation that property
to be used for the cultivation, handling, or storage of hemp is not used for
residential purposes.
(g) Written
consent allowing representatives of the Department, the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to
enter all premises where hemp is being cultivated, harvested, or handled for
the purpose of conducting physical inspections and ensuring compliance with the
requirements of the Georgia Hemp Farming Act and these Rules;
(h) An acknowledgement of the Grower License
Terms and Conditions;
(i) An
attestation that the applicant owns or has legal permission to cultivate,
handle, or store hemp on property listed on the application; and
1. For purposes of satisfying this
requirement, sufficient ownership of property or legal permission to cultivate,
handle, or store hemp on property includes property specifically deeded or
leased to the respective applicant, whether an individual or entity, use of
which will not be in violation of local zoning or other real estate
ordinances.
(j) Any other
information, disclosure, or documents required to be submitted by Georgia or
Federal law or regulation.
(4) Upon receipt of an otherwise complete
application for a Hemp Grower License, the Department will conduct a criminal
background check and obtain a federal criminal history report for the applicant
or, if the applicant is a business entity, all key participants, as outlined
below:
(a) At least one set of classifiable
electronically recorded fingerprints of the individual applicant or, if the
applicant is a business entity, one set of classifiable electronically recorded
fingerprints of each key participant must be submitted to the Department in
accordance with the fingerprint system of identification established by the
director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(b) The Department will transmit the
fingerprints to the Georgia Crime Information Center, which will submit the
fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a search of bureau
records and generation of an appropriate report, and the Georgia Crime
Information Center will promptly conduct a search of state records based upon
the fingerprints and generate an appropriate report.
(c) After receiving reports from the Georgia
Crime Information Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Department will review the record for all individuals or key participants, as
applicable.
(5) Hemp
Grower Licenses will be issued on January 1 of each year, or otherwise when
approved by the Department.
(6)
Hemp Grower Licenses will expire on December 31 of each year unless suspended,
cancelled, or revoked at an earlier date.
(7) A current and valid Hemp Grower License
may be renewed by submitting a renewal application, annual license fee, annual
criminal background checks dated within 60 days prior to the renewal
application submission date, and all other required information online at the
Department's website, agr.georgia.gov, by December 1 of each year.
(a) A Licensee may not renew their Hemp
Grower License until they have submitted all required Disposal or Remediation
Reports and their Annual Report.
(b) A Licensee that begins, but does not
finalize, a renewal application of its Hemp Grower License within 60 days of
January 1 of a given year, must subsequently complete a full application as if
applying for the first time.
(8) A Licensee may request select changes to
a Hemp Grower License. To request a change to a Hemp Grower License, the
Licensee must, at least ten (10) calendar days prior to making the change,
provide written notice of the proposed change to the Department via e-mail to
hemp@agr.georgia.gov, or submit the proposed changes on the Department's
website used to administer Hemp Grower Licenses. Changes to a Grower License in
accordance with such written notice and updated information will be valid only
upon the Department's approval. No such change will exempt a Licensee from
compliance with all requirements of a Grower License, including acceptable
background checks for all key participants.
Licensees may request changes to the following:
(a) The information originally submitted in
Licensee's Grower License application in satisfaction of Rules
40-32-2-.01(3)(b), (c), (d), and
(e).
1. If a
Licensee provides written notice and updated information regarding additional
acreage, different Grow Sites locations, or different storage locations where
Licensee intends to cultivate, handle, or store hemp, Licensee must submit
payment for any additional acreage within ten (10) days of the Department's
approval of the requested change.
2. Changes reflecting a reduction in
cultivated field or covered growing facility acreage will not entitle a
Licensee to a refund of previously paid fees.
3. Licensees will be limited to a maximum of
three (3) changes per calendar year made in accordance with this Rule
40-32-2-.01(8)(a).
(b) Prior to any change in a Licensee's key
participants, the Licensee must submit a proposed change to the Grower License
reflecting the change of key participant. The Department will conduct a
background check on new key participants in accordance with Rule
40-32-2-.01(4).
(9) Any person who materially falsifies any
information contained in an application for a Hemp Grower License will be
ineligible to receive a Hemp Grower License or otherwise participate in the
Georgia Hemp Program.
