Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024
(1) Any person
desiring to process and handle hemp in Georgia must submit a complete and
accurate hemp processor permit application to the website used by the
Department to administer processor permits.
(2) Any person processing or intending to
process hemp must have a valid hemp processor permit. A valid permit means the
permit has been issued and is unexpired, unsuspended, and unrevoked.
(3) As part of the hemp processor permit
application, each applicant must submit to the Department the following:
(a) An annual hemp processor permit fee of
$500.00;
(b) A surety bond in
compliance with O.C.G.A. §
2-23-6.1;
(c) Information regarding the applicant's
business including, but not limited to:
1.
Legal individual or entity name;
2.
Principal office address;
3.
Telephone number and email address;
4. If the applicant is an entity, a current
Certificate of Existence obtained through the Georgia Secretary of State's
Office; and
(i) If 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.
5. Name, title, and current primary contact
information, including telephone number and email address, for each key
participant.
(d) An
attestation that the applicant owns or has legal permission to process, handle,
and store hemp on property listed on the application.
1. For purposes of satisfying this
requirement, sufficient ownership of property or legal permission to process,
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 ordinances.
(e) GPS coordinates provided in
decimal degrees and taken at the approximate entrance of each
facility;
(f) The approximate
dimension or square feet of each facility;
(g) An aerial map or photograph of the
processing facilities showing clear boundaries of each facility;
(h) Information sufficient for locating hemp
storage facilities including, but not limited to:
1. GPS coordinates provided in decimal
degrees and taken at the approximate entrance of each storage
facility;
2. The approximate
dimension or square feet of each storage facility; and
3. An aerial map or photograph that clearly
shows the boundaries and dimensions of each storage facility.
(i) A description of all hemp
products to be produced as well as an estimate of the volume of each such
product projected to be produced in the permit year;
(j) A statement of the intended end use or
disposal plan for all parts of hemp plants and hemp material received for
processing and not becoming part of a hemp product;
(k) Written consent, allowing representatives
of the Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and other affected
state and local law enforcement agencies to enter all premises where hemp is
being processed or handled for the purpose of conducting physical inspections
and ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Georgia Hemp Farming Act
and this Chapter; and
(l) An
acknowledgment of the processor permit terms and conditions.
(4) Hemp processor permits will be
issued on January 1 of each year, or otherwise when approved by the Department.
Processor permits will expire on December 31 of each calendar year for which
the Department issued the permit.
(a)
Notwithstanding the above, permits issued by the Department between July 1,
2024, and December 31, 2024, shall expire on December 31, 2025.
(5) At the conclusion of any
calendar year during which a permittee holds a processor permit, a permittee
may renew its processing permit upon timely submission of the $500.00 permit
fee, so long as no administrative action has been taken by the Department
against the permittee and provided the information in the permit application is
unchanged.
(a) Renewal fees and annual
criminal background checks dated within 60 days prior to the submission date
must be submitted by December 1 of each year. Permits will expire on December
31 of each year if renewal fees are not timely submitted as required
hereunder.
(b) A permittee that
begins, but does not finalize, the renewal of its hemp processor permit within
60 days after January 1 of a given year, must subsequently complete a full
application as if applying for the first time.
(6) Upon receipt of an otherwise complete
application for a processor permit, the Department will conduct a criminal
background check and obtain a Federal Criminal History Report for the applicant
or, if the applicant is an 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 an 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
applicant's 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.
(c) After
receiving the 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.
(7) A permittee may request select changes to
the information associated with a hemp processor permit. To request a change,
the permittee 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 processor permits. Changes in accordance with
such written notice and updated information will be valid only upon the
Department's approval. No such change will exempt a permittee from compliance
with all requirements of a hemp processor permit, including acceptable
background checks for all key participants.
Permittees may request changes to the following:
(a) The information originally submitted in
the permittee's hemp processor permit application in satisfaction of GA. Comp.
R. & Regs. r.
40-32-3-.01(3)(c)
& (e)-(j).
1. Permittees will be limited
to a maximum of ten (10) changes per permit year made in accordance with this
rule.
(b) Prior to any
change in a permittee's key participants, the permittee must submit a proposed
change to the hemp processor permit reflecting the change of key participant.
The Department will conduct a background check on new key participants in
accordance with GA. Comp. R. & Regs. r.
40-32-3-.01(6).
(8) Any person who materially
falsifies any information contained in an application for a hemp processor
permit will be ineligible to receive a hemp processor permit or otherwise
participate in the Georgia Hemp Program.
O.C.G.A.
§§
2-2-9;
2-5-1
et seq.;
2-23-1 et seq.
