New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 1 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
Chapter III - Plant Industry
Subchapter F - Industrial Hemp
Part 159 - License to Grow and Research Hemp
Section 159.2 - Definitions

(a) "Acceptable hemp THC level" means when the application of the measurement of uncertainty to the reported total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry weight basis produces a distribution or range that includes 0.3% or less.

(b) "Cannabis" means a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae of which Cannabis sativa L. is a species, and Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis are subspecies.

(c) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets of the State of New York.

(d) "Conviction" means any plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or any finding of guilt, except when the finding of guilt is subsequently overturned on appeal, pardoned, or expunged. For purposes of this Part, a conviction is expunged when the conviction is removed from the individual's criminal history record and there are no legal disabilities or restrictions associated with the expunged conviction, other than the fact that the conviction may be used for sentencing purposes for subsequent convictions. In addition, where an individual is allowed to withdraw an original plea of guilty or nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty and the case is subsequently dismissed, the individual is no longer considered to have a conviction for purposes of this Part.

(e) "Corrective action plan" means a plan established or approved by the Department under this Part for a licensed hemp grower to correct a negligent violation or non-compliance with this Part.

(f) "Criminal history report" means the Federal Bureau of Investigation Identity History Summary.

(g) "Culpable mental state greater than negligence" means to act intentionally, knowingly, willfully, or recklessly.

(h) "Decarboxylated" means the completion of the chemical reaction that converts THC-acid (THCA) into delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the intoxicating component of cannabis. The decarboxylated value is also calculated using a molecular mass conversion ratio that sums delta-9-THC and eighty-seven and seven tenths (87.7) percent of THCA ( + ).

(i) "Decarboxylation" means the removal or elimination of a carboxyl group from a molecule or organic compound.

(j) "Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol" "Delta-9 THC" or "THC" means the primary psychoactive cannabinoid of cannabis.

(k) "Department" means the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

(l) "Dispose" and any variant thereof, means any activity that transitions the non-compliant product into a non-retrievable or non-ingestible form. Such activities include plowing, tilling, or discing plant material into soil; mulching, composting, chipping, or brush mowing plant material into green manure; burning plant material into the earth and covering it with soil; or as otherwise authorized in this Part or in writing by the Department.

(m) "Drug Enforcement Administration" or "DEA" means the United States Federal Law Enforcement Agency under the United States Department of Justice.

(n) "Drug Enforcement Administration Registered Reverse Distributor" means a person who is registered with the DEA in accordance with Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations Subpart 1317.15 to dispose of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act.

(o) "Dry weight basis" means the method of determining the percentage of a chemical in a substance after removing the moisture from the substance.

(p) "Dwelling" means any residential building or portion thereof intended for human habitation.

(q) "Farm Service Agency" or "FSA" means the Farm Service Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.

(r) "Gas Chromatography" or "GC" means a type of chromatography in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. GC relies on heat for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition.

(s) "Geospatial location" or "GPS" means a location designated through a global system of navigation satellites used to determine the precise ground position of a place or object.

(t) "Grower" means a person who is licensed by the Department to grow or cultivate hemp in the State.

(u) "Grow Location" means a contiguous land area or the greenhouses, hoop houses, or buildings for indoor cultivation, registered with the Department, on or in which a licensee or applicant will conduct licensed hemp cultivation activities. Each non-contiguous grow location must be registered separately.

(v) "Handle" means to harvest, dry, or store hemp plants or hemp plant parts prior to their introduction into commerce. Handling includes the processing of hemp only in connection with its growing and cultivation, the disposal of cannabis plants that fall outside the definition of hemp, and the remediation of hemp as permitted pursuant to this Part.

(w) "Hemp" means the plant species Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof 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.

(x) "Liquid chromatography" or "LC" means a type of chromatography technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. LC relies on pumps to pass a pressurized liquid solvent containing the sample mixture through a column filled with a solid adsorbent material to separate and analyze compounds.

(y) "Key participants" means a sole proprietor, a partner in partnership, or a person with executive managerial control in a business or educational entity. A person with executive managerial control includes, without limitation, persons such as a chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. This definition does not include non-executive managers such as farm, field, or shift managers.

(z) "Law enforcement agency" means any Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency.

(aa) "Lot" means a contiguous area in a field, sub-field, tract, greenhouse, or indoor growing structure containing the same variety or strain of hemp throughout the area.

(bb) "Marijuana" means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin. The term marijuana does not include hemp, as defined in this Part, and does not include the mature stalks of Cannabis sativa L., fiber produced from its stalks, oil or cake made from its seeds and any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), its fiber, oil, cake, or sterilized seed incapable of germination. Except as otherwise provided by this Part, marijuana means all cannabis that tests as having a total THC concentration level of higher than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.

(cc) "Measurement of Uncertainty (MU)" means the parameter, associated with the result of a measurement, that characterizes the dispersion of the values that could reasonably be attributed to the quantity subject to measurement.

(dd) "Negligence" means the failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in complying with the provisions of this Part.

(ee) "Percentage of THC on a dry weight basis" means the percentage of THC, by weight, in a hemp plant, the segregated parts of a hemp plant or the comingled parts of harvested hemp plants, after excluding moisture from the plant matter.

(ff) "Performance-based sampling" means a sampling approach that sets a performance objective of collecting enough samples to ensure, at a confidence level of 95 percent, that no more than one percent of the plants in the lot exceed the acceptable hemp THC level. Performance-based sampling provides flexibility in the sampling approach to the extent that the approach provides an effective method of ensuring the overall acceptable hemp THC level. Performance-based sampling may be based on, among other things, the end-use categories of the plant varieties, such as fiber or grain, historical THC concentrations of varietals over time, or the characteristics and growing histories of certain farms or producers, certified seed, or clonal varieties, some or all of which may ensure effective criteria to ensure overall acceptable hemp THC levels and require less comprehensive sampling of hemp.

(gg) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or any business entity or institution of higher education, by whatever name designated and however formed or organized.

(hh) "Post-decarboxylation" means, in the context of testing methodologies for THC concentration levels in hemp, a value determined after the process of decarboxylation that determines the total potential delta-9 THC content derived from the sum of the THC and THCA content, and reported on a dry weight basis. The post-decarboxylation value of THC may be calculated by using a chromatograph technique using heat, gas chromatography, through which THCA is converted from its acid form to its neutral form, THC. Thus, this test calculates the total potential THC in a given sample. The post-decarboxylation value of THC can also be calculated by using a liquid chromatography technique, which keeps the THCA intact, and requires a conversion calculation of that THCA to calculate total potential THC in a given sample.

(ii) "Processing of hemp in connection with its growing and cultivation" means the growing, cultivation, harvesting, drying, curing, grinding, and trimming of hemp plants. Processing of hemp includes the remediation of hemp in conformity with the requirements of this Part.

(jj) "Produce" or "Production" means to grow hemp plants for market, or for cultivation for market in the State or the United States.

(kk) "Remediation" means the process of rendering non-compliant hemp being cultivated by a licensed hemp grower to compliant hemp as set forth in this Part. For example, remediation can be achieved by separating and destroying non-compliant flowers while retaining stalks, leaves and seeds; or by shredding the entire hemp plant to create a homogeneous "biomass". Remediated hemp must be retested for THC compliance.

(ll) "Registered premises" means any facility, location, or property leased, licensed, owned, or otherwise used by a person to grow hemp that has been authorized by the Department as a site where hemp may be grown.

(mm) "Sampling" means the process of collecting cuttings from hemp plants for the purposes of compliance testing.

(nn) "Sampling Agent" means a person trained and certified by the Department on applicable State and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) procedures to collect regulatory sample of hemp for THC compliance testing.

(oo) "State" means the State of New York.

(pp) "Total THC" means the value determined after the process of decarboxylation, or the application of a conversion factor, as set forth in this Part, if the testing does not include decarboxylation that expresses the potential total delta-9 THC content derived from the sum of the THC and THCA content and reported on a dry weight basis.

(qq) "Valid license" means a duly issued license that is unexpired, unsuspended, and unrevoked.