Rule 40-32-2-.01 - Application for Hemp Grower License(1) Any person desiring to cultivate and handle hemp in Georgia must submit a complete and accurate hemp grower license application to the website used by the Department to administer hemp grower licenses.(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 a 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. No hemp grower licensee may cultivate more acreage than is listed on the hemp grower license application.(b) Contact information including, but not limited to:(c) If the applicant is an entity, information including, but not limited to: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, the applicant 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); and7. 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 licensee 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 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 hemp grower licensee need not identify a field as a storage facility to the extent that a hemp grower licensee leaves harvested hemp to ret in a field. However, a hemp grower 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; and4. 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, stored, or handled for the purpose of conducting physical inspections and ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Georgia Hemp Farming Act and this Chapter;(h) An acknowledgement of the hemp grower license terms and conditions;(i) An attestation that the applicant owns or has legal permission to cultivate, handle, or store hemp on the 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 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 after January 1 of a given year, must subsequently complete a full application as if applying for the first time.(8) A hemp grower licensee may request select changes to the information associated with a hemp grower license. To request a change, 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 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 hemp grower license, including acceptable background checks for all key participants. Hemp grower licensees may request changes to the following:
(a) The information originally submitted in the licensee's hemp grower license application in satisfaction of GA. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 40-32-2-.01(3)(b), (c), (d), and (e).1. If a hemp grower licensee provides written notice and updated information regarding additional acreage, different grow sites locations, or different storage locations where the hemp grower licensee intends to cultivate, handle, or store hemp, the hemp grower 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 hemp grower licensee to a refund of previously paid fees.3. Hemp grower licensees will be limited to a maximum of ten (10) changes per calendar year made in accordance with this rule.(b) Prior to any change in a hemp grower licensee's key participants, the hemp grower licensee must submit a proposed change reflecting the change of key participant. The Department will conduct a background check on new key participants in accordance with this Subject.(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.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 40-32-2-.01
O.C.G.A. §§ 2-2-9; 2-5-1 et seq.; 2-23-1 et seq.
Original Rule entitled "Application for Hemp Grower License" adopted. F. Feb. 10, 2020; eff. Mar. 1, 2020.Amended: F. Jan. 19, 2022; eff. Feb. 8, 2022.Amended: F. Sept. 11, 2024; eff. Oct. 1, 2024.