Md. Code Regs. 15.01.17.15

Current through Register Vol. 52, No. 1, January 10, 2025

Section 15.01.17.15 - Sanctions for Violating the Department's Hemp Farming Program

A. Except as provided in §C of this regulation, the Department, upon notice and an opportunity to be heard, may deny a license application or suspend or revoke a license to produce hemp under the Program, if the person:

(1) Fails to comply with the Department's plan for monitoring and regulating the production of hemp;

(2) Misrepresents the legal description of land on which hemp is produced;

(3) Produces hemp without a valid license;

(4) Produces plants, or any part of a plant, that exceeds a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis;

(5) Violates the licensing terms set forth in Regulation .04D of this chapter;

(6) Provides false or misleading information in any report, record, or other document required under this chapter or during the course of an inspection conducted under this chapter;

(7) Hinders or obstructs an authorized agent of the Department or any other law enforcement officer from entering the licensed area for the purpose of collecting, sampling, or inspecting hemp;

(8) Fails to maintain all records pertaining to hemp production required by this chapter and to make these records available during normal business hours for copying and inspection by the Department or other law enforcement agency;

(9) Fails to submit complete, signed, and accurate reports required under Regulation .08 of this chapter;

(10) Fails to dispose of hemp as directed by the Department;

(11) Is found to be growing or in possession of hemp not in compliance with these regulations;

(12) Is convicted of a felony related to a controlled substance under state or federal law;

(13) Cultivates or stores hemp on any site not listed in the application;

(14) Represents hemp seeds which are indistinguishable by the plant's characteristics to be of a recognized variety, without having adequate information for such variety representation; or

(15) Violates any provision of this chapter.

B. The Department shall deny a license application or suspend or revoke a license to produce hemp under the Program if the person provides false or misleading information in the application for a licensee to grow hemp as provided in this chapter.

C. Negligent Violations.

(1) If it determines that a violation is a negligent violation, the Department, in lieu of sanctioning the person as provided in §A of this regulation, may issue a corrective action plan, affording the person an opportunity to correct that violation and come into compliance. A person may not have more than one negligent violation per growing season. A negligent action includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(a) The failure to provide a legal description of the land;

(b) The failure to obtain a license;

(c) The production of cannabis with the total THC concentration exceeding the acceptable hemp THC level (0.3 percent with MU) unless the person has made reasonable efforts to grow hemp and the cannabis does not have a total delta-9-THC concentration of more than 1 percent on a dry weight basis.

(2) The corrective action plan issued by the Department shall include the following:

(a) A date by which the person shall correct the violation;

(b) The action that the person shall take to come into compliance;

(c) To ensure compliance, a requirement that the person shall report to the Department at a frequency determined by the Department for a period of not less than 2 calendar years from the date of the violation the compliance measures it is taking; and

(d) Inspection requirements as determined by the Department.

(3) If the person fails to implement or comply with the corrective action plan, the Department may proceed to suspend or revoke the grower's license to produce hemp as provided in §A of this regulation.

(4) If the Department determines that a person has violated this chapter three times in a 4-year period, that person is banned from producing hemp for a period of 5 years beginning on the date of the third violation.

C. Violations Exceeding Negligence-Immediate Suspension.

(1) If the Department determines that a person has violated the Program with a culpable mental state greater than negligence, the Department shall:

(a) Send a Notice of Suspension to the person, ordering the person to suspend all hemp operations immediately; and

(b) Refer the matter to the United States Attorney General, the Maryland Attorney General, or State's Attorney, as appropriate, to enforce the requirements of this chapter.

(2) If the Department issues a Notice of Suspension, the grower may not harvest or remove cannabis from the premises where hemp or other cannabis was located at the time the Department issued this notice.

(3) As soon as possible after the Notification of the Suspension, the Department shall inspect the grower's premises and perform an inventory of all hemp and hemp products that are in the grower's possession.

(4) The Department shall schedule a license revocation hearing for a date as soon as practicable after the Notification of Suspension, but in any event not later than 60 days following the notification of suspension.

Md. Code Regs. 15.01.17.15

Regulation .15 adopted effective 47:21 Md. R. 904, eff. 11/1/2020
Regulation .15 recodified from .14 effective 50:9 Md. R. 375, eff. 4/16/2023; amended and recodified from .14 effective 50:15 Md. R.683, eff. 8/7/2023