II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 980 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to exempt industrial 

hemp from certain requirements under the hemp production program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2023 

Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to exempt 

industrial hemp from certain requirements under the 

hemp production program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Industrial Hemp Act 

5 of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXEMPTIONS OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP UNDER HEMP 

7 PRODUCTION PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 297A of the Agricultural 

9 Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1639o) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) by striking the period at the end and 

3 inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘means the plant’’ and in5 serting the following: ‘‘means— 

6 ‘‘(A) the plant’’; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(B) industrial hemp.’’; 

9 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

10 (6) as paragraphs (4) through (7), respectively; and 

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(3) INDUSTRIAL HEMP.—The term ‘industrial 

14 hemp’ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. if the 

15 harvested material is only— 

16 ‘‘(A)(i) the stalks of that plant; 

17 ‘‘(ii) fiber produced from those stalks; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) any other manufacture, derivative, 

19 mixture, or preparation of those stalks (except 

20 cannabinoid resin extracted from those stalks); 

21 ‘‘(B) whole grain, oil, cake, nut, hull, or 

22 any other compound, manufacture, derivative, 

23 mixture, or preparation of the seeds of that 

24 plant (except cannabinoid resin extracted from 

25 the seeds of that plant); or 


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1 ‘‘(C) viable seeds of that plant produced 

2 solely for production or manufacture of any ma3 terial described in subparagraph (A) or (B).’’. 

4 (b) STATE AND TRIBAL PLANS.—Section 297B of 

5 the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1639p) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

9 (i) by redesignating clauses (ii) 

10 through (vii) as clauses (iii) through (viii), 

11 respectively; 

12 (ii) by inserting after clause (i) the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(ii) a procedure by which a hemp 

15 producer shall designate the type of pro16 duction of the hemp producer as— 

17 ‘‘(I) industrial hemp; or 

18 ‘‘(II) hemp for any purpose;’’; 

19 (iii) in clause (iii) (as so redesig20 nated), by inserting ‘‘, excluding industrial 

21 hemp,’’ after ‘‘hemp’’; and 

22 (iv) in clause (viii) (as so redesig23 nated), by striking ‘‘(vi)’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘(vii)’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 

2 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘Nothing’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub4 paragraph (C), nothing’’; and 

5 (ii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(C) PREEMPTION.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro9 vided in clause (ii), no State or Indian 

10 tribe may establish or continue in effect 

11 any law that— 

12 ‘‘(I) regulates the production of 

13 industrial hemp in compliance with 

14 this subtitle; and 

15 ‘‘(II) is more stringent than this 

16 subtitle. 

17 ‘‘(ii) VIOLATIONS WITH HIGHER CUL18 PABILITY.—Clause (i) shall not apply to 

19 any law relating to any violation of or de20 scribed in subsection (e)(3).’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(4) INSPECTIONS OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRO23 DUCERS.—With respect to annual inspections of in24 dustrial hemp producers under paragraph 

25 (2)(A)(vi)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the inspection shall be a visual in2 spection; 

3 ‘‘(B) if a producer fails a visual inspection 

4 under subparagraph (A), the State or Indian 

5 tribe may require the producer to provide to the 

6 State or Indian tribe documentation that dem7 onstrates a clear intent and in-field practices 

8 consistent with the designation of the type of 

9 production as industrial hemp under paragraph 

10 (2)(A)(ii)(I), including seed tags, sales con11 tracts, a Farm Service Agency report, harvest 

12 techniques, or a harvest inspection; and 

13 ‘‘(C) if a producer fails to provide docu14 mentation demonstrating a clear intent and in15 field practices described in subparagraph (B), 

16 the State or Indian tribe may require chemical 

17 testing on harvested material of the producer 

18 that failed the visual inspection under subpara19 graph (A).’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (e)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)(iii), by striking 

22 ‘‘basis.’’ and inserting ‘‘basis, unless the hemp 

23 producer designated the type of production as 

24 industrial hemp under subsection 

25 (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I).’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

2 (i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 

3 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘neg4 ligence—’’ and inserting ‘‘negligence, or 

5 knowingly produced a crop that is incon6 sistent with the designation of the type of 

7 production of the hemp producer as indus8 trial hemp under subsection 

9 (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I)—’’; 

10 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii)— 

11 (I) in the clause heading, by 

12 striking ‘‘EXCEPTION’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘EXCEPTIONS’’; 

14 (II) by striking ‘‘person growing’’ 

15 and inserting the following: ‘‘person— 

16 ‘‘(I) growing’’; 

17 (III) in subclause (I) (as so des18 ignated), by striking the period at the 

19 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

20 (IV) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(II) that designates the type of 

23 production of the person as industrial 

24 hemp under subsection 

25 (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I).’’; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(D) PRODUCTION INCONSISTENT WITH

4 INDUSTRIAL HEMP DESIGNATION.—Any person 

5 who knowingly produces a crop that is incon6 sistent with the designation of the type of pro7 duction of the person as industrial hemp under 

8 subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I) shall be ineligible to 

9 participate in the program established under 

10 this section for a period of 5 years beginning on 

11 the date of the violation.’’; and 

12 (3) in subsection (f)(2), by inserting ‘‘, exclud13 ing industrial hemp,’’ after ‘‘hemp’’. 

14 (c) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.—Section 297C 

15 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 

16 1639q) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

20 (B) through (F) as subparagraphs (C) 

21 through (G), respectively; 

22 (ii) by inserting after subparagraph 

23 (A) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) a procedure by which a hemp pro2 ducer shall designate the type of production of 

3 the hemp producer as— 

4 ‘‘(i) industrial hemp; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) hemp for any purpose;’’; and 

6 (iii) in subparagraph (C) (as so redes7 ignated), by inserting ‘‘, excluding indus8 trial hemp,’’ after ‘‘hemp’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(3) INSPECTIONS OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRO11 DUCERS.—With respect to annual inspections of in12 dustrial hemp producers under paragraph (2)(F)— 

13 ‘‘(A) the inspection shall be a visual in14 spection; 

15 ‘‘(B) if a producer fails a visual inspection 

16 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may re17 quire the producer to provide to the Secretary 

18 documentation that demonstrates a clear intent 

19 and in-field practices consistent with the des20 ignation of the type of production as industrial 

21 hemp under paragraph (2)(B)(i), including seed 

22 tags, sales contracts, a Farm Service Agency 

23 report, harvest techniques, or a harvest inspec24 tion; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) if a producer fails to provide docu2 mentation demonstrating a clear intent and in3 field practices described in subparagraph (B), 

4 the Secretary may require chemical testing on 

5 harvested material of the producer that failed 

6 the visual inspection under subparagraph (A).’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (c)(3)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘report the production’’ 

9 and inserting the following: ‘‘report to the At10 torney General— 

11 ‘‘(A) the production’’; and 

12 (B) in subparagraph (A) (as so des13 ignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (b) to the At14 torney General.’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘subsection (b); and 

16 ‘‘(B) the production of a crop inconsistent 

17 with the designation of the type of production 

18 of the producer of the crop as industrial hemp 

19 under subsection (a)(2)(B)(i).’’; and 

20 (3) in subsection (d)(2)— 

21 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

22 and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec23 tively; and 

24 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) for each hemp producer described in 

2 subparagraph (A), the designation of the type 

3 of production of the hemp producer under sub4 section (a)(2)(B);’’. 

5 SEC. 3. REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES. 

6 The Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate regula7 tions and guidelines to implement the amendments made 

8 by this Act as expeditiously as practicable. 

Æ 


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