An Act To Make Changes to the State's Hemp Program
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1942
Committee Amendment CA_A_SA_A_S582 (Senate)
Amends: 7 MRSA §2231

SENATE AMENDMENT" A "to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 683, 
L.D. 1942, "An Act To Make Changes to the State's Hemp Program" 
Amend the amendment by striking out all of section 1 and inserting the following: 
'Sec, 1. 7 MRSA §2231, sub-§1-A, ~ 
is enacted to read: 
F. "Key participant" means a person who, as determined by the commissioner by rule, 
has a direct or indirect financial interest in an entity producing hemp, such as an owner 
or partner in a partnership. "Key participant" also includes a person in a corporate 
entity at an executive level including a chief executive officer, chief operating officer 
and chief financial officer. ,;Key participant" does not include other management 
positions such as farm, field or shift managers.' 
Amend the amendment by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 2. 7 MRSA §2231, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2019, c. 12, Pt. B, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
2. Growing permitted. Notwithstanding any ethef provision of law to the contrary. 
a person without a disqualifying drug offense may plant, grow, harvest, possess, process, 
and sell and buy hemp if that person holds a license issued pursuant to subsection 4, except 
that a person may plant and grow up to 3 hemp plants on no more than one acre of land 
area or within an indoor facility and harvest, possess and process that hemp for personal 
use v1ithout a license. A grower licensee may plant, grow and harvest only hemp that is 
grown from seeds saved by the grower licensee as provided in paragraph A, acquired from 
a certified seed source, grown from a clone that is produced from seeds acquired from a 
certified seed source or propagated from tissue cultures that are removed from live plants 
grown from seeds acquired from a certified seed source. A grower licensee may acquire 
hemp seeds directly from a certified seed source or from a hemp seed distributor licensed 
in this State distributing hemp seeds pursuant to subsection 2-A. 
A. A grower licensee may save seeds from hemp plants that the person has grown and 
harvested and, after having ensured through testing by an independent 3rd-party tester 
that the plants that will grow from the seeds will meet the definition of hemp, may use 
those seeds for breeding and planting hemp. 
Page l - 130LR2595(07) 
SENATE AMENDMENT 
~os 
SENATE AMENDMENT"/-) "to COMMITTEEAMENDMENT"A" to S.P. 683, L.D. 1942 ( $·5Z'.i2...J 
B. A grower licensee, within 14 days after planting hemp seeds or clones, shall provide 
to the commissioner a listing of the varieties of seeds or clones planted and a statement 
that the seeds or clones meet the defmition of hemp. This paragraph may not be 
interpreted to require providing the information required by this paragraph to the 
commissioner in advance of an application to grow hemp. 
For the purposes of this subsection, "disqualifying drug offense" means a conviction for a 
violation of a state or federal controlled substance law that is a crime punishable by 
imprisonment for one year or more, except that "disqualifying drug offense" does not 
include an offense for which the sentence, including any term of probation, incarceration 
or supervised release, was completed 10 or more years before the date the person who was 
convicted seeks to obtain a grower license.' 
Amend the amendment in section 3 in subsection 6 in the first 2 lines (page 2, lines 32 
and 33 in amendment) by striking out the following: "to align the laws governing hemp in 
this State" and inserting the following: 'consistent' 
Amend the amendment in section 3 in subsection 6 in the 3rd line (page 2, line 34 in 
amendment) by striking out the following: "additional" and inserting the following: 'other 
applicable' 
Amend the amendment in section 3 in subsection 6 by striking out all of the 2nd 
blocked paragraph (page 2, lines 38 to 40 in amendment). 
Amend the amendment in section 3 in subsection 6 by striking out all of the 3rd blocked 
paragraph (page 2, lines 41 to 43 and page 3, lines 1 to 3 in amendment). 
Amend the amendment by striking out all of section 4. 
Amend the amendment by inserting after section 5 the following: 
'Sec. 6. 7 MRSA §2231, sub-§12 is enacted to read: 
12. Criminal history record check. The department shall request a criminal history 
record check for each grower license applicant and key participant under this chapter and 
may at any time require a grower licensee or key participant to submit to a criminal history 
record check in accordance with this subsection. A criminal history record check conducted 
pursuant to this subsection must include criminal history record information obtained from 
the Maine Criminal Justice Information System established in Title 16, section 631 and the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
A. Criminal history record information obtained from the Maine Criminal Justice 
Information System pursuant to this subsection must include a record of public criminal 
history record information as defmed in Title 16, section 703, subsection 8. 
B. 
Criminal history record information obtained from the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation pursuant to this subsection must include other state and national criminal 
history record information. 
C. The department by rule shall set the amount of the fee to be paid by an individual 
for each criminal history record check required to be performed under this subsection. 
D. The subject of a Federal Bureau oflnvestigation criminal history record check may 
obtain a copy of the criminal history record check by following the procedures outlined 
in 28 Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 16.32 and 16.33. The subject of a state 
SENATE AMENDMENT 
SENATE AMENDMENT" A "to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 683, L.D. 1942 (S-Sz5 i) 
criminal history record check may inspect and review the criminal history record 
information pursuant to Title 16, section 709. 
E. State and national criminal history record information obtained by the department 
under this subsection may be used only for the purpose of screening an applicant for a 
grower license or key participant under this chapter. 
F. All criminal history record information obtained by the department pursuant to this 
subsection is confidential. is for the official use of the department only and may not be 
disseminated outside of the department or disclosed to any other person or entity except 
as provided in paragraph D. 
G. The department, after consultation with the Department of Public Safety, Bureau 
of State Police, State Bureau of Identification, shall adopt rules to implement this 
subsection.' 
Amend the amendment by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment amends Committee Amendment "A" to: 
1. Remove sections that make changes to the 10-year time limit for consideration of 
prior criminal convictions for individuals seeking certain occupational licenses and 
registrations and that repeal a provision establishing a preliminary program to allow the 
growing of hemp inside buildings and greenhouses; 
2. Move a definition of "key participant" to the subsection containing the definitions 
for the section pertaining to hemp; 
3. Add a condition that a person with a grower license for growing hemp may not have 
a disqualifying drug offense; and 
4. Require a criminal history record check for hemp grower license applicants and key 
participants. 
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I 
SPONSORED BY~ ~flt!---" 
(Senator m~KMAN, C.) 
COUNTY: Kennebec 
SENATE AMENDMENT