An Act To Improve the Laws Governing Hemp by Bringing Them into Compliance with Federal Law
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0033
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: BLACK, MAXMIN, LANDRY
Amends: 5 MRSA §5303, 7 MRSA §2231

Legislative Document
No. 33
S.P. 41
In Senate, January 13, 2021
An Act To Improve the Laws Governing Hemp by Bringing Them 
into Compliance with Federal Law
Submitted by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry pursuant to Joint 
Rule 204.
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on January 11, 2021.  Referred to the Committee 
on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BLACK of Franklin.
Cosponsored by Senator: MAXMIN of Lincoln, Representative: LANDRY of Farmington.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §5303, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 288, Pt. A, §12, is 
further amended to read:
2.  Ten-year limits.  For applicants to and licensees and registrants of the Board of 
Licensure in Medicine, the Board of Osteopathic Licensure, the Board of Dental Practice, 
the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, the State Board of Social Worker Licensure, 
the State Board of Nursing, the Board of Chiropractic Licensure, the Board of Trustees of 
the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, the State Board of Examiners in Physical Therapy, 
the State Board of Alcohol and Drug Counselors, the Board of Respiratory Care 
Practitioners, the Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure, the Board of Occupational 
Therapy Practice, the Board of Speech, Audiology and Hearing, the Radiologic 
Technology Board of Examiners, the Nursing Home Administrators Licensing Board, the 
Board of Licensure of Podiatric Medicine, the Board of Complementary Health Care 
Providers, the Maine Board of Pharmacy, and the Emergency Medical Services' Board, for 
applicants to and licensees of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
for growing, processing and transporting hemp and for applicants for massage therapy 
licensure or licensed massage therapists, the following apply.
A.  The procedures outlined in sections 5301 and 5302 for the consideration of prior 
criminal conviction as an element of fitness to practice a licensed profession, trade or 
occupation apply within 10 years of the applicant's or licensee's final discharge, if any, 
from the correctional system.
B.  Beyond the 10-year period, ex-offender applicants or licensees with no additional 
convictions must be considered in the same manner as applicants or licensees 
possessing no prior criminal record for the purposes of licensing decisions.
C.  There is no time limitation for consideration of a registrant's, an applicant's or 
licensee's conduct that gave rise to the criminal conviction if that conduct is otherwise 
a ground for disciplinary action.
Sec. 2.  7 MRSA §2231, sub-§1-A, ¶F is enacted to read:
F.  "Key participant" means a person who 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.
Sec. 3.  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 other provision of law, a person may 
plant, grow, harvest, possess, process, 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 without 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.
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 definition 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.
Sec. 4.  7 MRSA §2231, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2019, c. 528, §1, is repealed 
and the following enacted in its place:
6.  Rules.  The commissioner shall adopt rules to align the laws governing hemp in this 
State with 7 United States Code, Section 1639p(a)(2)(A) (2020), 7 Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 990 (2020) and any additional federal statutes or regulations.
The rules must establish an application fee, a license fee, per acre or per square foot fees 
for monitoring, sampling and testing and guidelines for monitoring the growth and harvest 
of hemp.
The rules must establish a mechanism for conducting criminal background checks on 
grower licensees and all key participants and require fees to be paid by the grower licensee 
or key participant.
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 5.  7 MRSA §2231, sub-§6-A, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 528, §1, is repealed.
Sec. 6.  7 MRSA §2231, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 528, §1, is repealed.
SUMMARY
This bill brings the laws governing hemp into compliance with the federal Agriculture 
Improvement Act of 2018 and the United States Department of Agriculture's regulations in 
Code of Federal Regulations, Part 990.