New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 1 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS › Chapter III - Plant Industry › Subchapter F - Industrial Hemp › Part 159 - License to Grow and Research Hemp › Section 159.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
For the purpose of this Part, the following terms shall
					 have the following meanings:
(a)
				  "Acceptable hemp THC level" means when the application of the measurement of
				  uncertainty to the reported total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content
				  concentration level on a dry weight basis produces a distribution or range that
				  includes 0.3% or less.
(b)
				  "Cannabis" means a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae of which
				  Cannabis sativa L. is a species, and Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis are
				  subspecies.
(c) "Commissioner"
				  means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets of the State of New
				  York.
(d) "Conviction" means any
				  plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or any finding of guilt, except when the
				  finding of guilt is subsequently overturned on appeal, pardoned, or expunged.
				  For purposes of this Part, a conviction is expunged when the conviction is
				  removed from the individual's criminal history record and there are no legal
				  disabilities or restrictions associated with the expunged conviction, other
				  than the fact that the conviction may be used for sentencing purposes for
				  subsequent convictions. In addition, where an individual is allowed to withdraw
				  an original plea of guilty or nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty
				  and the case is subsequently dismissed, the individual is no longer considered
				  to have a conviction for purposes of this Part.
(e) "Corrective action plan" means a plan
				  established or approved by the Department under this Part for a licensed hemp
				  grower to correct a negligent violation or non-compliance with this
				  Part.
(f) "Criminal history report"
				  means the Federal Bureau of Investigation Identity History Summary.
(g) "Culpable mental state greater than
				  negligence" means to act intentionally, knowingly, willfully, or
				  recklessly.
(h) "Decarboxylated"
				  means the completion of the chemical reaction that converts THC-acid (THCA)
				  into delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the intoxicating component of cannabis. The
				  decarboxylated value is also calculated using a molecular mass conversion ratio
				  that sums delta-9-THC and eighty-seven and seven tenths (87.7) percent of THCA
				  ( +).
(i) "Decarboxylation" means
				  the removal or elimination of a carboxyl group from a molecule or organic
				  compound.
(j) "Delta-9
				  tetrahydrocannabinol" "Delta-9 THC" or "THC" means the primary psychoactive
				  cannabinoid of cannabis.
(k)
				  "Department" means the New York State Department of Agriculture and
				  Markets.
(l) "Dispose" and any
				  variant thereof, means any activity that transitions the non-compliant product
				  into a non-retrievable or non-ingestible form. Such activities include plowing,
				  tilling, or discing plant material into soil; mulching, composting, chipping,
				  or brush mowing plant material into green manure; burning plant material into
				  the earth and covering it with soil; or as otherwise authorized in this Part or
				  in writing by the Department.
(m)
				  "Drug Enforcement Administration" or "DEA" means the United States Federal Law
				  Enforcement Agency under the United States Department of Justice.
(n) "Drug Enforcement Administration
				  Registered Reverse Distributor" means a person who is registered with the DEA
				  in accordance with Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations Subpart 1317.15 to
				  dispose of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act.
(o) "Dry weight basis" means the method of
				  determining the percentage of a chemical in a substance after removing the
				  moisture from the substance.
(p)
				  "Dwelling" means any residential building or portion thereof intended for human
				  habitation.
(q) "Farm Service
				  Agency" or "FSA" means the Farm Service Agency of the United States Department
				  of Agriculture.
(r) "Gas
				  Chromatography" or "GC" means a type of chromatography in analytical chemistry
				  used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. GC relies
				  on heat for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without
				  decomposition.
(s) "Geospatial
				  location" or "GPS" means a location designated through a global system of
				  navigation satellites used to determine the precise ground position of a place
				  or object.
(t) "Grower" means a
				  person who is licensed by the Department to grow or cultivate hemp in the
				  State.
(u) "Grow Location" means a
				  contiguous land area or the greenhouses, hoop houses, or buildings for indoor
				  cultivation, registered with the Department, on or in which a licensee or
				  applicant will conduct licensed hemp cultivation activities. Each
				  non-contiguous grow location must be registered separately.
(v) "Handle" means to harvest, dry, or store
				  hemp plants or hemp plant parts prior to their introduction into commerce.
				  Handling includes the processing of hemp only in connection with its growing
				  and cultivation, the disposal of cannabis plants that fall outside the
				  definition of hemp, and the remediation of hemp as permitted pursuant to this
				  Part.
(w) "Hemp" means the plant
				  species Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds
				  thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and
				  salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol
				  concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
(x) "Liquid chromatography" or "LC" means a
				  type of chromatography technique in analytical chemistry used to separate,
				  identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. LC relies on pumps to pass
				  a pressurized liquid solvent containing the sample mixture through a column
				  filled with a solid adsorbent material to separate and analyze
				  compounds.
(y) "Key participants"
				  means a sole proprietor, a partner in partnership, or a person with executive
				  managerial control in a business or educational entity. A person with executive
				  managerial control includes, without limitation, persons such as a chief
				  executive officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. This
				  definition does not include non-executive managers such as farm, field, or
				  shift managers.
(z) "Law
				  enforcement agency" means any Federal, State, or local law enforcement
				  agency.
(aa) "Lot" means a
				  contiguous area in a field, sub-field, tract, greenhouse, or indoor growing
				  structure containing the same variety or strain of hemp throughout the
				  area.
(bb) "Marijuana" means all
				  parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds
				  thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound,
				  manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds
				  or resin. The term marijuana does not include hemp, as defined in this Part,
				  and does not include the mature stalks of Cannabis sativa L., fiber produced
				  from its stalks, oil or cake made from its seeds and any other compound,
				  manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks
				  (except the resin extracted therefrom), its fiber, oil, cake, or sterilized
				  seed incapable of germination. Except as otherwise provided by this Part,
				  marijuana means all cannabis that tests as having a total THC concentration
				  level of higher than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
(cc) "Measurement of Uncertainty (MU)" means
				  the parameter, associated with the result of a measurement, that characterizes
				  the dispersion of the values that could reasonably be attributed to the
				  quantity subject to measurement.
(dd) "Negligence" means the failure to
				  exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in
				  complying with the provisions of this Part.
(ee) "Percentage of THC on a dry weight
				  basis" means the percentage of THC, by weight, in a hemp plant, the segregated
				  parts of a hemp plant or the comingled parts of harvested hemp plants, after
				  excluding moisture from the plant matter.
(ff) "Performance-based sampling" means a
				  sampling approach that sets a performance objective of collecting enough
				  samples to ensure, at a confidence level of 95 percent, that no more than one
				  percent of the plants in the lot exceed the acceptable hemp THC level.
				  Performance-based sampling provides flexibility in the sampling approach to the
				  extent that the approach provides an effective method of ensuring the overall
				  acceptable hemp THC level. Performance-based sampling may be based on, among
				  other things, the end-use categories of the plant varieties, such as fiber or
				  grain, historical THC concentrations of varietals over time, or the
				  characteristics and growing histories of certain farms or producers, certified
				  seed, or clonal varieties, some or all of which may ensure effective criteria
				  to ensure overall acceptable hemp THC levels and require less comprehensive
				  sampling of hemp.
(gg) "Person"
				  means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company,
				  association, or any business entity or institution of higher education, by
				  whatever name designated and however formed or organized.
(hh) "Post-decarboxylation" means, in the
				  context of testing methodologies for THC concentration levels in hemp, a value
				  determined after the process of decarboxylation that determines the total
				  potential delta-9 THC content derived from the sum of the THC and THCA content,
				  and reported on a dry weight basis. The post-decarboxylation value of THC may
				  be calculated by using a chromatograph technique using heat, gas
				  chromatography, through which THCA is converted from its acid form to its
				  neutral form, THC. Thus, this test calculates the total potential THC in a
				  given sample. The post-decarboxylation value of THC can also be calculated by
				  using a liquid chromatography technique, which keeps the THCA intact, and
				  requires a conversion calculation of that THCA to calculate total potential THC
				  in a given sample.
(ii) "Processing
				  of hemp in connection with its growing and cultivation" means the growing,
				  cultivation, harvesting, drying, curing, grinding, and trimming of hemp plants.
				  Processing of hemp includes the remediation of hemp in conformity with the
				  requirements of this Part.
(jj)
				  "Produce" or "Production" means to grow hemp plants for market, or for
				  cultivation for market in the State or the United States.
(kk) "Remediation" means the process of
				  rendering non-compliant hemp being cultivated by a licensed hemp grower to
				  compliant hemp as set forth in this Part. For example, remediation can be
				  achieved by separating and destroying non-compliant flowers while retaining
				  stalks, leaves and seeds; or by shredding the entire hemp plant to create a
				  homogeneous "biomass". Remediated hemp must be retested for THC
				  compliance.
(ll) "Registered
				  premises" means any facility, location, or property leased, licensed, owned, or
				  otherwise used by a person to grow hemp that has been authorized by the
				  Department as a site where hemp may be grown.
(mm) "Sampling" means the process of
				  collecting cuttings from hemp plants for the purposes of compliance
				  testing.
(nn) "Sampling Agent"
				  means a person trained and certified by the Department on applicable State and
				  United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) procedures to collect regulatory
				  sample of hemp for THC compliance testing.
(oo) "State" means the State of New
				  York.
(pp) "Total THC" means the
				  value determined after the process of decarboxylation, or the application of a
				  conversion factor, as set forth in this Part, if the testing does not include
				  decarboxylation that expresses the potential total delta-9 THC content derived
				  from the sum of the THC and THCA content and reported on a dry weight
				  basis.
(qq) "Valid license" means a
				  duly issued license that is unexpired, unsuspended, and unrevoked.