Texas Administrative Code › Title 4 - AGRICULTURE › Part 1 - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Chapter 24 - HEMP PROGRAM › Subchapter A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 24.1 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
Words used in this chapter in the singular form shall be
					 deemed to impart the plural, and vice versa, as the case may demand. For the
					 purposes of provisions and regulations of this chapter, unless the context
					 otherwise requires, the following terms shall mean:
(1) "Act" means Texas House Bill 1325,
				  relating to the production and regulation of hemp in Texas, as codified in
				  Chapters 121 and 122 of the Code.
(2) "Acceptable hemp THC level" means a
				  delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry weight basis,
				  that, when reported with the laboratory's measurement of uncertainty, produces
				  a distribution or range that includes a result of 0.3% or less. For example, if
				  the reported delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry
				  weight basis is 0.35% and the measurement of uncertainty is +/- 0.06%, the
				  measured delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry
				  weight basis for this sample ranges from 0.29% to 0.41%. Because 0.3% is within
				  the distribution or range, the sample is within the acceptable hemp THC level
				  for the purpose of plan compliance. This definition of "acceptable hemp THC
				  level" affects neither the statutory definition of hemp, in
				  RSA
				  1639o(1) and Texas
				  Agriculture Code §
										RSA 121.001, nor the
				  definition of "marihuana," in
				  RSA
				  802(16) and in Texas Health
				  and Safety Code §
										RSA
				  481.002(26).
(3) "Administrative action" includes a
				  denial, revocation or suspension of a license, or an assessed
				  penalty.
(4) "Applicant" means a
				  person, or a person who is authorized to sign for a business entity, who
				  submits an application to participate in the Department's hemp
				  program.
(5) "Cannabis" means a
				  genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae of which
Cannabis
				  sativa
is a species, and
Cannabis indica
and
Cannabis ruderalis
are subspecies thereof. Cannabis refers to
				  any form of the plant in which the delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration
				  on a dry weight basis has not yet been determined.
(6) "Certified or Approved hemp seed" means
				  seed that meets the legal standards for seed quality and labeling required by
				  Texas and federal law, the legal standards of the jurisdictions from where the
				  seed is originally sold and produced, and the additional hemp seed quality and
				  labeling requirements required by the Department.
(7) "Contiguous" means all of the lots in or
				  on a location owned or controlled by one owner or tenant, or the same owner and
				  tenant, and no lot is separated from the other lots on the location by
				  different ownership or control, or a public right of way, a navigable waterway,
				  or an area greater than sixty feet.
(8) "Controlled Substance" is defined in Tex.
				  Health & Safety Code §481.002(5). The term does not include hemp, as
				  defined by Tex. Agric. Code §121.001, or the tetrahydrocannabinols in
				  hemp.
(9) "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 chapter, 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 chapter.
(10) "Corrective action plan" means a plan
				  established by the Department for a licensed hemp producer to correct a
				  negligent violation or non-compliance with the hemp program, this chapter, or
				  other state or federal statute. Based upon a stated breach of law or rule, a
				  corrective action plan provides proof of and explains how past actions or
				  omissions were compliant with law and regulation, and/or how future activities
				  will comply with law and regulation.
(11) "Criminal History" means the results of
				  a criminal background investigation conducted by the Department.
(12) "Culpable mental state greater than
				  negligence" means to act intentionally, knowingly, willfully, or
				  recklessly.
(13) "Cultivate" as
				  defined by Tex. Agric. Code §122.001(1) means to plant, irrigate,
				  cultivate or harvest a hemp plant.
(14) "Days" means business days unless
				  otherwise specified.
(15)
				  "Decarboxylation" means the removal or elimination of carboxyl group from a
				  molecule or organic compound.
(16)
				  "Decarboxylated" means the completion of the chemical reaction that converts
				  THC-acid into delta-9-THC, the intoxicating component of cannabis. The
				  decarboxylated value is also calculated using a conversion formula that sums
				  delta-9-THC and eighty-seven and seven tenths (87.7) percent of
				  THC-acid.
(17) "Delta-9
				  tetrahydrocannabinol or THC or Delta-9-THC" means the primary psychoactive
				  component of cannabis. For the purposes of this chapter, the terms delta-9-THC
				  and THC are interchangeable.
(18)
				  "Department or TDA" means the Texas Department of Agriculture.
(19) "Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA"
				  means the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
(20) "DPS" means the Texas Department of
				  Public Safety.
(21) "Dry weight
				  basis" means the ratio of the amount of moisture in a sample to the amount of
				  dry solid in a sample. Dry weight is a basis for expressing the percentage of a
				  chemical in a substance after removing the moisture from the substance. The
				  percentage of THC on a dry weight basis means the percentage of THC, by weight,
				  in a cannabis item (plant, extract, or other derivative), after excluding
				  moisture from the item.
(22)
				  "Entity" means a corporation, general partnership, joint stock company,
				  association, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited
				  liability company, series limited liability company, irrevocable trust, estate,
				  charitable organization, or other similar organization, including any such
				  organization participating in hemp production as a partner in a general
				  partnership, a participant in a joint venture, or a participant in a similar
				  organization. The term entity includes a domestic or foreign entity defined in
				  Texas Business Organizations Code §
										RSA 1.002
				  that will be, or proposes to be, in hemp production within the State of
				  Texas.
(23) "Facility" means a
				  location with a legal description and is within the legal control of a person
				  or entity. A facility may consist of multiple fields, greenhouses, storage,
				  and/or lots.
(24) "Farm Service
				  Agency or FSA" means an agency of the United States Department of
				  Agriculture.
(25) "Field" means an
				  outdoor area of land consisting of one or more lots on which the producer will
				  produce or store hemp.
(26) "Final
				  test" means the last Department-authorized laboratory test conducted from a
				  final sample collected.
(27) "Final
				  sample" means the last Department-authorized sample collected from a
				  lot.
(28) "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.
(29) "Geospatial
				  location" means a location designated through a global system of navigational
				  satellites used to determine the precise ground position of a place or object.
				  This includes GPS coordinates.
(30)
				  "Greenhouse" means any indoor structure consisting of one or more lots on which
				  the producer will produce or store hemp.
(31) "Governing person" has the meaning
				  assigned by Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §1.002.
(32) "GPS" means Global Positioning
				  System.
(33) "Handle" as defined by
				  Tex. Agric. Code §122.001(3) means to possess or store a hemp plant on
				  premises owned, operated, or controlled by a license holder for any period of
				  time, or in a vehicle for any period of time other than during the actual
				  transport of the plant from a premises owned, operated or controlled by a
				  license holder to a premises owned, operated or controlled by another license
				  holder, or a person licensed under Tex. Health & Safety Code, Chapter 443.
				  "Handle" also means to harvest or store hemp plants or hemp plant parts prior
				  to the delivery of such plants or plant parts for further processing. "Handle"
				  also includes the disposal of cannabis plants that are not hemp for purposes of
				  chemical analysis and disposal of such plants.
(34) "Harvest" means to cut, gather, take, or
				  remove all or part of the cannabis plants growing in a lot or lots, for the
				  purpose of disposal, cloning, distribution, processing, storage, sale, or any
				  other use. "Harvest" does not include transplants from one lot to another lot
				  if both lots are within the same license holder's control, and the plants are
				  transplanted according to the hemp program rules and procedures.
(35) "Hemp" or "industrial hemp" as defined
				  Tex. Agric. Code §121.001 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.
(36) "Hemp research license" means a license
				  issued to an institution of higher education to produce or handle hemp for
				  research purposes.
(37)
				  "High-performance liquid chromatography or HPLC" means a type of chromatography
				  technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each
				  component in a mixture. HPLC 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.
(38) "Information sharing system" means the
				  database which allows the Department to share Texas hemp program information
				  with federal and state agencies.
(39) "Institution of higher education" has
				  the meaning assigned by Texas Education Code §
										RSA 61.003.
(40) "Key participants" means a sole
				  proprietor, a partner in a general partnership, a general partner in a limited
				  partnership, or a person with executive managerial control in an entity. A
				  person with executive managerial control includes persons such as a trustee,
				  independent or dependent executor or administrator of an estate, chief
				  executive officer, managing member, manager, president, vice president, general
				  partner, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, or their
				  equivalents. This definition does not include non-executive employees such as
				  farm, field, or shift managers that do not make financial planning decisions
				  and that do not vote or exercise control of an entity.
(41) "Law enforcement agency" means any
				  federal or Texas law enforcement agency.
(42) "License" as defined by Tex. Agric. Code
				  §122.001(6) means a hemp producer, handler, or sampler license issued by
				  the Department.
(43) "License
				  holder" as defined by Tex. Agric. Code §122.001(7) means an individual or
				  business entity holding a license.
(44) "License holder who transplants" means a
				  license holder who cultivates cannabis plants for the purpose of transplanting
				  all living parts of those same cannabis plants according to Department rules
				  and procedures.
(45) "Lot" means a
				  contiguous area in a facility, field, greenhouse, or indoor growing structure
				  containing the same variety or strain of cannabis throughout the
				  area.
(46) "Lot permit" means a
				  document issued by the Department authorizing a license holder to produce or
				  handle a hemp crop within a lot.
(47) "Marijuana or marihuana" 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 "marihuana" does not include hemp and does not include the mature
				  stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from
				  the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative,
				  mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted
				  therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is
				  incapable of germination. "Marihuana" means all cannabis that tests as having a
				  concentration level of THC on a dry weight basis of higher than 0.3
				  percent.
(48) "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 particular quantity subject to
				  measurement.
(49) "Negligence"
				  means failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person
				  would exercise in complying with the regulations set forth under this
				  chapter.
(50) "Nonconsumable hemp
				  product" as defined by Tex. Agric. Code §122.001(8) means a product that
				  contains hemp, other than a consumable hemp product as defined by Tex. Health
				  & Safety Code §443.001. The term includes cloth, cordage, fiber, fuel,
				  paint, paper, particleboard, construction materials, and plastics derived from
				  hemp.
(51) "Person" means an
				  individual or entity, unless otherwise indicated.
(52) "Phytocannabinoid" means the Cannabinoid
				  chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant, two of which are Delta-9
				  tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9 THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
(53) "Postdecarboxylation" means a value
				  determined after the process of decarboxylation that determines the total
				  potential delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol content derived from the sum of the THC
				  and THC-A content and reported on a dry weight basis. The postdecarboxylation
				  value of THC can be calculated by using a chromatograph technique using heat,
				  and gas chromatography, through which THC-A is converted from its acid form to
				  its neutral form, THC. Thus, this test calculates the total potential THC in a
				  given sample. The postdecarboxylation value of THC can also be calculated by
				  using a high-performance liquid chromatograph technique, which keeps the THC-A
				  intact, and requires a conversion calculation of that THC-A to calculate total
				  potential THC in a given sample. See the definition for
				  decarboxylation.
(54) "Processing"
				  means converting an agricultural commodity into a marketable form.
(55) "Produce" means to cultivate hemp plants
				  in Texas.
(56) "Producer" means a
				  person who produces hemp. A producer includes an owner, operator, landlord,
				  tenant, or sharecropper, who shares in the risk of producing a crop and who is
				  entitled to share in the crop available for marketing from the farm or
				  facility, or would have shared had the crop been produced. A producer includes
				  a grower of hybrid seed. A producer also means a person who stores the hemp
				  plants they produced within Department-registered locations.
(57) "Program or hemp program" means the
				  process created by the state of Texas and federal statutes and regulations to
				  facilitate the regulation and cultivation of hemp as a crop.
(58) "Reverse distributor" means a person who
				  is registered with the DEA in accordance with
				  RSA
				  1317.15 to dispose of marijuana.
(59) "Sample" means a composite,
				  representative portion from one variety of hemp plants in a hemp lot, collected
				  prior to harvest in accordance with Department guidelines and
				  procedures.
(60) "Sample collection
				  date" means the date a hemp sample is collected by the Department or an
				  authorized entity. To determine the sample collection date, the Department may
				  take into consideration events of force majeure or unusual circumstances,
				  including situations beyond a reasonable person's control.
(61) "Sampler" means a person or entity
				  authorized by the Department to conduct the sampling and collection of hemp
				  plants.
(62) "Signing authority"
				  means an individual of a sole proprietorship, or an officer or agent of an
				  entity with written authorization to commit the entity to a binding agreement
				  or verify the contents of a governmental document.
(63) "Specimen" means a cutting taken from a
				  hemp plant for the purposes of sample collection.
(64) "Storage" means any structure or
				  container, whether temporary or permanent in nature, in which the producer or
				  handler will store hemp. "Storage" does not include containers used to deliver
				  samples.
(65) "The Code" means the
				  Texas Agriculture Code.
(66)
				  "Transplant" means to move a fully germinated seedling, mature plant, cutting,
				  or clone from one lot and to replant it in another permanent lot under the
				  control of the same license holder, for later harvest by the same license
				  holder. "Transplant" also means a plant, cutting, or clone that has been moved
				  from its initial lot of germination or cultivation for the purpose being
				  transplanted.
(67) "Transport
				  manifest" includes a shipping certificate, cargo manifest or transport document
				  developed by the Department or a U.S authority, authorizing transport of a hemp
				  product within the State of Texas, any other state, the United States of
				  America, or its territories.
(68)
				  "TPIA" means the Texas Public Information Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter
				  52.
(69) "Unique ID" means the
				  unique identifier established by the Department's hemp program.
(70) "USDA" means the United States
				  Department of Agriculture.
(71)
				  "U.S. authority" means the United States of America, USDA or a sub-agency
				  thereof, a state, a US territory, or an Indian Nation, or federal, state or
				  local law enforcement agency.