Just this morning, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee released report language for the appropriations bill that it will negotiate with the U.S. House.
READ FULL COPY
AGRept
(“Report language” is an exercise used by Congress to show its legislative intent on various issues, and is used often by Congress to prod federal agencies into action. However, while it is influential, it is NOT legally binding. Also note that this is just the Senate’s version; the House will need to weigh in.)
There are two provisions of key note to hemp farmers and businesses:
On page 5, the Senate directs USDA to modify its controversial Interim Final Rule to provide a more fair and reasonable regulatory framework for U.S. hemp farmers. You will note that the Senate calls out many of the key issues that we have shared with Congress and USDA, including inappropriate DEA interference, testing and sampling issues, and the arbitrary 0.5% THC negligence standard. It is clear that YOUR lobbying has been effective, and we are very optimistic that this will make a difference as USDA moves to a Final Rule. |