Senate Bill 15-196 Summary

• Allows licensed retail marijuana testing facilities to test industrial hemp for delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration, requiring registrants to have state commissioner approval before testing.

• Expands the industrial hemp committee from nine to eleven members by adding representatives from the cannabinoid industry and certified seed growers.

• Establishes a certified seed program administered by the department of agriculture to identify and develop seeds that produce industrial hemp, with authority to import seeds under federal and state law.

• Requires radio frequency identification-based inventory tracking systems for industrial hemp crops sampled for testing, compatible with the state's seed-to-sale tracking system.

• Appropriates $249,763 in marijuana tax cash funds to the department of agriculture for the 2015-16 fiscal year, including $188,237 for personnel (2.0 FTE) and $57,746 for operating expenses.