Summary — HB 4966 (2025)
Title: Industrial hemp: cross-references to industrial hemp research and development act within the industrial hemp growers act; amend. (Amends sections 103, 211, 303 & 307 of 2020 PA 220)
Introduced: March 13, 2025 (Rep. Joseph Aragona)
Reproduced/Introduced (electronic copy): September 16, 2025
Current status (as of 09/16/2025): Read a first time and referred to Committee on Regulatory Reform. (Committee activity and calendar actions occurred April–May 2025, including public hearings and a favorable committee report.)
Purpose
- Update and clarify definitions and program requirements in the Industrial Hemp Growers Act (2020 PA 220).
- Add or revise cross-references to the Industrial Hemp Research and Development Act and to licensure under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act where relevant.
- Clarify laboratory and sampling roles and testing protocols used to determine compliance with hemp THC limits.
Key provisions and changes
- Definitions (amendment to section 103)
- Adds an “acceptable THC level” definition that uses the measurement of uncertainty applied to reported total delta‑9‑THC concentration on a dry weight basis; an acceptable level is one where the uncertainty-adjusted distribution includes 0.3% or less total delta‑9‑THC.
- Defines new or clarified terms including: “compliance monitoring testing facility,” “regulatory testing facility,” “official hemp sample,” “postdecarboxylation test,” “designated sampling agent,” and more.
- “Compliance monitoring testing facility” and “regulatory testing facility” must be registered with the DEA (21 CFR 1301.13); regulatory testing facilities also must meet requirements set out under section 403.
- Clarifies “grow/growing” to explicitly include drying, storing harvested hemp, and selling harvested industrial hemp to a processor-handler licensed under the Industrial Hemp Research and Development Act (2014 PA 547) or to a processor licensed under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act — as authorized under this act.
- Specifies GPS coordinate precision required for growing area/location reporting (decimal degrees to six places).
- Clarifies criminal-history related terms and requirements for criminal-history reports submitted with applications.
Testing and sampling
- Establishes/clarifies roles for “designated sampling agents” (law enforcement agents authorized to collect official samples).
- Distinguishes “official hemp samples” (collected by designated agents and tested by regulatory testing facilities) from “compliance monitoring” testing of unofficial samples during the growing season.
- Incorporates measurement of uncertainty in THC determination and references post‑decarboxylation testing language.
Cross-references and market access
- Explicitly permits (under the grower/growing definition) sales of harvested industrial hemp to processors licensed under the Industrial Hemp Research & Development Act and to certain licensed medical marijuana processors, subject to authorization under this act — which may broaden legal market pathways.
Entities affected
- Industrial hemp growers and registrants (registration, sampling, reporting requirements, and market options)
- Testing laboratories (must be DEA-registered; new distinctions between compliance monitoring and regulatory testing)
- Processors/processor-handlers licensed under the Industrial Hemp Research & Development Act and some medical marijuana processors
- Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (program administration, sampling protocols)
- Law enforcement (designated sampling agents)
- Businesses and stakeholders involved in hemp testing, remediation, and sale
Procedural/timeline notes
- Bill amends 2020 PA 220 (Industrial Hemp Growers Act), as previously amended (2021 PA 58; 2021 PA 4).
- Legislative history shows committee hearings and a favorable report in April–May 2025 followed by placement on the General State Calendar; the bill was electronically reproduced and reintroduced/read on 09/16/2025 and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.
- The bill is tie‑barred with HB 4964 (’25), indicating legislative linkage.
Potential impacts
- Incorporating measurement of uncertainty into THC compliance determinations may reduce the number of hemp lots classified as noncompliant when reported THC is near the 0.3% threshold.
- Requiring DEA registration and defining testing roles could raise laboratory qualification standards and affect turnaround/treatment of official vs. unofficial testing.
- Clarifying permitted sales channels (to certain licensed processors) could expand market opportunities for growers while linking hemp commerce to existing regulatory frameworks for hemp research and medical marijuana processors.
For full statutory text, consult the bill language and the current Industrial Hemp Growers Act (2020 PA 220) as amended.
