RCW 15.120.050 Application form—Fee—Licensure—Renewal—Record of license forwarded to county sheriff—Public disclosure exemption. (Effective until January 1, 2020.)

(1) Any person seeking to grow industrial hemp as part of the industrial hemp research program shall apply to the department on a form provided by the department. At a minimum, the application form must include:

(a) The name and mailing address of the applicant, including the business address of any corporate applicant and the applicant's registered agent and the agent's address;

(b) The legal description and global positioning coordinates sufficient to locate the proposed industrial hemp production fields;

(c) A signed declaration indicating whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor;

(d) Written consent allowing the department, if a license is ultimately issued to the applicant, to enter onto the industrial hemp production fields to conduct physical inspections of industrial hemp planted and grown by the applicant, and to ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter;

(e) Any other information required by the department; and

(f) The payment of a nonrefundable application fee, in an amount set by the department.

(2) The department may approve licenses only for those selected growers whose demonstration plots will advance the goals of the department's industrial hemp research program. The location, and the total number and acreage, of all demonstration plots to be grown by license holders must be determined at the discretion of the department.

(3) The department may use failure to comply with the law and with the conditions of the license issued by the department as grounds for revocation, suspension, or denial of future applications.

(4) Each license is valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance and may be renewed in successive years. Each annual renewal requires the payment of a license renewal fee.

(5) All moneys collected under this chapter must be deposited in an account within the agricultural local fund and used solely for carrying out this chapter. No appropriation is required for disbursement of moneys from the account by the director.

(6) A record of each license issued by the department under this section must be immediately forwarded to the sheriff of each county where the industrial hemp is licensed to be planted, grown, and/or harvested.

(7) All records, data, and information filed in support of a license application are exempt from disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW, the public records act.

(8) All requirements in this section are subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for the specific purposes described.

[ 2016 sp.s. c 11 § 6.]