An Act relating to industrial hemp; relating to the sale and lease of state land for agricultural uses; designating the O-S Cross cabbage, commonly known as 'giant green cabbage,' as the official state vegetable; and providing for an effective date.
What changed between versions
All industrial hemp provisions (registration, testing, tiered grower categories, micro-grower definition, enforcement, corrective action plans) were removed from the bill entirely.
The sale of state agricultural land provisions (amendments to AS 38.05.059 including application and scoring criteria for purchasing land) were removed.
The designation of O-S Cross cabbage as the official state vegetable was removed.
The new AS 38.05.084 no longer requires that leased land be classified under AS 38.05.020; it applies to any state land, with a note that land not classified as agricultural may also be leased for agricultural purposes.
The tax exemption for industrial hemp products under AS 43.61.010 was removed.
The lease-purchase program that would have allowed lessees to receive a price reduction on land purchase equal to a portion of prior lease payments was removed.
Transition provisions allowing lapsed hemp registrants (2021-2025) to reinstate without a renewal fee were removed.
Application requirements for agricultural leases were simplified: the enrolled version required an agricultural development plan with crop plans, timelines, soil and water conservation details, and financial viability information; the new version only requires a detailed summary of proposed purpose including a management plan.
Lease term under AS 38.05.084 was shortened from up to 20 years with renewal terms not exceeding 20 years each to 10 years with five-year renewal options.
The award process for competing lease applications changed from a scoring criteria system tied to AS 38.05.059(c) to a merit-based determination considering applicant qualifications, agricultural experience, anticipated lease term, concurrent use accommodation, and consistency with existing state plans.
The biennial inspection requirement (which allowed virtual or unmanned aircraft system inspections) was removed from the new version of AS 38.05.084.
The defined term changed from 'agricultural use' to 'agricultural purposes,' and the definition now explicitly includes housing for landowners and farm laborers as a covered improvement, whereas the enrolled version did not specifically name housing in the definition (it was addressed separately in the lease terms).
