(a)
The Department of Food and Agriculture shall establish a Marijuana Cultivation Program to be administered by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. The secretary shall administer this section as it pertains to the cultivation of marijuana. For purposes of this division, marijuana is an agricultural product.
(b)
A person or entity shall not cultivate marijuana without first obtaining a state license issued by the department pursuant to this section.
(c)
(1)The department, in consultation with, but not limited to, the bureau, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, shall implement a unique identification program
for marijuana. In implementing the program, the department shall consider issues including, but not limited to, water use and environmental impacts. In implementing the program, the department shall ensure that:
(A)
Individual and cumulative effects of water diversion and discharge associated with cultivation do not affect the instream flows needed for fish spawning, migration, and rearing, and the flows needed to maintain natural flow variability. If a watershed cannot support additional cultivation, no new plant identifiers will be issued for that watershed.
(B)
Cultivation will not negatively impact springs, riparian wetlands and aquatic habitats.
(2)
The department shall establish a program for the identification of permitted marijuana plants at a cultivation site during the cultivation period. A unique
identifier shall be issued for each marijuana plant. The department shall ensure that unique identifiers are issued as quickly as possible to ensure the implementation of this division. The unique identifier shall be attached at the base of each plant or as otherwise required by law or regulation.
(A)
Unique identifiers will only be issued to those persons appropriately licensed by this section.
(B)
Information associated with the assigned unique identifier and licensee shall be included in the trace and track program specified in Section 26170.
(C)
The department may charge a fee to cover the reasonable costs of issuing the unique identifier and monitoring, tracking, and inspecting each marijuana plant.
(D)
The department may promulgate regulations to
implement this section.
(3)
The department shall take adequate steps to establish protections against fraudulent unique identifiers and limit illegal diversion of unique identifiers to unlicensed persons.
(d)
Unique identifiers and associated identifying information administered by local jurisdictions shall adhere to the requirements set by the department and be the equivalent to those administered by the department.
(e)
(1) This section does not apply to the cultivation of marijuana in accordance with Section 11362.1 of the Health and Safety Code or the Compassionate Use Act.
(2)
Subdivision (b) does not apply to persons or entities licensed under either paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 26070 or subdivision (b) of Section 26070.5.
(f)
“Department” for purposes of this section means the Department of Food and Agriculture.