'Nuisance Odors' From Hemp Production Addressed In Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The Board of Supervisors Tuesday signed off on several amendments to the Industrial Hemp Activities Ordinance enacted in 2020, ending litigation initiated by the Riverside County Farm Bureau stemming from "nuisance odors" and other conflicts with traditional agricultural cultivation.

"There were lots of disputes, but you all worked real hard to deal with the problems and allow this product to be grown," board Chairman Jeff Hewitt told a Farm Bureau representative.

The board voted 4-0 — with Supervisor Chuck Washington absent — to accept and add amendments to Ordinance No. 348 derived from settlement negotiations between the Farm Bureau and county attorneys in February.

The county Planning Commission had recommended that the board adopt the amendments during its March 23 meeting.

The Industrial Hemp Activities Ordinance will now include provisions that specify the need for odor control at grow sites and that water regulators approve all on-site service requirements prior to a hemp grow starting operations.

The odor control component cites the need to minimize "nuisance odors" to prevent them from "significantly interfering with offsite land uses," according to the revision.

The amendment largely takes aim at indoor cultivation, requiring filtration systems that contain emissions.

As to the water availability component tied to the settlement agreement, the new provision would strengthen the former one, clarifying that water purveyors issue a "will serve" letter establishing that sufficient supplies are available to support a hemp grow. The county Department of Environmental Health additionally would need to determine whether in-ground wells at cultivation sites meet quality control standards.

No other significant changes were proposed for the existing ordinance, which expressly prohibits hemp cultivation — indoor or outdoor — in large swaths of the Santa Margarita River Watershed, extending roughly from De Luz, just west of Temecula, east to Anza, south to the San Diego County line and north to Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet.

The space encompasses parts of the Eastern Municipal and Western Municipal water districts, as well as all of the Rancho California Water District. However, there are several pockets carved out and authorized for cultivation, as long as permit applicants have ready access to a well, or obtain guarantees from water suppliers that they will receive sufficient flow to sustain their grow.

When the ordinance was enacted in November 2020, the Transportation & Land Management Agency said there were about 125 cultivators with permits.

Registration and licensing is handled by TLMA with the following requirements:
-- indoor and outdoor hemp cultivation must be a minimum of 1,000 feet from all schools, daycare centers, public parks and youth centers;
-- all grows must be a minimum of 300 feet from any property in a residentially zoned location;
-- all indoor cultivation sites must rely on 20% renewable energy for production; and
-- all sites must have water conservation and recapturing mechanisms to "minimize use of water where feasible."

The size of grows can be anywhere from five to over 160 acres, depending on where they're situated.

The main difference between hemp and unadulterated marijuana is the tetrahydrocannabinol — or THC — content. Hemp leaves have about three-tenths of 1% of the compounds contained in cannabis leaves, according to the Office of County Counsel.

Advocates of hemp production and research say its properties have proven benefits in treating some skin and heart disorders. It's also used in clothing and other commercial applications.

Unlike cannabis, hemp is not federally designated as a controlled substance, and production is permitted on Native American lands, under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians began permitting hemp grows near Mountain Center in January 2020.

The ordinance mandates limitations on hours of operation to reduce noise, and hemp production is not allowed to be paired with cannabis grows. To date, the board has not authorized one commercial marijuana farm in an unincorporated area.