West Virginia House Bill HB2289

West Virginia 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/12/25
• Refer: 2/12/25

Caption

Relating to authorizing the Department of Agriculture to promulgate a legislative rule relating to select plant-based derivatives and select plant-based derivative products.

Summary

HB2289 is a narrow administrative bill that authorizes the West Virginia Department of Agriculture to promulgate a legislative rule concerning “select plant-based derivatives and select plant-based derivative products.” The bill does not itself create a new regulatory program or define the underlying standards in detail; instead, it gives legislative approval to a rule that was filed, modified to address objections from the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee, and refiled for authorization. In practical terms, the bill is a rule-approval measure under the state’s legislative rule process. It confirms the Department of Agriculture’s authority to move forward with the referenced rule, which is identified in the bill as 61 CSR 30 and tied to authority in §19-12E-12 of the West Virginia Code. The bill’s effect is therefore to validate and enable agency regulation in this area rather than to directly amend substantive agricultural law.

Impact

HB2289 affects West Virginia’s administrative law framework by authorizing a specific Department of Agriculture legislative rule to take effect. It does not appear to change the underlying statutory scheme governing agriculture directly, but it does empower the department to regulate select plant-based derivatives and related products under the approved rule. The main parties affected would be producers, processors, distributors, and other regulated entities dealing with plant-based derivative products, as well as the Department of Agriculture responsible for enforcement and implementation.

Sentiment

The available record suggests a neutral-to-procedural sentiment around the bill. Because the bill is a rule authorization measure and there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no evidence of strong public debate or partisan conflict in the materials supplied. The bill appears to have been treated as a technical authorization for an agency rule rather than a controversial policy change.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials, and there are no committee remarks or vote records to indicate disagreement. The only implied issue is the scope and content of the Department of Agriculture’s rule on plant-based derivatives, which had already been modified to address objections from the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee before being refiled. Any substantive concerns would likely center on how the rule defines and regulates plant-based derivative products, but those details are not included in the bill text or context.