AN ACT to create and fund a beekeeping grant program to encourage future Farmers of America chapters to create student beekeeping programs.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  The sum of one hundred sixty‑five thousand dollars ($165,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year is appropriated to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to be allocated for the provision of grants to create beekeeping programs for high school chapters of Future Farmers of America (FFA) located in the State.

SECTION 1.(b)  The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall include the following in the grant program funded by this section:

(1)        Expenses eligible for funding from a grant under this section shall include the purchase of any of the following:

a.         Woodenware and other materials necessary to house honeybee colonies, including hive bodies, supers, top and bottom boards, inner covers, and frames.

b.         Protective gear and other equipment necessary for the practice of beekeeping.

c.         Queens, honeybee packages, and nucleus colonies.

d.         Eligible educational expenses for no more than two persons per grant. For purposes of this subdivision, an eligible educational expense means registration and materials for a course designed to assist the participant to become a beekeeper certified by the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association.

(2)        The Department shall ensure that no more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per county is available to FFA chapters at high schools in that county. FFA chapters shall be responsible for matching the grant received in a manner and amount as the Department may specify.

(3)        The Department shall provide for a recovery of the grant award if the beekeeping program funded by the grant is not maintained for at least three school years.

(4)        Of the funds appropriated by this act, the Department may spend up to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for administrative costs, including the costs of promoting the program to potential grantees.

SECTION 1.(c)  The Department through the Board of Agriculture may adopt temporary rules to implement the requirements of this act.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.