Cannabis Appellations Program (CAP)
Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability
An appellation of origin is a protected designation that identifies the geographical origin of a product and typically includes production requirements. CDFA’s Cannabis Appellations Program (CAP) will help prevent the misrepresentation of a cannabis good’s origin and promote regional collaboration around cannabis production.
On November 23, 2021, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the CDFA’s proposed regulations for establishing appellations of origin for cannabis. These regulations took effect January 1, 2022. You can find the latest regulatory text on this page and codified in the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 8, Chapter 2.
On February 2, 2024, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) submitted proposed regulations to amend the Cannabis Appellation Program to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). The proposed regulations effectively require all cultivation activities (i.e., planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, and trimming) to occur within the appellation of origin boundary. The proposed regulations also require licensed cannabis cultivators to notify CDFA of the use of the of an appellation of origin.
On March 19, 2024, CDFA held a public hearing to receive comments. Written comments were also submitted to the Department on the same date. The Department revised the proposed regulations in response to the initial set of public comments received. These revisions were released on June 28, 2024, and were subject to additional public comment during a 15-day comment period which ended on July 15, 2024. Additional revisions were released on October 4, 2024, and available for public comment during a second 15-day comment period which ended on October 21, 2024.
On January 22, 2025, CDFA submitted this regulatory action to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for review. On March 13, 2025, OAL issued its Decision of Disapproval of Regulatory Action to CDFA. The latest revisions, released on April 23, 2025, are in response to the issues raised by OAL. The rulemaking documents are available below.
Original Documents Submitted (2/2/24)
First 15-Day Comment Period Documents Submitted (6/28/24)
Second 15-Day Comment Period Documents Submitted (10/4/2024)
Third 15-Day Comment Period Documents Submitted (4/23/2025)
Any interested person may submit written comments relevant to the latest proposed regulation text submitted April 23, 2025. A 15-day written comment period closes at midnight on Friday May 9, 2025. Written comments may be submitted to the Department by mailing:
Cannabis Appellations Program
California Department of Food and Agriculture
Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability
1220 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
or emailing: CannabisAg@cdfa.ca.gov
All comments received by May 9, 2025, and pertaining to the indicated changes will be reviewed and responded to by the Department’s staff as part of the compilation of the final rulemaking file. Please limit your comments to the latest modifications to the proposed text released April 23, 2025.
CDFA will provide public notice to announce the opening of appellation of origin petition. Petitions received prior to the official announcement from the Department will not be accepted. Please sign up for the program's mailing list to receive program updates and to receive direct notice of the opening of the program.
Prior to accepting petitions to establish an appellation, the Department is developing the administrative structure for the appellations program and establishing a review structure to support the fair and thorough evaluation of petitions.
On June 16th, 2022 the Department hosted a webinar to discuss program status and receive stakeholder input.
Workshop Topics
Purpose, Program History and Status, Petitions for Appellations of Origin, Petitioning Process, Petition Review, Accepting Petitions, and Questions and Comments.
Final Regulatory Documents
Cannabis Appellations Program Regulatory History
On February 20, 2020, CDFA released the originally proposed regulations. The release marked the official start of the public comment period provided under California law. All interested parties were encouraged to submit comments about the proposed regulations by May 6, 2020. CDFA also received public comments during a virtual hearing on May 6, 2020.
Initial Notice Documents (45-Day Comment Period)
CDFA announced modifications to the proposed appellations regulations and the first additional public comment period was October 2 to 19, 2020. The proposed regulations were subsequently modified, prompting several additional comment periods during 2021; March 5 to April 12, June 3 to June 18, and September 27 to October 12.
First Additional Comment Period Documents (15-Day Comment Period)
Second Additional Comment Period Documents (15-Day Comment Period)
Third Additional Comment Period Documents (15-Day Comment Period)
Fourth Additional Comment Period Documents (15-Day Comment Period)
Subscribe to the Cannabis Appellations Program Updates
Subscribe to the Cannabis Appellations Program Mailing List.
Program Status
Closed
Program is not accepting applications at this time.