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Government

Apr 02
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State Cannabis Licensing Authorities Provide Provisional Licensing Update

By Government

CalCannabis sent out a press release to provide an update on California’s provisional cannabis licenses that will help prevent gaps in licensure when active temporary licenses expire.

NEWS RELEASE
State Cannabis Licensing Authorities Provide Provisional Licensing Update


SACRAMENTO, March 29, 2019—The Bureau of Cannabis Control, California Department of Public Health, and California Department of Food and Agriculture are taking steps to prevent gaps in licensure when active temporary commercial cannabis licenses expire.
Each licensing authority is tracking expiration dates of temporary licenses and intends to issue a provisional license to qualified temporary license holders before their current temporary license expires. To qualify for a provisional license, an applicant must:
(1) Hold or have held a temporary license for the same premises and the same commercial cannabis activity for which the provisional license will be issued; and
(2) Have submitted a completed license application to the licensing authority, which must include a document or statement indicating that California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance is underway.
If you are contacted by your state licensing authority for additional information, please respond promptly so that processing of a provisional license is not delayed.

Please note that a completed application for purposes of obtaining a provisional license is not the same as a sufficient application to obtain an annual license. Licensees issued a provisional license are expected to be diligently working toward completing all annual license requirements in order to maintain a provisional license.
Temporary or provisional licensees must meet all statutory and regulatory requirements in order to receive an annual license.

Mar 04
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Maintaining Your Legal Cultivation Status In Humboldt County

By Consulting, Government

The following letter was made available by the Cannabis Services Division in Humboldt and sent on Thursday, February 28th.

“Dear Cannabis Annual and Interim Permit Holders,

Humboldt County is dedicated to helping you succeed in the legal California cannabis market and we need to share important information with you. As of January 1, 2019, temporary state licenses for commercial cannabis cultivation are no longer available from CalCannabis. To continue to hold a license to legally cultivate this season, you will be required to obtain either an annual or provisional state license once your temporary license expires. In order to be in a position to obtain an annual or provisional license it is imperative that you have either a Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement (LSA) or an Operation of Law letter from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). If you have not yet submitted a complete LSA notification to CDFW please do so immediately.

It is also critical that you respond to any request for information from CalCannabis in a short period of time to ensure that your application does not suffer unnecessary delays that could threaten your ability to legally cultivate cannabis in Humboldt County. If your temporary license expires and you do not obtain an annual or provisional license, you are no longer legally allowed to cultivate cannabis in Humboldt County even if your Humboldt County permit is valid.”

To learn more about how to submit a Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement or an Operation of Law letter from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, please visit the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife.

1 Degree Consulting can help you with your LSA or CDF. Call our office at 707-890-6600 so that we can help get you on the road to compliancy.

Feb 21
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1 Degree Consulting

SB 67 Cannabis Licenses Fact Sheet

By Government

Senator McGuire and Assemblymember Wood have introduced SB 67 as a short term solution to alleviate the significant backlog of annual license applications. The following SB 67 (McGuire) fact sheet was provided by Christopher Nielsen, Legislative Director.

Summary
Cannabis licensing authorities (State Depts., for example)
were authorized to issue temporary licenses until January 1,
2019, that are valid for 120 days and may be extended for
additional 90-day periods at the discretion of the licensing
authority. Due to the processing time for annual licenses
being much longer than expected, thousands of temporary
licenses are set to expire in the coming months before their
annual licenses are considered and/or processed. SB 67 will
provide licensing authorities the ability to grant extensions
until they process the annual application backlog for the
estimated 10,000 temporary licenses.


Background
The state’s licensing authorities, the Department of Food
and Agriculture (CDFA), Dept. of Public Health (DPH),
and the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) were able to
issue four-month temporary licenses to applicants, with
opportunities for 90 – day extensions. The temporary
licenses required proof of local authorization and entitled
the holders to engage in commercial cannabis activity
without completing the annual licensing application
requirements, including CEQA review.
At the end of last year’s session, the legislature was made
aware the local CEQA review was going to hold up the
issuance of annual licenses going forward. To buy more
time for the locals to conduct CEQA reviews, the
legislature passed SB 1459, which authorized a licensing
authority to issue a provisional license to an applicant if theapplicant holds or held a temporary license, demonstrated
substantial compliance with CEQA while local review was
still occurring, and the applicant completed all other
portions of the application. This provisional license
authority sunsets on January 1, 2020.


Problem
The temporary license was intended as an intermediary step
while the state and local jurisdictions managed their own
efforts to come into compliance with the cannabis
regulatory structure. However, due to the significant
amount of annual license applications that came in during
the fall of 2018 after the legislature adjourned, there are
over 10,000 temporarily licenses currently in the system
that will be eligible for a provisional license.
This massive volume of temporary licenses creates the real
risk that not all provisional annual license applications can
be processed prior to temporary licenses expire. CDFA,
DPH, and BCC have been working diligently to address the
sheer volume of licenses that came in prior to the
temporary license authority was lost, but there is no
guarantee they will process all the applications prior to
temporary licenses expiring. For example, over 1000
temporary licenses issued by CDFA are set to expire in the
month of March 2019 alone, with thousands more over the
following months.
In a time where the golden state is working overtime to
bring the cannabis industry out of the black market and into
the light of a legal regulatory environment, we can’t afford
to let good actors who want to comply with state law fall
out of our regulated market just because timelines are too
short and departments have been unable to process
applications in time due to the sheer number of
applications.


Solution
SB 67 allows CDFA, DPH, and BCC to extend temporary
licenses held by licensees while their annual application is
being processed so long as the annual application was in
before the temporary expired and one of the following
applies: The application is being held up by the local
authorization. The application is delayed by the lake and streambed alteration review process. The application is within its period where applicants are provided 90 days to correct incomplete applications.
Further, SB 67 requires any licensing authority who uses
the extension authority to provide certain metrics to the
legislature about how the provisional annual applications
are being processed. SB 67 creates a short-term solution do
avoid an impending crisis, and this reporting will allow the
Legislature to have a fuller conversation about licensing
through the 2019 legislative session, as SB 67’s authority
expires January 1, 2020. Additional discussions – about a
longer term fix to the backlog – will be advancing in a
parallel effort in the coming weeks and months.

Senator McGuire and Assemblymember Wood have introduced SB-67

May 03
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Humboldt Green Empowers HSU Students to Model Cannabis Carbon Footprint

By Education, Government

Three Humboldt State students, with less than a week left before they graduate, are headed to Sacramento on Thursday for the annual California State University Student Researcher Awards ceremony.

Cheyenna Burrows, Jenna Kelmser and Wyatt Kozelka, all of whom majored in environmental science management, have created a modeling tool as their capstone research project, a tool to determine the carbon footprint a indoor or mixed-light cannabis grow.

Read the rest of the Times-Standard article here.

The students coordinated with Humboldt Green, an Arcata cannabis consulting business created by Stephen Gieder, and used some of the information from an earlier model Gieder and others created for use by the city of Arcata.

Gieder’s involvement came from his relationship with HSU professor Kevin Fingerman, who was the faculty advisor for the students, and Gieder was able to provide support in the efforts.

“This project aligns well with the work we are doing,” Gieder said Tuesday. “I was aware of the project and was able to introduce them to some of the new technology and the best practices that can really help farmers, with indoor or mixed-light grows, to conserve energy.”

Dec 18
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Local Businesses & Community Supports Arcata Plaza Redesign

By Government

The Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP) is a group of Humboldt and Del Norte County residents who work together to create environmentally friendly transportation projects that support the community and help boost the local economy.

CRTP submitted a letter to the Arcata Mayor and Council Members outlining a plan to redesign the Arcata Plaza to provide pedestrians priority over vehicles and to create more positive activities accessible on the plaza at all hours.

Steve Gieder of Northcoast Horticulture Supply and Humboldt Green, a member of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, shared the following letter CRTP sent to the Mayor and Council Members.

Mayor and Councilmembers:

The Arcata Plaza is the cultural, civic, and historic heart of our city. The Plaza is bordered by local businesses and regularly hosts well-attended events, important for the local economy and a thriving community. But most of the time, the Plaza functions as a parking lot and is otherwise little used by local residents, families and businesspeople. This creates a social vacuum often filled by anti-social and even illegal activities. Unfortunate recent events have highlighted this problem even more starkly.

We’re happy to see a growing consensus in the community that it is time to address the Plaza’s problems head-on and help it live up to its enormous potential. We believe that two important types of changes to the Plaza can help accomplish this goal: (1) redesign the Plaza as a place for people rather than for cars; (2) make more positive activities available on the Plaza at all times. These two types of changes are in line with established principles of place-making. In other words, they will help create a self-sustaining, healthy, thriving, pro-social public space. They will also stimulate economic activity and create a symbol of support for more sustainable forms of transportation.

Therefore we ask the Council, through an appropriate public process, to create and implement a plan to revitalize life on the Arcata Plaza which includes the following ideas and proposals.

Phase 1: Low-Cost, High-Impact Plaza Redesign for People

We propose a series of near-term regulatory changes and minor infrastructure improvements that can be enacted by the Council to revitalize downtown business and make the Plaza a more social, inclusive place, including:

A. Closure of 8th and 9th Streets between G and H Streets to automobiles, with the exception of emergency vehicles and delivery vehicles
B. Amending the City Code to further encourage outdoor food/drink consumption at permitted restaurants and food carts on the Plaza, and to allow businesses to construct “parklets” for seating, eating, dining, art display, and similar activities
C. Reclassifying G and H Streets through the Plaza as 5 mph “Pedestrian Priority” roadways
D. Working with the North Coast Growers Association to create a car-free Plaza during farmers markets
E. Working with downtown businesses to create a plan for addressing safety concerns on the Plaza in a community-friendly and cost-effective manner Further infrastructure improvements to support these changes can occur over time as needed and as funding allows.

Phase 2: Adding More Activities for People

Over the medium and long term, additional infrastructure changes should take place to support positive daily use of the Plaza by a diversity of people. Such infrastructure changes could include: a permanent map of the downtown and better wayfinding signs for bikes and pedestrians; a playground; a permanent performance venue; art stalls to showcase the work of local artisans; better weatherization of social spaces on the Plaza. In implementing these or any other proposals, we encourage the City to take reasonable precautions to minimize the impacts of any construction on the Plaza on successful, established businesses and events such as the Saturday farmers markets.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Ryan Campbell, Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities
Coco Maki, Pasta Luego
Steve Gieder, Northcoast Horticulture Supply & Humboldt Green
Ken Hamik, Community Pride & Peace
Steve Lovett, People’s Records
Martha Jain, MJA
Tom Wheeler, EPIC
Portia Bramble, North Coast Growers Association
Chris Smith, Tuck’s Inc.
Sarah Anderson, North Country Fair
Erica Grey, MotherWoman Support
Greg King, Siskiyou Land Conservancy
North Coast People’s Alliance
Christine Champe, Stillwater Sciences
Tibora Girczyc-Blum
Jennifer Chierici
Kathleen Marshall
Deborah Waxman
Tom Sokolowski
Kim Tays
Stan Binnie
Claire Roth
Vincent Peloso
Joe James
Diane Ryerson
Robert Shearer
Mary Sanger
Aidas Worthington

Nov 17
Love0

Emergency California Cannabis Regulations Now Online

By Education, Government

The Bureau of Cannabis Control released the following information about Emergency California Cannabis Cultivation Licensing Regulations. 1 Degree Consulting empowered by Humboldt Green is available for all of your cannabis consulting needs. We’re here to help you with local & state licensing. Contact our office at 707.443.3140 to set up a Phase Zero appointment to go over your companies needs.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2017
Contact: Alex Traverso, bcc@dca.ca.gov

LICENSING AUTHORITIES RELEASE EMERGENCY MEDICINAL AND ADULT-USE CANNABIS REGULATIONS

SACRAMENTO – California’s three state cannabis licensing authorities announced today that proposed emergency licensing regulations for commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis have been posted online and are available to the public for review.

The Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Cannabis Control, Department of Public Health’s Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch, and Department of Food and Agriculture’s CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division each developed the new regulations to reflect the law defined in California’s Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA).

The regulations and their summaries can be viewed by clicking the following links:

Bureau of Cannabis Control:
www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/bcc_prop_text_reg.pdf
www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/bcc_fact_sheet.pdf

CA Department of Food and Agriculture:
www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/cdfa_prop_text_emerg_reg.pdf
www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/cdfa_fact_sheet.pdf

CA Department of Public Health:
http://www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/cdph_prop_text_emerg_reg.pdf
http://www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/cdph_sum_emerg_reg.pdf

On June 27, 2017, the Governor signed MAUCRSA, which creates one regulatory system for both medicinal and adult-use cannabis.  Prior to that law’s passage, state licensing authorities had released proposed regulations to govern the implementation of the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.  The public hearings and comments from a broad cross section of stakeholders that were informing that regulatory process have also been taken into consideration in the drafting of these proposed emergency regulations.

The licensing authorities expect the emergency regulations to be effective in December 2017.  The implementation date for the issuance of the state commercial cannabis licenses remains the same:  January 1, 2018.  However, California will only be able to license those businesses that are in compliance with all local laws. 

In addition, the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency will hold a workshop with state-chartered banks and credit unions next month to discuss regulatory and compliance issues, as well as potential approaches to banking cannabis-related businesses.  

For information on all three licensing authorities, please visit the state’s California Cannabis Portal at cannabis.ca.gov.

Oct 03
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Licensing Authorities Announce Withdrawal of Proposed Medical Cannabis Regulations

By Government

On September 29th the Bureau of Cannabis Control issued a press release regarding the withdrawal of the proposed medical cannabis regulations.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2017
CONTACT: Alex Traverso, Bureau of Cannabis Control (916) 574-7546

LICENSING AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCE WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSED MEDICAL CANNABIS REGULATIONS

Agencies Also Post Summary of Public Comments to Cannabis Web Portal

SACRAMENTO – California’s three cannabis licensing authorities announced today the official withdrawal of the medical cannabis regulations that were proposed in late spring by the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Cannabis Control, Department of Public Health’s Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch and Department of Food and Agriculture’s CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing. The official withdrawal will occur October 6. The proposed regulations were geared toward the implementation of the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. These licensing authorities held hearings and accepted public comments regarding the proposed regulations during a 45-day public comment period.

However, in late June, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, which creates one regulatory system for both medicinal and adult-use cannabis. Because of that action, the licensing authorities will withdraw the proposed medical regulations and will instead move forward with one regulatory package for both medicinal and adult-use cannabis.

The three cannabis licensing authorities will develop emergency regulations based on the new law and will incorporate the robust and valuable public comment received on the proposed medical cannabis regulations. The summary of public comments, as well as the responses to those comments, received by each agency—either in writing or in person at one of the public comment forums hosted by the three agencies—can be viewed by clicking the links below:

Bureau of Cannabis Control – Collected Public Comment

CA Department of Food and Ag – Collected Public Comment

CA Department of Public Health – Collected Public Comment

The licensing authorities will use the emergency rule-making process for the new regulations. The emergency regulations are expected to be published in November. The implementation date for the issuance of commercial cannabis licenses remains the same: January 1, 2018.

For additional information about the three licensing authorities, or to learn about updates as they become available, please visit the state’s Cannabis Web Portal.

Oct 03
Love1

2018 California Cannabis Tax Information

By Education, Government

2017 Cannifest 215 Vendor Area. Eureka, California. Humboldt County

The Bureau of Cannabis Control released the following information about California Cannabis Taxes scheduled to begin January 1, 2018.

“If you sell cannabis or cannabis products, you must register with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) for a seller’s permit. Cannabis cultivators, processors, manufacturers, retailers, microbusinesses, and distributors making sales are required to obtain and maintain a seller’s permit as a prerequisite for applying for a license with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Consumer Affairs, or the California Department of Public Health.

Distributors of cannabis and cannabis products must also register with the CDTFA for a cannabis tax permit to report and pay the two new cannabis taxes to the CDTFA. The cannabis tax permit is in addition to your seller’s permit.

Beginning January 1, 2018, two new cannabis taxes are in effect:
• A 15 percent excise tax is imposed upon purchasers of cannabis and cannabis products. Retailers are required to collect the excise tax from the purchaser and pay it to the cannabis distributor.
• A tax on the cultivation of cannabis that enters the commercial market is imposed upon cultivators. Cultivators are required to pay the cultivation tax to either a distributor or a manufacturer depending upon the nature of the transaction.

The cultivation tax rates are:

  •  $9.25 per dry-weight ounce of cannabis flowers
  •  $2.75 per dry-weight ounce of cannabis leaves

All cannabis businesses making sales are required to:
• Register online with the CDTFA for a seller’s permit.
• File sales and use tax returns electronically and pay any sales and use tax to the CDTFA. Even if none of your sales are subject to sales tax, you are still required to file a return and report your activities on your return to the CDTFA.

In addition, if you are a cannabis distributor, the following requirements apply to you:
• Prior to January 1, 2018, register online with the CDTFA for a cannabis tax permit. (Registration will be available in November 2017.)
• Beginning January 1, 2018, collect the excise tax from retailers you supply.
• Beginning January 1, 2018, collect the cultivation tax from cultivators or manufacturers that send or transfer cannabis and cannabis products to you.
• File both your cannabis tax and sales and use tax returns electronically and pay any tax amounts due to the CDTFA.”

If you need help filling out paperwork, contact One Degree Consulting empowered by Humboldt Green for all of your cannabis consulting needs. You can reach our consultants at 707.443.3140 or by email at contact@gohumboldtgreen.com to set up a Phase Zero cannabis consultation.

Jun 20
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Commercial Medical Cannabis Permit & Cannabis Cultivation Permit Processing Update from County of Humboldt Planning Department

By Government

County of Humboldt SealOn June 12th, John Ford the Director of Planning and Building for the County of Humboldt issued an update regarding concerns about an application deadline date for June 30, 2017. In his letter he related that there are two separate activities that share the deadline date at the end of the month.

The first activity is a call from the State Water Resources Control Board for farmers to take an active role in understanding how direct diversion of water and diversion to storage applies to your project. The deadline is set for June 30th. Contact the Division of Water Rights staff at WB-DWR-Cannabis@waterboards.ca.gov or call 916.341.5300.

The Director states in his letter that the second activity is not necessarily a deadline, but a commitment that he made back in May that states all applications completed by June 30, 2017 will be processed to decision by December 31, 2017. He reassured readers that the Planning & Building Department will continue to receive applications and process them after June 30th.

For the full letter from John Ford, Director of Planning and Building, regarding the update to the Humboldt County Cannabis Permit Application process, please click here.

 

May 15
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Pesticide Training for Cannabis Cultivators

Pesticide Training for Cannabis Cultivators

By Education, Government

Humboldt County’s Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance and current State law require that cannabis cultivators and employees that apply pesticides in cannabis cultivation operations do so in compliance with relevant pesticide use laws and regulations.

On May 31st the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation will offer pesticide use compliance training for the commercial cannabis cultivation industry. Humboldt County’s Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance and current State law require that cannabis cultivators and employees that apply pesticides in cannabis cultivation operations do so in compliance with relevant pesticide use laws and regulations.

The training will cover the following topics in detail:

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