B
Blazing Oaks
- 18
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Originally posted on the Willits News website, article by Kate Maxwell
The north coast harvest season is in full swing, and while local cannabis cultivators have been harvesting this year’s outdoor crops, government agencies and local advocacy groups are trying to educate growers’ on the variety of new regulations, approved since August, that are starting to be implemented in the region.
Cannabis advocacy groups including the California Growers Association have held a series of workshops to help residents better understand the various steps and programs required to come into compliance with new regulations, and to support further organizing efforts to change county cannabis policies. The Small Farmers’ Association annual Board Meeting, was held at the Willits Community Center Thursday evening, which will be covered in an upcoming TWN article.
WATERBOARD PERMIT
“The best way to start is with something concrete, and the most concrete thing out there is for our order,” said Connor McIntee with the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. As of now, north coast marijuana cultivators from Sonoma to the Oregon border are eligible to enroll in the NCRWQCB’s permit program, which establishes a tiered set of regulations to ensure water quality standards are being maintained for anyone with more than 2,000 square feet in cultivation and evaluates a range of site characteristics (such as slope grade and proximity to waterways) and cultivation practices (such as pesticide and nutrient use and storage, and water forbearance and storage.) A similar program was recently approved in the Central water board district in October.
Notices to landowners about this program were included in the Nov. 1 Mendocino County tax bills.
McIntee encouraged all cultivators to submit applications by February 15, 2016, elaborating that the agency has been conducting consent inspections for landowners interested in getting a head start on permit compliance ahead of heavy rains predicted this winter. He said most landowners inspected so far had some improvements to make, and most were in tier two, “which is a fine place to be…we want people to think critically about things that may need management, but are managable,” he explained.
“By signing this, it’s an opportunity to do what everyone says they want, which is to do the right thing,” McIntee said, pointing out that the agency would prefer to conduct “consent inspection” by landowner invitation, and will work to develop a timeline of improvements with anyone who demonstrates a willingness to comply. “It’s so much easier than us coming after you,” he added. “If there are issues and you are not enrolling, we will be less lenient, and we will treat your neighbor differently than we treat you.”
The agency is also continuing enforcement efforts around sensitive watersheds in the north coast, and has been working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to obtain warrants for site inspections when necessary and levy fines and other punitive measures for those impacting water quality. “The Eel River in general is a major focus for us, and Mendocino County is a very big focus,” he said.
The program requires an annual fee, and the preparation of a management plan and site inspections for cultivators in the second and third tiers, which are considered having higher threats to water quality. The permit also includes a component for third party contractors to serve as site inspectors and assist with applications and administration, implementing required improvements to protect water quality, and other permit requirements. Such inspectors will also assist in protecting the privacy of cultivators by providing only the information necessary to the board.
McIntee said the board had received several applications from prospective third parties, but that the board was currently working with applicants to streamline the process and ensure all necessary organizational and technical requirements for water quality are met before third parties are certified. Any third parties certified will be listed on the NCRWQCB’s website for easy reference for enrollees, along with documents outlining regulations and best practices and application information.
Those utilizing third party contractors are eligible for reduced annual fees but those in the third tier, considered a serious threat requiring corrective action, must pay $10,000 annually until they have moved to a lower tier. Fees for tier one and two are $1,000 and $2,500 and with third parties, $700 and $1,750.
While initially supported by temporary state funding, the permit system is moving to a fee-based program, and fees will go towards covering the costs of program administration, inspections, and enforcement, explained McIntee. The permit requires steps to ensure water quality is being protected but does not address the legality of cannabis cultivation, which means the program will remain in place despite other new state regulations. Enrollees will also need to be in compliance with other applicable state and local permits, including water rights and water storage permits, and other county guidelines that may apply to landowners and cultivators.
In addition, funding has been provided to the non-profit Eel River Recovery Project to assist with free and confidential on-site inspections for cultivators to begin evaluating what work may need to be done on their property. This assistance is available to anyone within the Eel River watershed. The Mendocino County Resource Conservation District has also received funding and begun developing a “best practices” guide for rural gardeners and cultivators, to help ensure watershed health and water quality protections, which Director Deborah Stranger Edelman expected to be available by spring.
COUNTY SUPERVISORS AND BUSINESSES
At the Board of Supervisors meeting held November 2, Mendocino County’s Ad Hoc Marijuana Committee was disbanded from its focus on the economic impacts of cannabis in the county and re-constituted with the goal of re-evaluating the county’s 9.31 “zip-tie” cultivation permit program. The Ad Hoc committee plans to report on re-evaluating that program by the end of the year, to develop a permit or local licensing process that would dovetail with newly signed statewide regulations.
During the special supervisors meeting held October 25, several supervisors not on the committee advocated to put a new permit program in place to enable local cultivators and businesses to apply for the dual-licensing established by the state when it goes into affect January 1, 2016, although the majority of regulations do not take affect until 2018. Under current legislation, the county has until March 2016 to adopt a local policy or default to the state regulations, although that date may change with clean-up legislation introduced in January.
Several public comments made at the meeting underscored this need, and locals requested supervisors facilitate their ability to remain and compete in the marketplace through permitting. Requests for a higher plant count akin to the 99 permitted in Humboldt county, which has been actively considering a new county marijuana policy and the creation of a “medical marijuana innovation zone” in Arcata during the course of this year.
Although the meeting mainly focused on cultivation permits, several business owners including Sherry Glaser of Love-In-It Cooperative requested the county work with local businesses who are “excited” to come into compliance. According to Martin Lee of Project CBD, a co-organizer of the recently opened Emerald Pharms Dispensary in Hopland, the club is the first business registed as a cannabis business in Mendocino county, though Lee said it had been difficult to determine the exact current county regulations for cannabis-related businesses, something he hopes will be more clear as regulation becomes implemented..
STATE REGULATIONS AND INITIATIVES
Assemblyman Jim Wood plans to introduce legislation to create a longer timeline for local adoption of the new state medical marijuana regulations in January, as well as new legislation AB 1548 to establish an excise tax to fund environmental clean up, regulation, and enforcement. Wood is also proposing in AB 1549, coordinated with regional Board of Equalization representative Fiona Ma, to create a two year state-wide system of banking available to marijuana businesses, which current federal regulations prevent.
Currently, all marijuana businesses are required to pay taxes to the State Board of Equalization but few do. Ma has held several workshops outlining some of the ways newly regulated commercial cannabis activities will interact with the BOE. Aside from authorizing commercial activity, new regulations will also re-classify cultivation as agriculture, which will involve further regulations from the Department of Food and Agriculture.
Growers and businesses selling direct to consumers or selling wholesale cannabis to dispensaries are required to report income to the BOE, and apply for a sellers permit or a certificate of resale, depending on whether they are collecting sales tax.
More information about current requirements can be found on the BOE’s website, but anyone currently engaging in any cannabis sales is required to report their taxes and may be subject to investigation of previous year’s income depending on their particular tax situatoin.
Paul Ramey of Wood’s office said the Assemblyman had been following some of the recent filings being made for initiatives for recreational marijuana legalization in the 2016 elections, which include the recent announcement of tech mogul Sean Parker’s initiative for adult use. Although many initiatives have been filed, which ones will actually collect the required signatures remains unclear, but many of the filings propose regulations that would substantially contradict components of the recent passed medical legislation.
One such issue is that of vertical integration, which local growers’ groups and legislators worked to prevent in the recently passed regulations, as an effort to protect smaller farms and businesses already established along the north coast. Ramey said Wood was “really concerned about vertical integration” within a single company, and wanted to keep size requirements for cultivators small to protect north coast businesses and the industry as a whole. Ramey said many of the inititives seemed to represent urban interests that don’t reflect the needs of the rural north coast counties. Wood had “concerns that there are corporate nad business interests that are trying to unravel what he thinks was a historic landmark stakeholder initiatives.”
“If you remove the limits, it opens the door for huge corporate interests to come in and wipe out some of the businesses that have been in this industry for a long time,” said Ramey. “It isn’t conducive to success of businesses on the north coast—if we can keep the smaller grows in the industry, in smaller family farms, it’s more beneficial for the north coast and the state as a whole.”
FEDERAL CHANGES
Bernie Sanders this week introduced a bill in the Senate on Wednesday which would change the classification of cannabis from a Schedule 1 controlled substance, effectively transforming federal oversight of the cannabis industry nationwide, something which cannabis activists have been requesting for decades.
The schedule 1 classification is part of the issue facing banks, state and local agencies, and permit states to decide how cannabis is handled and regulated. This would have a wide range of consequences for the industry nationwide, including furthering medicinal research into cannabis use, permitting veterans using federal health care to be proscribed medical cannabis, and allowing greater local control over what types of cannabis regulatory enforcement occurs.
The north coast harvest season is in full swing, and while local cannabis cultivators have been harvesting this year’s outdoor crops, government agencies and local advocacy groups are trying to educate growers’ on the variety of new regulations, approved since August, that are starting to be implemented in the region.
Cannabis advocacy groups including the California Growers Association have held a series of workshops to help residents better understand the various steps and programs required to come into compliance with new regulations, and to support further organizing efforts to change county cannabis policies. The Small Farmers’ Association annual Board Meeting, was held at the Willits Community Center Thursday evening, which will be covered in an upcoming TWN article.
WATERBOARD PERMIT
“The best way to start is with something concrete, and the most concrete thing out there is for our order,” said Connor McIntee with the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. As of now, north coast marijuana cultivators from Sonoma to the Oregon border are eligible to enroll in the NCRWQCB’s permit program, which establishes a tiered set of regulations to ensure water quality standards are being maintained for anyone with more than 2,000 square feet in cultivation and evaluates a range of site characteristics (such as slope grade and proximity to waterways) and cultivation practices (such as pesticide and nutrient use and storage, and water forbearance and storage.) A similar program was recently approved in the Central water board district in October.
Notices to landowners about this program were included in the Nov. 1 Mendocino County tax bills.
McIntee encouraged all cultivators to submit applications by February 15, 2016, elaborating that the agency has been conducting consent inspections for landowners interested in getting a head start on permit compliance ahead of heavy rains predicted this winter. He said most landowners inspected so far had some improvements to make, and most were in tier two, “which is a fine place to be…we want people to think critically about things that may need management, but are managable,” he explained.
“By signing this, it’s an opportunity to do what everyone says they want, which is to do the right thing,” McIntee said, pointing out that the agency would prefer to conduct “consent inspection” by landowner invitation, and will work to develop a timeline of improvements with anyone who demonstrates a willingness to comply. “It’s so much easier than us coming after you,” he added. “If there are issues and you are not enrolling, we will be less lenient, and we will treat your neighbor differently than we treat you.”
The agency is also continuing enforcement efforts around sensitive watersheds in the north coast, and has been working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to obtain warrants for site inspections when necessary and levy fines and other punitive measures for those impacting water quality. “The Eel River in general is a major focus for us, and Mendocino County is a very big focus,” he said.
The program requires an annual fee, and the preparation of a management plan and site inspections for cultivators in the second and third tiers, which are considered having higher threats to water quality. The permit also includes a component for third party contractors to serve as site inspectors and assist with applications and administration, implementing required improvements to protect water quality, and other permit requirements. Such inspectors will also assist in protecting the privacy of cultivators by providing only the information necessary to the board.
McIntee said the board had received several applications from prospective third parties, but that the board was currently working with applicants to streamline the process and ensure all necessary organizational and technical requirements for water quality are met before third parties are certified. Any third parties certified will be listed on the NCRWQCB’s website for easy reference for enrollees, along with documents outlining regulations and best practices and application information.
Those utilizing third party contractors are eligible for reduced annual fees but those in the third tier, considered a serious threat requiring corrective action, must pay $10,000 annually until they have moved to a lower tier. Fees for tier one and two are $1,000 and $2,500 and with third parties, $700 and $1,750.
While initially supported by temporary state funding, the permit system is moving to a fee-based program, and fees will go towards covering the costs of program administration, inspections, and enforcement, explained McIntee. The permit requires steps to ensure water quality is being protected but does not address the legality of cannabis cultivation, which means the program will remain in place despite other new state regulations. Enrollees will also need to be in compliance with other applicable state and local permits, including water rights and water storage permits, and other county guidelines that may apply to landowners and cultivators.
In addition, funding has been provided to the non-profit Eel River Recovery Project to assist with free and confidential on-site inspections for cultivators to begin evaluating what work may need to be done on their property. This assistance is available to anyone within the Eel River watershed. The Mendocino County Resource Conservation District has also received funding and begun developing a “best practices” guide for rural gardeners and cultivators, to help ensure watershed health and water quality protections, which Director Deborah Stranger Edelman expected to be available by spring.
COUNTY SUPERVISORS AND BUSINESSES
At the Board of Supervisors meeting held November 2, Mendocino County’s Ad Hoc Marijuana Committee was disbanded from its focus on the economic impacts of cannabis in the county and re-constituted with the goal of re-evaluating the county’s 9.31 “zip-tie” cultivation permit program. The Ad Hoc committee plans to report on re-evaluating that program by the end of the year, to develop a permit or local licensing process that would dovetail with newly signed statewide regulations.
During the special supervisors meeting held October 25, several supervisors not on the committee advocated to put a new permit program in place to enable local cultivators and businesses to apply for the dual-licensing established by the state when it goes into affect January 1, 2016, although the majority of regulations do not take affect until 2018. Under current legislation, the county has until March 2016 to adopt a local policy or default to the state regulations, although that date may change with clean-up legislation introduced in January.
Several public comments made at the meeting underscored this need, and locals requested supervisors facilitate their ability to remain and compete in the marketplace through permitting. Requests for a higher plant count akin to the 99 permitted in Humboldt county, which has been actively considering a new county marijuana policy and the creation of a “medical marijuana innovation zone” in Arcata during the course of this year.
Although the meeting mainly focused on cultivation permits, several business owners including Sherry Glaser of Love-In-It Cooperative requested the county work with local businesses who are “excited” to come into compliance. According to Martin Lee of Project CBD, a co-organizer of the recently opened Emerald Pharms Dispensary in Hopland, the club is the first business registed as a cannabis business in Mendocino county, though Lee said it had been difficult to determine the exact current county regulations for cannabis-related businesses, something he hopes will be more clear as regulation becomes implemented..
STATE REGULATIONS AND INITIATIVES
Assemblyman Jim Wood plans to introduce legislation to create a longer timeline for local adoption of the new state medical marijuana regulations in January, as well as new legislation AB 1548 to establish an excise tax to fund environmental clean up, regulation, and enforcement. Wood is also proposing in AB 1549, coordinated with regional Board of Equalization representative Fiona Ma, to create a two year state-wide system of banking available to marijuana businesses, which current federal regulations prevent.
Currently, all marijuana businesses are required to pay taxes to the State Board of Equalization but few do. Ma has held several workshops outlining some of the ways newly regulated commercial cannabis activities will interact with the BOE. Aside from authorizing commercial activity, new regulations will also re-classify cultivation as agriculture, which will involve further regulations from the Department of Food and Agriculture.
Growers and businesses selling direct to consumers or selling wholesale cannabis to dispensaries are required to report income to the BOE, and apply for a sellers permit or a certificate of resale, depending on whether they are collecting sales tax.
More information about current requirements can be found on the BOE’s website, but anyone currently engaging in any cannabis sales is required to report their taxes and may be subject to investigation of previous year’s income depending on their particular tax situatoin.
Paul Ramey of Wood’s office said the Assemblyman had been following some of the recent filings being made for initiatives for recreational marijuana legalization in the 2016 elections, which include the recent announcement of tech mogul Sean Parker’s initiative for adult use. Although many initiatives have been filed, which ones will actually collect the required signatures remains unclear, but many of the filings propose regulations that would substantially contradict components of the recent passed medical legislation.
One such issue is that of vertical integration, which local growers’ groups and legislators worked to prevent in the recently passed regulations, as an effort to protect smaller farms and businesses already established along the north coast. Ramey said Wood was “really concerned about vertical integration” within a single company, and wanted to keep size requirements for cultivators small to protect north coast businesses and the industry as a whole. Ramey said many of the inititives seemed to represent urban interests that don’t reflect the needs of the rural north coast counties. Wood had “concerns that there are corporate nad business interests that are trying to unravel what he thinks was a historic landmark stakeholder initiatives.”
“If you remove the limits, it opens the door for huge corporate interests to come in and wipe out some of the businesses that have been in this industry for a long time,” said Ramey. “It isn’t conducive to success of businesses on the north coast—if we can keep the smaller grows in the industry, in smaller family farms, it’s more beneficial for the north coast and the state as a whole.”
FEDERAL CHANGES
Bernie Sanders this week introduced a bill in the Senate on Wednesday which would change the classification of cannabis from a Schedule 1 controlled substance, effectively transforming federal oversight of the cannabis industry nationwide, something which cannabis activists have been requesting for decades.
The schedule 1 classification is part of the issue facing banks, state and local agencies, and permit states to decide how cannabis is handled and regulated. This would have a wide range of consequences for the industry nationwide, including furthering medicinal research into cannabis use, permitting veterans using federal health care to be proscribed medical cannabis, and allowing greater local control over what types of cannabis regulatory enforcement occurs.
