In order to protect Michigan’s environment, marijuana growing and processing operations may be subject to Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) regulations. The following is a summary of environmental regulations that apply to cannabis cultivation and processing. It is the responsibility of the licensee to comply with all applicable regulations. If you need assistance in understanding the environmental regulations or how to achieve compliance
AIR
Permit to Install (PTI) – Every stationary source of an air pollutant is required to obtain an approved PTI before installing equipment. Some exemptions may apply. Go to Michigan.gov/Air then choose “Permits.”
• Renewable Operating Permit (ROP) – Renewable Operating Permit (ROP): I required if your activity or process has the potential to emit at or above the major source threshold for any air pollutant. Go to
Michigan.gov/Air the choose “Renewable Operating Permits (ROP) / Title V.”
PROTECTING MICHIGAN’S AIR
EGLE ensures that Michigan’s air remains clean by regulating sources of air pollutants to minimize adverse impact on human health and the environment. Goals are to meet and maintain air quality standards, limit emissions of hazardous and toxic pollutants, and inform the public about current air conditions.
LEGAL REPRESENTATION
It is recommended that your cannabis business retain corporate legal services to advise, research and protect you from the constant addition of regulations and compliance rules. If you are not licensed by the state then the time to do it is now. Komorn Law is most recommended and has been on the frontlines of the evolving medical and recreational cannabis business from the beginning. Contact their Office 248-357-2550 or visit KomornLaw.com
MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
Permits, Licenses, Authorizations and Procedures: Depending on the character and volume of waste generated, you may require a permit, license, other authorization, or implement procedures to manage the following wastes from your facility.
Solid waste – Marijuana (cannabis) wastes can be incinerated at an approved facility, sent to a licensed municipal solid waste landfill, or composted at an approved site. A list of approved sites can be found at Michigan.gov/egleCompost.
Hazardous Wastes – items like grow bulbs, batteries, cleaning chemicals, extraction chemicals, and pesticides could be a regulated hazardous waste. For more information please go to Michigan.gov/egleWaste, then choose “Hazardous Waste.”
Liquid Industrial By-Products – visit Michigan.gov/egleWaste, choose “Hazardous Waste,” then “Hazardous Waste and Liquid Industrial By-Products.”
Liquid industrial By-product shipped off site for disposal may require a registered and permitted transporter. Go to Michigan.gov/egleWaste, then choose “Transporters”.
Solid waste and hazardous waste marijuana guidance can be found at Michigan.gov/MRA under “Laws, Rules and Other Resources.” Select “MRA Bulletins.”
This publication is intended for guidance only and may be impacted by changes in legislation, rules, policies, and procedures adopted after the date of publication. Although this publication makes every effort to teach users how to meet applicable compliance obligations, use of this publication does not constitute the rendering of legal advice.
DISCLAIMER This post may contain re-posted content, opinions, comments, ads, third party posts, outdated information, posts from disgruntled persons, posts from those with agendas and general internet BS. Therefore…Before you believe anything on the internet regarding anything – do your research on Official Government and State Sites, Call the Michigan State Police, Check the State Attorney General Website and Consult an Attorney – Use Your Brain.
Emergency rules were
released this month by state officials to ensure that they meet a December
deadline to launch the industry — or risk losing control.
The 64-page
document includes details for how the recreational marijuana industry will
function, and gives a good indication of what interested entrepreneurs should
expect in terms of state scrutiny.
Here are 14
things to know if you’re interested in getting into the recreational marijuana
market in Michigan:
1. You need a
state license to do business
A state license
is necessary to operate any kind of marijuana business in Michigan.
Licensing fees
start at $4,000 and top out at $40,000, depending on the type of business.
The Marijuana
Regulatory Agency controls the entire state licensing process,
and oversees both the upcoming recreational and existing medical marijuana
markets. It’s housed in the Department of Licensing and Regulatory
Affairs.
Depending on
where your business is located, there may be a local license or permit from the
municipality that is necessary as well.
2. There are
multiple license types — and they can be combined
Each function of
the industry has a different state license type. They can be combined to make
one large vertically integrated company.
Here are the
license types and a short description of the function of each one:
-Retailer: brick and
mortar storefront sales
-Class A Grower: up
to 100 plants
-Class B Grower: up to 500
plants
-Class C Grower: up to
2,000 plants
-Excess
Grower: for
companies with at least two medical marijuana grow licenses and up to five
Class C recreational licenses that want to operate on a large scale in the
recreational market.
-Microbusiness: individuals
can grow up to 150 plants, process the material and sell it all at the same
location
-Processor: extracting
and manufacturing products from marijuana flower like oils, edibles, vape
cartridges and more
-Secure
Transporter: transportation
company that moves products from growers to the lab, to processors and then to
retail stores
-Safety
Compliance Facility: testing lab to make sure products meet
state standards
-Designated
Consumption Establishment: a social use lounge or club
There are also
additional license types for people who want to host festivals.
Marijuana flower
at Yerba Buena farm, located about an outside of Portland, Oregon, Sept. 18,
2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)
3. License
applications can be turned in starting Nov. 1
Officials with
the Marijuana Regulatory Agency will begin accepting license applications Nov.
1.
Once a business
turns their license in, the agency has 90 days to turn it around. If applicants
don’t respond to officials’ questions or requests for more documentation within
five days, their application could be denied.
4. Retail stores
will have to be owned by a medical marijuana company at first
Under state law,
for the first two years of the recreational marijuana program, only business
owners that hold a medical marijuana provisioning center license will be
allowed to apply for a retailer license in the adult-use market.
That requirement
will stay in place until November 2021.
However,
officials have the option to remove that requirement in November 2020 if they
deem it necessary.
5. Large-scale
growers will have to be owned by a medical marijuana company at first
The same
prerequisite licensing requirement is in place for large-scale growers who want
a Class B, Class C or an Excess Grow license.
Under state law,
for the first two years of the recreational marijuana program, only business
owners that hold a medical marijuana grow license will be allowed to apply for
a large-scale grow license in the adult-use market.
That requirement
will stay in place until November 2021.
However,
officials have the option to remove that requirement in November 2020 if they
deem it necessary.
6. Processors
will have to be owned by a medical marijuana company at first
The same
prerequisite licensing requirement is in place for processors.
Under state law,
for the first two years of the recreational marijuana program, only business
owners that hold a medical marijuana processing license will be allowed to
apply for a processing license in the adult-use market.
That requirement
will stay in place until November 2021.
However,
officials have the option to remove that requirement in November 2020 if they
deem it necessary.
If you’re interested in starting a medical marijuana business you will need an attorney – click here to learn more about it regulations, licensing and legal issues.
7. Transporters
will have to be owned by a medical marijuana company at first
The same
prerequisite licensing requirement is in place for secure transporting
companies.
Under state law,
for the first two years of the recreational marijuana program, only business
owners that hold a medical marijuana secure transporter license will be allowed
to apply for a secure transporter license in the adult-use market.
That requirement
will stay in place until November 2021.
However,
officials have the option to remove that requirement in November 2020 if they
deem it necessary.
8. Only Michigan
residents can start a small business at first
Prospective
small business owners who want to grow on a small scale with a Class A grow
license or start a microbusiness don’t have to hold any medical marijuana
license.
But they do have
to be Michigan residents, for the first two years of the program.
That requirement
will stay in place until November 2021.
However,
officials have the option to remove that requirement in November 2020 if they
deem it necessary.
9. Lab licenses
have no residency requirements
There are no
residency requirements or medical marijuana licensing requirements for
individuals interested in obtaining a safety compliance facility license —
unlike the other license types.
However, the
owner of a safety compliance facility — more commonly known as a testing lab
— cannot have an ownership interest in any other type of marijuana business.
10. This type of
crime will disqualify you
If the business
license applicant has previously been convicted for distributing a controlled
substance to a minor, they are automatically not eligible for a recreational
marijuana business license.
Additionally,
there are other specific situations that would prompt state officials to
immediately reject a license application:
-If the
prospective business lies in their application
-If the
applicant either works for or consults with the Marijuana Regulatory Agency or
LARA
-If the
applicant is an elected government official in Michigan, in another state or in
the federal government — or if the applicant is employed by any governmental
unit — in Michigan or elsewhere
11. State
officials have discretion to deny you a license
State regulators
have broad discretion to deny a business license application based on their
judgement of the applicant’s background, under the emergency rules.
Per the rules,
regulators are allowed to consider the following:
-Whether anyone
with an ownership stake in the company has “a pattern of convictions
involving dishonesty, theft, or fraud that indicate the proposed marihuana
establishment is unlikely to be operated with honesty and integrity”
-Whether the
applicant has any delinquent taxes
– Whether the
applicant has “a history of noncompliance with any regulatory
requirements, all legal judgments, lawsuits, legal proceedings, charges, or
government investigations, whether initiated, pending, or concluded, against
the applicant, that are related to business operations, including, but not
limited to fraud, environmental, food safety, labor, employment, worker’s
compensation, discrimination, and tax laws and regulations, in this state or
any other jurisdiction”
12. Expect
background checks and inspections
State officials
will be scrutinizing both the individuals that want to start recreational
marijuana businesses, their business plans and the physical facilities
involved.
Understanding
who regulators consider to be “applicants” for state licenses is
important.
Though it varies
slightly according to how the business is incorporated, the basic definition of
an applicant is anyone with more than 10 percent ownership of the company. In
some cases, this includes their spouses as well.
Every applicant
will have to undergo a background check, and should expect to submit a year’s
worth of tax returns and to disclose criminal and financial background
information.
Additionally,
the businesses have to have a physical building and must pass a prelicensure
inspection within 60 days of submitting their license application to the state.
Municipalities
also have the ability to start local licensing programs for adult-use marijuana
businesses — but they don’t have to.
That means if a
city or township hasn’t banned recreational marijuana — and has no local
licensing requirements for the industry — businesses only need a state license
to operate.
It’s important
to note that even if a city or township has banned medical marijuana
businesses, that has little to no impact on the recreational marijuana
industry. Even though most of the major adult-use business license types
require the applicant to hold a medical marijuana license as well, that doesn’t
mean the recreational business has to open up shop at the same location of the
medical marijuana business.
14. No proof of
capitalization is needed
Prospective
businesses don’t have to show state officials proof that they have money
available to start their company.
That’s important to note because medical marijuana business applicants are required to show officials proof of capitalization. In the medical industry, potential businesses have to have from $200,000 to $500,000 in assets in order to be licensed.
Originally Posted in MLive Here – MLive provides many great news articles about Medical and Recreational Marijuana in the State of Michigan. Do a Search.
Don’t forget even though marijuana is legalized in the State of Michigan the police still need a way to generate payroll. Treat marijuana or cannabis as many call it with the same approach as alcohol. Don’t smoke and drive. Remember it is still a schedule 1 drug until it’s not. They will be watching and taking.
Here’s a release from the Michigan State Police
Impaired Driving Law
It is a crime for a driver to have a bodily alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or greater if over age 21 or .02 or greater if under 21. In addition, Michigan has a high-BAC law with enhanced penalties for anyone caught driving with a BAC of .17 or higher. However, drivers can be arrested at any BAC level if they exhibit signs of impairment while operating a motor vehicle.
Drivers with any amount of a Schedule 1 controlled substance and/or cocaine are subject to the same fines and penalties as drunk drivers, even if they show no signs of impairment. The only exception is an individual who has a valid medical marijuana card and is driving with marijuana in his or her system. Under the law, an officer must show they are impaired due to that marijuana.
Have a Marijuana Related Criminal Record? Get rid of it – Start the expungement process now ! Contact Komorn Law800-656-3557.
Costs and Consequences of a Drunk Driving Conviction
If BAC is below .17 and this is a first offense:
Up to $500 fine
Up to 93 days in jail
Up to 360 hours of community service
Up to 180 days license suspension
6 points on a driver’s license
If BAC is .17 or higher and this is a first offense:
Up to $700 fine
Up to 180 days in jail
Up to 360 hours of community service
Up to one year license suspension
6 points on a driver’s license
Mandatory completion of an alcohol treatment program
Ignition interlock use and compliance after 45 days license suspension is required to receive a restricted driver’s license. Convicted drunk drivers have limited driving privileges, are prohibited from operating a vehicle without an approved and properly installed ignition interlock device, and are responsible for all installation and upkeep costs for the device.
Anyone who refuses a breath test the first time is given an automatic one-year driver’s license suspension. For a second refusal within seven years, the suspension is two years.
Convicted drunk drivers are subject to a $1,000 penalty for two consecutive years under the Driver Responsibility Act, for a total of $2,000 in additional costs.
Safer Alternatives
Tens of thousands of people are arrested annually in Michigan for alcohol-related driving offenses. To avoid a drunk driving arrest and the costs associated with such an arrest:
Designate a sober driver before drinking alcohol
Call a friend, cab, ride service, walk, or take the bus
Stay overnight
Thanks Officers
Note: Remember recreational marijuana is a new venture and many regulations and laws will evolve. This page is for informational purposes. Please consult an attorney and check often for updates. So your best bet is to check with the most experienced and community involved attorney in Michigan…Michael Komorn
Michael Komorn is recognized as a leading expert on the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. He is the President of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA), a nonprofit patient advocacy group with over 30,000 members, which advocates for the rights of medical marijuana patients and their caregivers. Michael is also the host of Planet Green Trees Radio, a marijuana reform based show, which is broadcast every Thursday night 8-10 pm EST. Follow Komorn on Twitter.
Hover your mouse over the map or tap to see the number of yes and no votes county by county for Michigan Proposition 1 to legalize recreational marijuana.
In case you were born yesterday the Proposal 1 did pass and recreational marijuana will be legal 10 days after the vote has been certified.
The vote is supposed to be certified by November 26, 2018 in which case the official legal status should be around Dec 6, 2018.
Remember it will be regulated, taxed, controlled, hated and loved. Let’s move forward with respect and humbleness for this state win that has been a struggle for so many years. Next is Federal status.
Have a Marijuana Related Criminal Record? Get rid of it – Start the expungement process now ! Contact Komorn Law800-656-3557.
