Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3796:2 - Cultivators › Chapter 3796:2-1 - Licensing; Certificates of Operation › Section 3796:2-1-02 - Cultivator provisional license application

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A)
								The department
			 shall provide advance notice to the public indicating the commencement date and
			 time period for accepting applications. The director shall have the right to
			 amend the notice prior to the deadline for submitting an application. The
			 director shall publish such amended notice in the same manner as the original
			 notice. The director shall also have the right to cancel a notice of open
			 application prior to the award of a cultivator provisional
			 license.
(B)
								The provisional license application shall be submitted
			 in accordance with Chapter 3796. of the Revised Code and this chapter. The
			 application will include instructions for completion and submission. An
			 applicant for a level I cultivator provisional license shall be prohibited from
			 applying for a level II cultivator provisional license, and an applicant for a
			 level II cultivator provisional license shall be prohibited from applying for a
			 level I cultivator provisional license. An applicant for a level I or level II
			 cultivator provisional license shall submit, in accordance with the application
			 instructions, the following:
(1)
									A non-refundable application fee as set forth in rule
			 3796:5-1-01 of the
			 Administrative Code;
(2)
									A business plan, which, at a minimum, shall
			 include:
(a)
										
			 The legal name of the applicant;
(b)
										The type of
			 business organization of the applicant, such as an individual, corporation,
			 partnership, limited liability company, association or cooperative, joint
			 venture, or any other business organization;
(c)
										Confirmation that
			 the applicant is registered with the secretary of state as the type of business
			 submitted pursuant to paragraph (B)(2)(b) of this rule, a certificate of good
			 standing issued by the secretary of state, and a copy of the applicable
			 business documents governing the operations and administration of the
			 business;
(d)
										The proposed physical address of the applicant's
			 facility;
(e)
										An organizational chart of the company, including name,
			 address, and date of birth of each principal officer, board member and any
			 other individual associated with the cultivator, provided that all those
			 individuals shall be at least twenty-one years of age;
(f)
										All persons
			 subject to the criminal records checks shall submit both an Ohio bureau of
			 criminal identification and investigation criminal records check and a federal
			 bureau of criminal investigation criminal records check pursuant to division
			 (B) of section 3796.12 of the Revised
			 Code;
(g)
										Any instance in which a business that any person
			 associated with the applicant had managed or served on the board of the
			 business and was convicted, fined, censured, or had a registration or license
			 suspended or revoked in any administrative or judicial
			 proceeding;
(h)
										Evidence that the applicant owns the property on which
			 the proposed cultivator will be located, has executed a lease for the property
			 that does not contain any use restrictions that would otherwise prevent the
			 cultivator from operating pursuant to Chapter 3796. of the Revised Code and in
			 accordance with the rules promulgated pursuant to Chapter 3796. of the Revised
			 Code, or has secured the ability to purchase or lease the property that does
			 not contain any use restrictions that would otherwise prevent the cultivator
			 from operating pursuant to Chapter 3796. of the Revised Code and in accordance
			 with the rules promulgated pursuant to Chapter 3796. of the Revised
			 Code;
(i)
										A location area map of the area surrounding the
			 proposed cultivator that establishes the facility is at least five hundred feet
			 from the boundaries of a parcel of real estate having situated on it a
			 prohibited facility, as measured under rule
			 3796:5-5-01
			 of the Administrative Code;
(j)
										For any instance
			 in which an applicant or any person associated with the applicant is currently
			 or was previously licensed or authorized in another state or jurisdiction to
			 cultivate, produce, test, dispense, or otherwise deal in the distribution of
			 marijuana in any form, the following:
(i)
											 A copy of each
			 such licensing or authorizing document verifying licensure in that state or
			 jurisdiction;
(ii)
											A statement granting permission to contact the
			 regulatory agency that granted the license, accompanied by the contact
			 information, to confirm the information contained in the application;
			 and
(iii)
											If the license, authorization or application was ever
			 warned, fined, denied, suspended, revoked or otherwise sanctioned, a copy of
			 documentation so indicating, or a statement that the applicant was so licensed
			 and was never sanctioned; and
(k)
										Documentation
			 that the applicant is in compliance with applicable building, fire, safety, and
			 zoning statutes, local ordinances, and rules and regulations adopted by the
			 locality in which the applicant's proposed property is located, which are in
			 effect at the time of the application, including but not limited to building
			 department approval demonstrating compliance with rules adopted by the board of
			 building standards pursuant to Chapters 3781. and 3791. of the Revised Code and
			 any applicable zoning considerations.
(3)
									An operations
			 plan that establishes policies and procedures that the applicant will implement
			 for the secure, safe, sustainable, and proper cultivation of medical marijuana,
			 which, at a minimum, shall include:
(a)
										Agricultural cultivation techniques;
(b)
										Experience with
			 the cultivation of medical marijuana or agricultural or horticultural products,
			 operation of an agriculturally related business, or operation of a
			 horticultural business;
(c)
										A list of medical marijuana varieties proposed to be
			 grown with estimated cannabinoid profiles, if known, including varieties with
			 high cannabidiol content;
(d)
										Facility specifications, including the cultivation
			 environment, layout of the marijuana cultivation area (i.e. grow tables, tiered
			 or stacked orientation, etc.) evidencing that the applicant will comply with
			 the requirements of Chapter 3796. of the Revised Code and will operate in
			 accordance with the rules promulgated pursuant to Chapter 3796. of the Revised
			 Code;
(e)
										The implementation of standards and guidelines for
			 cultivating, propagating, vegetating, flowering, and harvesting medical
			 marijuana, including safety protocols and equipment; and
(f)
										Facility staffing
			 and employment matters, including employee training and employee compliance
			 with Chapter 3796. of the Revised Code and in accordance with the rules
			 promulgated pursuant to Chapter 3796. of the Revised Code.
(4)
									A
			 quality assurance plan that establishes policies and procedures for a safe,
			 consistent supply of medical marijuana, which, at a minimum, shall
			 include:
(a)
										Intended use of pesticides, fertilizers, and other
			 agricultural products or production control factors in the cultivation of
			 medical marijuana;
(b)
										Best practices for the packaging and labeling of
			 medical marijuana;
(c)
										Implementation and compliance with the inventory
			 tracking system;
(d)
										An inventory control plan;
(e)
										Standards for the
			 disposal of medical marijuana waste and other wastes; and
(f)
										Recall policies
			 and procedures in the event of contamination, expiration or other circumstances
			 that render the medical marijuana unsafe or unfit for consumption, including,
			 at a minimum, identification of the products involved, notification to the
			 dispensary or others to whom the product was sold or otherwise distributed, and
			 how the products will be disposed of if returned to or retrieved by the
			 applicant;
(5)
									A security plan that establishes policies and
			 procedures to prevent theft, loss or diversion from a cultivator and protect
			 facility personnel, which, at a minimum, shall include:
(a)
										Record keeping
			 policies and procedures that will ensure the facility complies with rule
			 3796:2-2-08
			 of the Administrative Code;
(b)
										A security plan
			 in accordance with rule
			 3796:2-2-05
			 of the Administrative Code;
(c)
										Transportation
			 policies in accordance with rule
			 3796:5-3-01
			 of the Administrative Code; and
(d)
										A plot plan of
			 the cultivation facility drawn to a reasonable scale that designates the
			 different areas of operation, including the marijuana cultivation area, with
			 the mandatory access restrictions.
(i)
											If the building is in existence at the time of the
			 application, the applicant shall submit plans and specifications drawn to scale
			 for the interior of the building.
(ii)
											If the building
			 is not in existence at the time of application, the applicant shall submit a
			 plot plan and a detailed drawing to scale of the interior and the architect's
			 drawing of the building to be constructed.
(6)
									A
			 financial plan, which, at a minimum, shall include:
(a)
										The identity and
			 ownership interest of every person, association, partnership, other entity, or
			 corporation having a financial interest, direct or indirect, in the cultivator
			 with respect to which licensure is sought;
(b)
										A cost breakdown
			 of the applicant's anticipated costs in building the facility and implementing
			 the policies and procedures submitted as part of the application and the source
			 of funding for the associated costs;
(c)
										Documentation
			 acceptable to the department that the individual or entity filing the
			 application has at least five hundred thousand dollars in liquid assets for a
			 level I cultivator provisional license and fifty thousand dollars in liquid
			 assets for a level II cultivator provisional license, which are unencumbered
			 and can be converted within thirty days after a request to liquidate such
			 assets;
(i)
											Documentation acceptable to the department shall include, as
			 evidence of compliance, a signed statement from an Ohio licensed certified
			 public accountant attesting to proof of the required amount of liquid assets
			 under the control of an owner or the entity applying, if such a statement is
			 available at the time of application.
(ii)
											The
			 documentation must be dated within thirty calendar days before the date that
			 the application was submitted.
(d)
										Information
			 verifying that the applicant will be able to conform to the financial
			 responsibility requirements under rule
			 3796:2-1-05
			 of the Administrative Code; and
(e)
										A record of tax
			 payments in the form of tax summary pages for individuals and businesses at the
			 state and federal level and in all jurisdictions in which an applicant has
			 operated as a business and for every person with a financial interest of one
			 per cent or greater in the applicant for the three years before the filing of
			 the application, unless the department determines that documentation should be
			 submitted for all individuals and entities.
(7)
									Any other
			 information requested in the application instructions that the department deems
			 necessary to evaluate and determine the applicant's suitability to operate as a
			 cultivator.