As many of you may be aware, the State has toughened up on their water regulations for cannabis operations and these regulations have trickled down to the applicants at the County level. The effects of the regulations are seen primarily during the conditional use permit application process, and they are having a profound effect on the projects moving forward.
The State requires all projects/applications with 25 or more people on the site for more than 90 days a year, and all sites with more than 15 connections, to apply for and become a permitted, licensed public water system. This means applicants are in essence creating and forming a regulated, licensed public water company and this is no easy task.
In addition, the State requires that before they will consider your application for a public water system, you must show you attempted to consolidate with a pre-existing State permitted and licensed public water system. The attempts to convince your neighbor to let you tap into their water system may be futile, but due diligence and a gallant effort must be shown.
The timeframe for obtaining your public water system permit will likely take one year to complete. The good news is, if you show the County your commitment to the State permitting process they will move your project along. And the silver lining at the end of the day, is your property will have safe, healthy drinking water for you to enjoy.
Jennifer Rosenthal is a local cannabis and criminal defense attorney. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and does not reflect an official position of the Association.
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