Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) Each application shall address all
criteria and measures as set forth in this Part. The failure by an applicant to
address all of the required criteria and measures will result in the
application being denied.
b) The
required criteria and measures shall include the following, with each criteria
accounting for up to the indicated maximum number of the total points available
for each criteria:
1) Suitability of the
Proposed Facility (150 points):
A) Measure 1:
The applicant demonstrates that the proposed facility is suitable for effective
and safe cultivation of medical cannabis, sufficient in size, power allocation,
air exchange and air flow, interior layout, lighting, and sufficient both in
the interior and exterior to handle the bulk agricultural production of medical
cannabis, cannabis-infused products, product handling, storage, trimming,
packaging, loading and shipping. The loading/unloading of medical cannabis in
the transport motor vehicle for shipping shall be in an enclosed, secure area
out of public sight.
B) Measure 2:
The applicant demonstrates the ability to continue to meet qualifying patient
demand by expanding the cultivation facility in a quick and efficient manner
with minimal impact on the environment and the surrounding community.
C) Measure 3: The applicant provides an
employee handbook that will provide employees with a working guide to the
understanding of the day-to-day administration of personnel policies and
practices.
2) Proposed
Staffing Plan and Knowledge of Illinois Law and Rules Relating to Medical
Cannabis (100 points):
A) Measure 1: The
applicant fully describes a staffing plan that will provide and ensure adequate
staffing and experience for all accessible business hours, safe production,
sanitation, adequate security and theft prevention; and
B) Measure 2: The applicant provides an
Operations and Management Practices Plan that demonstrates compliance with this
Part and the Act.
3)
Security Plan (200 points):
A) Measure 1: The
applicant's security plan demonstrates its ability to prevent the theft or
diversion of medical cannabis and how the plan will assist with ISP,
Department, and local law enforcement. Specifically, it shall evidence
compliance with all items in Sections
1000.440,
1000.445
and
1000.450.
B) Measure 2: The applicant demonstrates that
its plan for record keeping, tracking and monitoring inventory, quality control
and security and other policies and procedures will discourage unlawful
activity. It also describes the applicant's plan to coordinate with and dispose
of unused or surplus medical cannabis through ISP and the Department.
C) Measure 3: The applicant's security plan
shall describe the enclosed, locked facility that will be used to secure or
store medical cannabis, its security measures, including when the location is
closed for business, and the steps taken to ensure that medical cannabis is not
visible to the public.
D) Measure
4: The applicant describes its transportation plan regarding procedures for
safely and securely delivering medical cannabis to registered
dispensaries.
4)
Cultivation Plan (300 points):
A) Measure 1:
The applicant shall describe its plan to provide a steady, uninterrupted supply
of medical cannabis to registered dispensaries.
B) Measure 2: The applicant demonstrates
knowledge of cultivation methods to be used in the cultivation of cannabis. The
applicant shall describe the various strains to be cultivated and its
experience, if applicable, with growing those strains or comparable
agricultural products.
C) Measure
3: The applicant demonstrates the steps that will be taken to ensure the
quality, including the purity and consistency, of the medical cannabis to be
provided to dispensaries.
5) Product Safety and Labeling Plan (150
points):
A) Measure 1: The applicant shall
describe its plan for providing safe and accurate packaging and labeling of
medical cannabis.
B) Measure 2: The
applicant shall describe its plan for testing medical cannabis and ensuring
that all medical cannabis is free of contaminants, including but not limited to
pesticides, microbiological, and residual solvent. If applicable, the applicant
shall provide quality history records showing specific testing results from
laboratory testing conducted on the applicant's cannabis products.
C) Measure 3: The applicant shall describe
its plan for establishing a recall of the applicant's products in the event
that they are shown by testing or other means to be, or potentially to be,
defective or have a reasonable probability that their use or exposure to will
cause serious adverse health consequences. At a minimum, the plan should
include the method of: identification of the products involved; notification to
the dispensary organization 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.
6) Applicant's Business Plan and Services to
be Offered (100 points):
A) Measure 1: The
applicant shall provide a business plan that describes how the cultivation
center plans to operate on a long-term basis. This shall include the applicant
providing a detailed description about the amount and source of the equity and
debt commitment for the proposed cultivation center that demonstrates the
immediate and long-term financial feasibility of the proposed financing plan,
the relative availability of funds for capital and operating needs, and the
financial capability to undertake the project.
B) Measure 2: The applicant or its officers,
board members, or incorporators demonstrates experience in business management
and/or having medical industry, agricultural or horticultural experience and
the extent of their involvement in or ability to influence the day-to-day
operations of the facility.
C)
Measure 3: The business plan demonstrates a start-up timetable that provides an
estimated time from permit approval of the cultivation center to full
operation, and the assumptions used for the basis of those estimates.
c) The Department shall
award bonus points for preferred but not required initiatives in the following
categories based on the applicant's ability to meet or exceed minimum
requirements, with each initiative accounting for up to a maximum of 20 points
each, for a maximum total of 160 bonus:
1)
Labor and Employment Practices: The applicant may describe any plans it has to:
A) Provide a safe, healthy and economically
beneficial working environment for its employees, including, but not limited
to, its plans regarding workplace safety and environmental standards, codes of
conduct, healthcare benefits, educational benefits, retirement benefits, and
wage standards.
B) Recruit and/or
hire minorities, women, veterans, disabled persons and Illinois
residents.
2) Research
Plan: The applicant may provide the Department with a detailed proposal to
conduct, or facilitate, a scientific study or studies related to the medicinal
use of cannabis. To the extent it has been determined, the applicant may
include in its proposal, a detailed description of:
A) The methodology of the study;
B) The issues to be studied;
C) The methods that will be used to identify
and select study participants;
D)
The identity of all persons or organizations that will be worked with in
connection with the study, including the role of each;
E) The duration of the study; and
F) The intended use of the study
results.
3) Community
Benefits Plan: The applicant may provide the Department with a detailed
description of any plans the applicant has to give back to the local community
if awarded a cultivation center permit.
4) Substance Abuse Prevention Plan: The
applicant may provide a detailed description of any plans it will undertake, if
awarded a cultivation center permit, to combat substance abuse in Illinois,
including the extent to which the applicant will partner, or otherwise work
with existing substance abuse programs.
5) Local Community/Neighborhood Report: The
applicant may provide comments, concerns or support regarding the potential
impact of the proposed location to the local community and neighborhood. This
may include the local community's concerns or support regarding the proposed
location's proximity to substance abuse treatment centers, day care centers,
schools and halfway houses.
6)
Environmental Plan: The applicant may demonstrate an environmental plan of
action to minimize the carbon footprint, environmental impact, and resource
needs for the production of medical cannabis. The applicant may describe any
plans for the use of alternative energy, the treatment of waste water and
runoff, and scrubbing or treatment of exchanged air.
7) Verification of Minority Owned, Female
Owned, Veteran Owned, or Disabled Person Owned Business: The Minority, Female,
Veteran, or Disabled Person applicant must own at least 51 percent of the
entity applying for registration. The percentage totals may include any
combination of these types of businesses. The Minority, Female, Veteran, or
Disabled Person applicant must also share in control of management and
day-to-day operations of the permitted facility. Documentation must be
submitted at the time of application that demonstrates the respective status of
the applicant, including, but not limited to, certification under the Business
Enterprise for Minorities, Females, and Persons with Disabilities Act [30 ILCS
575 ] for minority, female or disabled person applicants, or a DD214 for
veteran applicants. For purposes of this subsection (c)(7), minority, female,
and disabled shall have the meanings ascribed in Section 2 of the Business
Enterprise for Minorities, Females, and Persons with Disabilities Act
[30
ILCS 575/2 ].
8) Verification that the applicant's
principal place of business is headquartered in Illinois. The names, addresses
and verification of the applicant's proposed agents that reside in Illinois.
The applicant may also provide a plan for generating Illinois-based jobs and
economic development.
d)
Should the applicant be awarded a permit, the information and plan that an
applicant provided in its application becomes a mandatory condition of the
permit. If a permittee fails to comply with standard and special conditions of
the permit, the Department may assess a penalty or seek suspension or
revocation of the permit pursuant to Section
1000.700.
e) The Department may issue a cultivation
center permit with conditions addressing weaker areas of the cultivation
center's application that shall be addressed and corrected in the manner and
timeframe set forth in the permit.
f) There shall not be more than one permit
issued per each of the 22 ISP District boundaries as specified on January 1,
2013.
1) A permit shall be issued to the
qualified applicant receiving at least the minimum required score in each
category and the highest total score overall as compared to the other
applicants within the applicable district.
2) ISP District Chicago (District C)
incorporates ISP Districts 3 and 4. Therefore, the Department shall issue two
separate permits for ISP District C.
g) In the event that two or more qualified
applicants for a cultivation center permit receive the same total score, the
Department shall select the applicant that received the highest score in the
cultivation plan category. In the event that the same two applicants received
the same score in the cultivation plan category, the Department shall select
the applicant that received the highest score in the security plan category.
1) If a tie score still remains, the tied
applicants will be interviewed by an unbiased panel selected by the
Department.
2) The panel will judge
the overall applications and suitability, sustainability and likelihood of
success of the applicants and award the permit accordingly.
h) In the event that there are no
qualified applicants in a particular District, the applicant with the highest
total score will meet with an unbiased panel selected by the Department to
determine whether the applicant may be able to cure any deficiencies in the
application to become qualified. If the applicant is unable to cure the
deficiencies, the panel will meet with the applicant with the next highest
score to determine whether it may be able to cure any deficiencies in its
application to become qualified. If that applicant is unable to cure the
deficiencies, and there are no qualified applicants in that particular
District, the application process will be reopened. All applicants will be
required to submit a new fee and application for that District.
i) If no qualified applicants are found
during the process described in subsections (g) and (h), or if an applicant
that is issued a conditional permit fails to fulfill the conditions of the
conditional permit, or if no permit is issued or active in a particular
District for any other reason, the Department shall announce another period to
submit an application for that District. The application period shall be for 30
calendar days from the date specified in the announcement.
j) The Department may verify information
contained in each application and accompanying documentation to assess the
applicant's character and fitness to operate a cultivation center.
Notwithstanding an applicant satisfying the foregoing selection criteria, the
Department may, in its discretion, refuse to issue a permit if it is not
satisfied that an applicant, or any one required to be identified in the
application by Section
1000.100, is a
person of good character, honesty and integrity, and is not:
1) A person whose background, including
criminal charges, reputation and association, is injurious to the health,
safety, morals, good order and general welfare of the People of the State of
Illinois;
2) A person whose
background, criminal record, reputation, habits, social or business
associations adversely affect public confidence and trust in the medical
cannabis industry or poses a threat to the public interests of the State or to
the security and integrity of the medical cannabis industry;
3) A person who creates or enhances the
dangers of unlawful practices, methods and activities in the medical cannabis
industry, including, but limited to, product diversion;
4) A person who presents questionable
business practices and financial arrangements incidental to the medical
cannabis industry;
5) A person who
associates with, either socially or in business affairs, or employs persons of
notorious or unsavory reputation or who have extensive police records, or who
have failed to cooperate with any officially constituted investigatory or
administrative body; or
6) A person
who has had a cannabis dispensary or cultivation center license revoked,
suspended or sanctioned in any other jurisdiction.