May 3—Bright Green Corp., the company behind a proposed 100-plus-acre cannabis facility in Grants, announced Monday it has received its federal license from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, a move that puts the company in position to begin cultivation, manufacturing and research operations.

With the license, Bright Green says it is the first publicly traded company to become federally authorized by the agency. Seamus McAuley, the company's CEO, told the Journal the authorization is a "key foundational milestone."

That means the company, aside from beginning operations out of its soon-to-be-completed 22-acre greenhouse, can start construction on two 57-acre greenhouses at its campus in Grants.

"It's not an insignificant piece of work," McAuley said. "Knowing we have everything that we require in place to grow, harvest and realize the revenue on the other side — for us, it's not behind, we're right on time with all of the pieces on the board."

Those two additional greenhouses will undergo construction later this year, and have an expected completion timeline of two years. That's an extension from the company's anticipated timeline of 2023 for the full build-out of its campus.

The approval follows recent site visits from the DEA last year and in March, Bright Green said. It had signed a memorandum of agreement with the DEA in 2021.

For Bright Green, the approval allows it to supply and ship cannabis-derived materials to DEA-registered research facilities across the country, create and research medicinal cannabis products under a standard FDA pathway and supply other businesses with cannabis biomass for the creation of their own marijuana products.

The recent announcement also follows other significant moves from the company.

Bright Green commenced trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market in May 2022. It announced a phased acquisition of Alterola Biotech Inc. last fall and a plan to raise $500 million under the EB-5 program this year.

The EB-5 program allows investors to apply for residency in the United States if they make a capital investment of $880,000 or more into the company.