Alabama Administrative Code › Title 538 - ALABAMA MEDICAL CANNABIS COMMISSION › Chapter 538-X-3 - Applications and Licensing Requirements - Generally › Section 538-X-3-.08 - Application Deficiencies; Proposed Corrections

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) Not more than 45 days after the window
			 closes for original application filing, the Commission shall issue a Notice of
			 Deficiency, notifying any Applicant whose original or amended application
			 filing is deficient and specifying the date by which the deficiency must be
			 corrected, not more than eighteen (18) days after issuing the notice of
			 deficiency. As to the initial offering, the issuance of Notices of Deficiency
			 shall be 4:00 p.m., CST, February 13, 2023, or at 4:00 p.m. 45 days after the
			 window closes for original application filing, whichever is later.
(2) Deficiencies, as provided herein, shall
			 include but are not limited to: corrupted or illegible file materials,
			 incomplete applications (i.e., missing required documentation), improperly
			 formatted or labeled materials, typographical errors preventing reasonable
			 understanding of one or more of the Applicant's statements.
(3) The Notice of Deficiency shall specify in
			 what way or ways the Application has been deemed deficient and shall point out,
			 to the extent possible, the portions of the application that were affected by
			 the deficiency or deficiencies.
(4)
			 Upon receiving the Notice of Deficiency, the Applicant shall have not more than
			 18 days to propose corrections and refile the application in full, with the
			 proposed corrections shown as required and a redline version of the original
			 Application filed therewith as an exhibit. At that time, the Applicant shall
			 pay a nonrefundable corrections processing fee equal to one-half the
			 application fee paid at the time of the Applicant's original filing. For the
			 initial offering, proposed corrections shall be due, barring extraordinary
			 circumstances, as provided in paragraphs 5 and 6, at or before 4:00 p.m., CST,
			 on March 3, 2023, or 18 days from the date of the Notice of Deficiency,
			 whichever is later. The deadline for proposing corrections based on a
			 deficiency shall be as noted by the Commission on the Application
			 Form.
(5) The Commission, in its
			 discretion, may allow additional time based on extraordinary circumstances, up
			 to 60 days from the date the deficiencies were identified to the Applicant, to
			 correct and refile the application. The Applicant's petition for additional
			 time based on extraordinary circumstances shall be in made in writing,
			 explaining in detail the need for additional time to make the required
			 corrections, but the presumption shall be against allowing such additional
			 time.
(6) With regard to the
			 initial offering, a petition for additional time based on extraordinary
			 circumstances must be made on or before 4:00 p.m. CST on March 3, 2023, or by
			 4:00 p.m., Central time 63 days after the window closes for filing an original
			 application, whichever is later, and, if granted, would extend the time for
			 providing proposed corrections from March 3, 2023, to March 24, 2023 at 4:00
			 p.m., CDT, or at 4:00 p.m., Central Time, 21 days from the initial deadline for
			 filing corrections to deficiencies, whichever is later. At that time, the
			 Applicant shall pay a nonrefundable corrections processing fee equal to the
			 application fee paid by the Applicant at the time of its original
			 filing.
(7) Deficient applications
			 are not deemed "corrected" as set forth in §§
								20-2A-55(g) and
			 20-2A-56(d),
Code of Ala. 1975
, (as amended) until an Applicant's
			 proposed corrections are formally approved by the Commission. For the initial
			 offering, such approval shall be granted or denied at the meeting of the
			 Commission on April 13, 2023 (60 days from the date of the Notices of
			 Deficiency), or at the next Commission meeting not less than 15 days after the
			 deadline for filing the proposed extraordinary-time corrections under paragraph
			 6, whichever is later. Notice of the Commission's decision shall issue to the
			 Applicant no later than 4:00 p.m. CDT the following business day.
(8) The Commission's decision to grant or
			 deny a petition for additional time to make corrections due to extraordinary
			 circumstances, and the Commission's approval or not of the Applicant's proposed
			 corrections shall be made at the next meeting of the Commission not less than
			 15 days from the deadline for filing the proposed extraordinary- time
			 corrections under paragraph 6 of this Rule. For the initial offering, the
			 decision shall be made at the meeting of the Commission on April 13, 2023, or
			 at the next Commission meeting not less than 15 days after the deadline for
			 filing the proposed extraordinary- time corrections under paragraph 6,
			 whichever is later. Notice of the decision shall issue to the Applicant no
			 later than 4:00 p.m. Central Time, the following business day.
(9) Filing a corrected version of the
			 application in response to a Notice of Deficiencies issued by the Commission
			 replaces all information provided in the original application filing, and the
			 Commission or its personnel shall not consider any information contained in the
			 original filing upon the acceptance and approval of proposed corrections to an
			 original application or an extraordinary-circumstances application. However,
			 filing an amended application does not preclude an applicant from responding to
			 a notice of deficiency provided by the Commission and proposing corrections for
			 approval by the Commission.
(10)
			 Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the "filing" of proposed
			 corrections to an application or amended application as described in these
			 Rules shall not mean that the application has been "submitted" or "corrected"
			 pursuant to §
								20-2A-56(d),
Code of Ala. 1975
, (as amended); as provided in
			 paragraph 7 and in Rule 538-X-3-.07, an application, including an amended
			 application and any application as to which proposed corrections have been
			 made, is "corrected" and "submitted," such that the 60 days for determining
			 whether to award a license begins to run, only when the Commission accepts and
			 approves the proposed corrections and all accepts and approves all applications
			 for submission (along with any original applications or amended applications)
			 filed by other Applicants of a particular category in the same
			 offering.
(11) The Applicant's
			 failure to timely and properly file suitable proposed corrections, and the
			 Commission's rejection and refusal to consider applications as to which
			 proposed corrections were not filed, untimely filed, improperly filled out,
			 improperly formatted, or which were unsuitable to correct the deficiencies
			 noted, shall not constitute a breach of due process nor permit the Applicant a
			 right of appeal under the Act, this Chapter or any provision of the
			 AAPA.
Author:
William H. Webster
Statutory Authority:
Code of Ala.
				  1975
, §§
										20-2A-22, as
				  amended.