2022 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes
Act 67 - LIQUOR CODE - BREWERIES, RENEWAL OF LICENSES AND TEMPORARY PROVISIONS FOR LICENSEES IN ARMED SERVICE AND RIGHTS OF MUNICIPALITIES PRESERVED

Session of 2022

No. 2022-67

HB 1615

AN ACT

Amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), entitled "An act relating to alcoholic liquors, alcohol and malt and brewed beverages; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the laws relating thereto; regulating and restricting the manufacture, purchase, sale, possession, consumption, importation, transportation, furnishing, holding in bond, holding in storage, traffic in and use of alcoholic liquors, alcohol and malt and brewed beverages and the persons engaged or employed therein; defining the powers and duties of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board; providing for the establishment and operation of State liquor stores, for the payment of certain license fees to the respective municipalities and townships, for the abatement of certain nuisances and, in certain cases, for search and seizure without warrant; prescribing penalties and forfeitures; providing for local option, and repealing existing laws," in licenses and regulations and liquor, alcohol and malt and brewed beverages, further providing for breweries, for renewal of licenses and temporary provisions for licensees in armed service and for rights of municipalities preserved.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 446(a)(1), (2) and (3) of the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, are amended and the subsection is amended by adding a paragraph to read:

Section 446.  Breweries.--(a)  Holders of a brewery license may:

(1)  Sell malt or brewed beverages [produced at the location and owned by the brewery] as provided in this section under such conditions and regulations as the board may enforce[, to individuals for consumption on the licensed premises in any container or package of any volume and to hotel, restaurant, club and public service liquor licensees. Malt] as follows:

(i)  Malt or brewed beverages produced [for the holder of a brewery license under a contract brewing agreement with an out-of-State manufacturer may be sold to a nonlicensee for on-premises or off-premises consumption, except that sales to a licensee must be distributed as provided under section 431(b).] by a brewery at the brewery location or under a contract brewing agreement or alternating proprietorship with an in-State manufacturer may be sold by the brewery to nonlicensees for on-premises or off-premises consumption and to licensees who are authorized to resell malt or brewed beverages. Sales to licensees under this paragraph shall comply with the provisions of this act. Malt or brewed beverages produced for the brewery under a contract brewing agreement or alternating proprietorship with an out-of-State manufacturer may only be distributed as provided under paragraph (3).

(ii)  A brewery with a contract brewing agreement with an out-of-State manufacturer prior to the effective date of this paragraph may sell malt or brewed beverages to nonlicensees for on-premises or off-premises consumption. These sales are in addition to the sales authorized by this paragraph and are not subject to the distribution requirements set forth in paragraph (3). If the brewery uses storage locations granted to the brewery under section 431(a.2) for distribution or retail sales beyond those storage locations already used for distribution or retail sales prior to the effective date of this paragraph, the brewery may only sell malt or brewed beverages as provided under paragraph (3).

(2)  Operate a restaurant or brewery pub on the licensed premises under such conditions and regulations as the board may enforce: Provided, however, That sales on Sunday may be made irrespective of the volume of food sales if the licensed premises are at a public venue location. [The] In addition to the sales authorized under paragraph (1), the holder of a brewery license may sell wines, alcoholic cider and fermented fruit beverages produced by the holder of a limited winery license, malt or brewed beverages produced by a manufacturer licensed by the board and liquor produced by a limited distillery or distillery licensed by the board: Provided, however, That said wines, malt or brewed beverages produced by another manufacturer and liquor must be consumed at the licensed premises. In addition, the combined sales of wine, malt or brewed beverages produced by another manufacturer and liquor may not, on a yearly basis, exceed fifty per centum (50%) of the on-premises sales of the brewery's own malt or brewed beverages for the preceding calendar year: however, if a brewery did not operate for an entire calendar year during the preceding year, then its combined sales of wine, malt or brewed beverages produced by another manufacturer and liquor may not, on a yearly basis, exceed fifty per centum (50%) of the on-premises sales of the brewery's own malt or brewed beverages for that year.

(3)  Use brewery storage and distribution facilities for the purpose of receiving, storing and distributing malt or brewed beverages manufactured outside this Commonwealth [if], including malt or brewed beverages produced for the brewery under a contract brewing agreement or alternating proprietorship with an out-of-State manufacturer, so long as the beverages are distributed in this Commonwealth only through specific importing distributors who shall have first been given distributing rights for such products in designated geographical areas through the distribution system required for out-of-State manufacturers under section [431(b)] 431 as well as all other pertinent sections of this act. The manufacturer of the beverages must comply with section 444.

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(5)  Nothing in paragraphs (2) and (3) shall be construed to impact the status of existing or future distribution contracts or rights under this act.

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Section 2.  Section 470(a)(1) of the act is amended to read:

Section 470.  Renewal of Licenses; Temporary Provisions for Licensees in Armed Service.--(a)  (1)  All applications for validation or renewal of licenses under the provisions of this article shall be filed at least sixty days before the expiration date of same, along with tax clearance from the Department of Revenue and the Department of Labor and Industry, the requisite license and filing fees, and, except as provided under paragraph (2), shall include an application surcharge of seven hundred dollars ($700.00): Provided, however, That the board, in its discretion, may accept nunc pro tunc a renewal application filed less than sixty days before the expiration date of the license with the required fees, upon reasonable cause shown and the payment of an additional filing fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for late filing: And provided further, That except where the failure to file a renewal application on or before the expiration date has created a license quota vacancy after said expiration date which has been filled by the issuance of a new license, after such expiration date, but before the board has received a renewal application nunc pro tunc within the time prescribed herein the board, in its discretion, may, after hearing, accept a renewal application filed within two years after the expiration date of the license with the required fees upon the payment of an additional filing fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for late filing. Where any such renewal application is filed less than sixty days before the expiration date, or subsequent to the expiration date, no license shall issue upon the filing of the renewal application until the matter is finally determined by the board and if an appeal is taken from the board's action the courts shall not order the issuance of the renewal license until final determination of the matter by the courts. The board may enter into an agreement with the applicant concerning additional restrictions on the license in question. If the board and the applicant enter into such an agreement, such agreement shall be binding on the applicant. Failure by the applicant to adhere to the agreement will be sufficient cause to form the basis for a citation under section 471 and for the nonrenewal of the license under this section. A renewal application will not be considered filed unless accompanied by the requisite filing and license fees and any additional filing fee required by this section. Unless the board shall have given ten days' previous notice to the applicant of objections to the renewal of his license, based upon violation by the licensee or his servants, agents or employes of any of the laws of the Commonwealth or regulations of the board relating to the manufacture, transportation, use, storage, importation, possession or sale of liquors, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages, or the conduct of a licensed establishment, or unless the applicant has by his own act become a person of ill repute, or unless the premises do not meet the requirements of this act or the regulations of the board, the license of a licensee shall be renewed. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, a noise violation shall not be the sole basis for objection by the board to the renewal of a license unless the licensee has received [six] three prior adjudicated noise citations within a twenty-four-month period.

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Section 3.  Section 493.1(e)(1) and (2) of the act are amended and the subsection is amended by adding a paragraph to read:

Section 493.1.  Rights of Municipalities Preserved.--* * *

(e)  (1)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary except as provided under paragraph (3), the holder of a [limited winery] license under this act that is located in a class 2A through 8 county may use or permit to be used inside or outside of the licensed premises a loudspeaker or similar device whereby the sound of music or other entertainment, or the advertisement thereof, does not exceed 75 decibels beyond the licensee's property line.

(2)  The provisions of [subsection (a)] paragraph (1) shall only apply:

(i)  From ten o'clock antemeridian until [eight] nine o'clock postmeridian on every day except Fridays and Saturdays; and

(ii)  From ten o'clock antemeridian until [ten] twelve o'clock [postmeridian] antemeridian on Fridays or Saturdays.

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(4)  The Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement of the Pennsylvania State Police shall enforce the provisions of this subsection.

Section 4.  This act shall take effect immediately.

APPROVED--The 11th day of July, A.D. 2022.

TOM WOLF