Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-3-.08

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 1, October 31, 2024

Section 538-X-3-.08 - Application Deficiencies; Proposed Corrections

(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.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-3-.08

Adopted by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XL, Issue No. 11, August 31, 2022, eff. 10/15/2022.

Author: William H. Webster

Statutory Authority:Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 20-2A-22, as amended.