RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:
64-4.018Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Change of Ownership Application
NOTICE OF CHANGE
Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 44 No. 86, May 2, 2018 issue of the Florida Administrative Register.
In addition to the changes to rule text below, substantial revisions have been made to Form DH8018-OMMU-05/2018 (now DH8018-OMMU-11/2018), “Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Request for Change of Ownership,” for clarity. A new form, DH8021-OMMU-11/2018, “Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Request for License Transfer,” has been added to the rule to specifically address transfer of a MMTC license.
Substantial rewording of proposed Rule 64-4.018 follows. Please see the prior Notice of Proposed Rule and the Notice of Change published in Vol. 44 No. 86, May 2, 2018 and Vol. 44 No. 147, July 30, 2018 issues of the Florida Administrative Register for previous text.
64-4.018 Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Change of Ownership or License Transfer of Ownership.
(1) For the purposes of this rule the following words and phrases have the meanings indicated:
(a) Change of ownership –The change in the holder of any interests in a medical marijuana treatment center to another entity, person, or collective thereof.
(b) License transfer – The transfer of a medical marijuana treatment center’s license to a transferee so that the transferor no longer holds the license.
(c) Transferee – An entity, person, or collective thereof, desiring to acquire a medical marijuana treatment center license from a transferor.
(d) Transferor – An entity, person, or collective thereof, holding the right to transfer a medical marijuana treatment center’s license desiring to transfer the license to a transferee.
(2) A medical marijuana treatment center may not proceed with any a change of ownership or license transfer without prior department approval.
(3) In order to change any ownership, a medical marijuana treatment center must submit a request to the department using form DH8018-OMMU-11/2018, “Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Request for Change of Ownership,” incorporated by reference and available at https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-XXXXX.
(4) Review and approval for all requests for change of ownership will follow the timeframes provided in section 120.60, F.S.
(5) In order to transfer its license, a medical marijuana treatment center must submit a request to the department using form DH8021-OMMU-11/2018, “Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Request for License Transfer,” incorporated by reference and available at https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-XXXXX.
(6) The transferor must notify the department in writing at least 60 days before the anticipated date of the license transfer.
(7) The transferee must submit an application that must be received by the department at least 60 days before the anticipated date of license transfer.
(6) Within 30 days of the receipt of a DH8021-OMMU-11/2018 requesting a license transfer, the department will review the request and notify the medical marijuana treatment center in writing of any omission or make a request for additional information regarding any representation or documentation provided with the request. The medical marijuana treatment center will have 21 days from the date of the department’s notice to provide the requested information or documentation to the department. Within 30 days after the receipt of a complete request, the department will approve or deny the request. The failure to provide department-requested information or documentation within 21 days of the date of the notice will result in the denial of the request.
(7) Upon approval of a license transfer, the transferee assumes all responsibility and liability for any violations of statute or department rule by, and any regulatory obligations of, the transferor. The transferee must operate the medical marijuana treatment center in accordance with the representations made in the initial application for licensure, and any approved variances, on file with the department at the time of the transfer.
(8) For department-approved ownership changes or license transfers, the medical marijuana treatment center must provide notification with a copy of the executed change of ownership or license transfer agreement(s) to the department within 10 business day after execution.
(9) Once the license transfer is executed, the transferee may file variances in accordance with Rule 64-4.023, “Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Variance Request Procedure.”
(10) In the event a department-approved request for change of ownership or license transfer does not occur or finalize as represented in the submitted request, the medical marijuana treatment center must notify the department within 10 business days following the proposed date the change of ownership or license transfer was to occur.
(11) If the medical marijuana treatment center intends to claim any exemption from public records disclosure under section 119.07, F.S., or any other exemption from public records disclosure provided by law, for any part of its request for change of ownership or license transfer, it must indicate on the request the specific sections for which it claims an exemption and the statutory basis for the exemption. The requestor must submit a redacted copy of the request, including all attachments, redacting those items identified as exempt concurrently with the submission of the request for change of ownership or license transfer pursuant to subsections (3) and (5) of this rule. Failure to provide a redacted copy of the request for change of ownership or license transfer at the time of submission or failure to identify and redact information claimed as trade secret will result in the release of all information in response to a public records request, unless the information falls under another public records exemption. All identified trade secrets are subject to review by the department in accordance with section 381.83, F.S.
Rulemaking Authority 381.986(8)(k) FS. Law Implemented 381.986(8)(e)1. FS. History–New .