The OLCC is continuing to release new rule updates in repose to the COVID-19 crisis. Here are the most recent updates:
No Signature Requirement for Home Delivery: While Governor Brown’s Stay at Home order is in effect, the OLCC is suspending its requirement that licensees obtain the recipient signature for home delivery.
Accepting an Expired Oregon ID: State of Oregon ID’s with an expiration date of March 8, 2020 or later, which means the customer wasn’t able to go to the DMV to renew it, will be consider a valid ID while the Governor’s Executive Order is in effect.
Waive fee to make changes to my approved packages or labels:
The OLCC has temporarily suspended the fee requirements for changes to approved packages or labels and transferring packaging and labeling from one license to another. Licensees must still submit the Change Request Form to [email protected].
As each new new temporary rule is added, the OLCC updates their COVID-19 FAQ Document. The OCA will continue to keep you updated on these changes, we also recommend you check the web page regularly.
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April 8, 2020
OLCC Will Temporarily Accept Expired State of Oregon Issued ID
Aligns With Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, Law Enforcement Position During COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Portland, OR — The Oregon Liquor Control Commission will allow alcohol and marijuana licensees to accept expired Oregon driver licenses or identification cards that expired, on or after March 8, 2020, as an acceptable form of identification.
This decision aligns with the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles and law enforcement position, as DMV offices are closed because of the COVID-19 public health crisis preventing individuals from renewing their driver’s license or ID cards.
This temporary exception only applies to driver licenses and identification cards issued by the State of Oregon. This exception will remain in place while the Governor’s Executive Order 20-03 remains in effect.
On March 8, 2020, Governor Brown declared an emergency due to the public health threat posed by the novel infectious coronavirus (COVID-19).
On March 20, 2020, The Oregon DMV asked law enforcement to exercise discretionin enforcing violations due to expired credentials.
The Oregon State Police, Oregon State Sheriff’s Association and the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police have agreed to support this “grace period” for suspending enforcement of expired credential violations, including expired driver’s licenses and identification cards.
Information about COVID-19 related changes to OLCC rules, program and compliance/enforcement can be found on the OLCC COVID-19 Business Continuity page on the OLCC website.
OLCC has created FAQs for the alcohol program and the recreational marijuana program.
Also Oregon Cannabis Association spoke with OLCC about the following.
At the OCA’s last Q&A event with the OLCC, Jason Hanson, OLCC’s Director of Licensing, shared his plans for cutting through the backlog of applications. We checked back in with Jason, to see how things were progressing and how the agency is adjusting to the need for social distancing.
How has the outbreak affected application timelines: COVID-19 did throw a wrench in our process improvement work. However, we have continued to move forward, just at a slower pace. One area for how we’ve needed to alter our current licensing operations is to, for the time being, focus our staff resources to existing licensees. There are many reasons for this with the most important being that we are providing our time first to licensees who are most immediately impacted by the crisis rather than those who are not yet in the industry. … Examples of this include license renewals and the many changes a current licensee can make (e.g. change of ownerships regardless of % change, change of locations, endorsement changes, business structure changes, etc.). What we’re not assigning right now are new applications. If a new application was already assigned, we are continuing with processing them should the applicant so choose, we are just not assigning new ones for the time being. A benefit of this, of course, is that we will be able to move more quickly to assigning change of ownerships which we have already seen an increase in assigning over the last two weeks.
Inspections required before licensure: We have temporarily halted conducting these since the Governor’s executive orders were issued, just today (Friday) we finalized a temporary process which will allow us to continue processing licenses instead of waiting for the normal pre-license inspection to occur…In a nutshell, this temporary process includes OLCC staff conducting internet mapping assessments and address verification in-conjunction with the applicant performing a self-assessment and signed acknowledgment that all requirements on the pre-license checklist are met. An inspection will still occur when we resume normal operations, however, this will allow us to continue issuing licenses when these standards are met. Anyone who has completed the application process recently and was waiting on scheduling an on-site inspection prior to issuing the license should be receiving contact from their assigned investigator within the next week.
It is promising to hear that the OLCC is moving forward during this time, despite our new challenges around social distancing. The OCA is hopeful that with the new processes in place, and with a little patience and understanding as we all adjust to a new reality, the industry will see much quicker approvals that allow you to focus on your businesses and doing what you do best.
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