Section 1. Sections 104(c), (d) and (e), 212(c) and (h), 402, 433 and 437(f) of the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, reenacted and amended June 29, 1987 (P.L.32, No.14), are amended to read:
Section 104. Interpretation of Act.--* * *
(c) Except as otherwise expressly provided, the purpose of this act is to prohibit the manufacture of and transactions in liquor, alcohol and malt or brewed beverages which take place in this Commonwealth, except by and under the control of the board as herein specifically provided, and every section and provision of the act shall be construed accordingly; to provide a structure in this Commonwealth for a distribution system, including the establishment of Pennsylvania liquor stores and licensing of importing distributors and distributors; and to preserve manufacturers of liquor and alcohol and malt and brewed beverages selling those products within this Commonwealth. The provisions of this act dealing with the manufacture, importation, sale, distribution and disposition of liquor, alcohol and malt or brewed beverages within the Commonwealth through the instrumentality of the board, licensees and otherwise, provide the means by which such control shall be made effective. This act shall not be construed as forbidding, affecting or regulating any transaction which is not subject to the legislative authority of this Commonwealth.
(d) The provisions of this act are intended to create a system for distribution that shall include the fixing of prices for liquor and alcohol and controls placed on prices for malt and brewed beverages and which shall be construed as integral to the preservation of the system, without which the Commonwealth's control of the sale of liquor and alcohol and malt and brewed beverages would not be possible.
[(d)] (e) Any reference in this act to the provisions of law on any subject shall apply to statutes becoming effective after the effective date of this act as well as to those then in existence.
[(e)] (f) Section headings shall not be taken to govern or limit the scope of the sections of this act. The singular shall include the plural and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
Section 212. Office of Administrative Law Judge.--* * *
(c) Administrative law judges shall preside at all licensing, citation and other enforcement hearings required or permitted under this act. An administrative law judge shall recuse himself in a licensing proceeding if the licensee or prospective licensee can demonstrate that the judge has heard an enforcement matter concerning the licensee or prospective licensee. An administrative law judge shall recuse himself in an enforcement proceeding if the person subject to enforcement can demonstrate that the judge has heard a licensing matter concerning the person. Administrative law judges shall inform persons and their counsel of recusal rights under this subsection.
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[(h) Nothing in this section or this act shall be construed or intended to change or affect the terms and conditions of employment or the employment security of hearing examiners employed by the board on the effective date of this section.]
Section 402. License Districts; License Year; Hearings.--(a) The board shall, by regulation, divide the State into convenient license districts and shall hold hearings on applications for licenses and renewals thereof, as it deems necessary, at a convenient place or places in each of said districts, at such times as it shall fix, by regulation, for the purpose of hearing testimony for and against applications for new licenses and renewals thereof. The board shall hold a hearing on any application for a new hotel, club or restaurant liquor license or the transfer of any such license to a new location, upon the request of any person with standing to testify under subsection (b) if the request is filed with the board within the first fifteen days of posting of the notice of application pursuant to section 403(g). The board [may] shall provide for the holding of such hearings by [examiners learned in the law, to be appointed by the Governor, who shall not be subject to the "Civil Service Act." Such examiners] administrative law judges, who shall make a report to the board in each case with their recommendations. The board shall, by regulation, fix the license year for each separate district so that the expiration dates shall be uniform in each of the several districts but staggered as to the State.
(b) Where a hearing is held in the case of an application for a new hotel, club or restaurant liquor license or an application for the transfer of a hotel, club or restaurant liquor license to a new location, the board shall permit residents residing within a radius of five hundred feet of the premises to testify at the hearing. The board and any [hearing officer] administrative law judge thereof shall give appropriate evidentiary weight to any testimony of such residents given at the hearing.
Section 433. Public Service Licenses.--The board may issue public service malt and brewed beverage licenses to a railroad, pullman or steamship company permitting malt or brewed beverages to be sold at retail in dining, club or buffet cars, or the dining compartments of steamships or vessels, for consumption on the trains, steamships or vessels wherever operated in the State, except when standing in stations or terminals within a municipality wherein retail sales are prohibited. Such licenses shall only be granted to reputable persons and for fit places. The board may issue a master license to railroad or pullman companies to cover the maximum number of cars which the company shall estimate that it will operate within the Commonwealth on any one day. Such licensees shall file monthly reports with the board showing the maximum number of cars operated at any time on any day during the preceding month, and if it appears that more cars have been operated than covered by its license it shall forthwith remit to the board the sum of ten dollars for each extra car so operated. The board shall have the power to suspend or revoke any such licenses for cause after granting a hearing before [a hearing examiner to the licensee] an administrative law judge. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the board in refusing, suspending or revoking any such license may appeal to the Commonwealth Court in the same manner as provided in this article for appeals from refusals of licenses.
Section 437. Prohibitions Against the Grant of Licenses.--* * *
(f) No new distributor's or importing distributor's license shall hereafter be granted by the board in any county of the Commonwealth where the combined number of distributor and importing distributor licenses exceeds one license for each [fifteen] thirty thousand inhabitants of the county in which the license is to be issued: Provided, That a combined total of five such licenses may be granted in any county of the Commonwealth.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as denying the right of the board to renew or to transfer existing distributors' or importing distributors' licenses or to exchange a distributor's license for an importing distributor's license or to exchange an importing distributor's license for a distributor's license, upon adjustment of the applicable fee, notwithstanding that the number of such licensed places in the county shall exceed the limitation hereinbefore prescribed: Provided, That no distributor's license or importing distributor's license shall be transferred from one county to another county so long as the quota is filled in the county to which the license is proposed to be transferred.