Section 700j-404 - Grounds for refusal, suspension or revocationThe board shall grant a license to an applicant complying with the provisions of this act and the rules, regulations and orders issued by the board pursuant thereto. Anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding, a store or controlled affiliate which satisfies all other requirements for licensing shall not be denied an appropriate license if it has been so licensed on the effective date of this amendment. The board may decline to grant a license to an applicant, or may suspend or revoke the right of a licensee or former licensee to apply for a license for a new license period, or may suspend, revoke or refuse to transfer a license already granted to a milk dealer or handler, or may prohibit a milk dealer or handler exempted from the license requirements of this act from continuing to operate as a milk dealer or handler, after determination by the board that the dealer or handler:
(1) Has rejected, without reasonable cause, any milk purchased or acquired from a producer, or has rejected, without either reasonable cause or reasonable advance notice, milk delivered or made available by or on behalf of a producer in ordinary continuance of a previous course of dealing, except where the contract has been lawfully terminated: Provided, however, That in the absence of an express or implied fixing of a longer period in the contract, "reasonable advance notice" shall not be construed to mean notice of less than fourteen days nor more than forty-five days;(2) Has, if a milk dealer other than a subdealer, failed to account and make payment for any milk purchased or received on consignment or otherwise from a producer or producers, or has, if a subdealer, failed to account and make payment for any milk purchased or received on consignment or otherwise from a milk dealer: Provided, however, That if it be shown that there was reasonable cause for any such failure to account and make payment, and that such accounting and payment can and will be made promptly in addition to currently accounting and paying for milk purchased or received as aforesaid, the board shall not refuse to grant or suspend, revoke or refuse to transfer a license solely for such failure to account and make payment, until a reasonable opportunity has been afforded to make such accounting and payment;(3) Has committed any act injurious to the public health or public welfare or has committed any act injurious to trade or commerce in demoralization of the price structure of milk to such an extent as to interfere with an ample supply thereof for the inhabitants of the Commonwealth affected by this act. It is hereby declared that such demoralization is injurious to the public health, public welfare, and to trade and commerce, and that evidence thereof shall include any course of conduct on the part of the milk dealer or handler in violation of the terms of this act or any valid rules, regulations and orders of the board;(4) Has made a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, or has been adjudged a bankrupt, or there has been entered against him a judgment upon which an execution remains wholly or partly unsatisfied;(5) Has been a party to a combination to fix prices contrary to law. A cooperative agricultural association organized under the laws of this Commonwealth, or a similar association or corporation organized under the laws of this or any other state, and engaged in making collective sales or marketing for its members or shareholders, or any producers' or farmers' union or organization, shall not be deemed or construed to be a conspiracy or combination in restraint of trade or an illegal monopoly; nor shall the contracts, agreements, arrangements or combinations heretofore or hereafter made by such association or corporation, or the members, officers or directors thereof, in making such collective sales and marketing, and prescribing the terms and conditions thereof, be deemed or construed to be conspiracies or to be injurious to public welfare, trade or commerce;(6) Has continued in a course of conduct of such nature as to manifest an intention on the part of such milk dealer or handler to deceive or defraud producers or consumers;(7) Has failed either to keep records or to furnish accurately the statements or information required by the board to be supplied to it or to producers or consumers;(8) Has made any statement upon which the license was issued, which statement is found to have been false or misleading in any material particular;(9) Is a partnership, association or corporation, and any individual holding any position, owning any substantial interest, or having any power of control therein, has previously been responsible, in whole or in part, for any act on account of which a license may be denied, suspended or revoked pursuant to the provisions of this act;(10) Has violated any of the provisions of this act, any other act administered by the board, or any of the rules, regulations or orders of the board, or any stipulation entered into between the said dealer or handler and the board in the course of any proceeding before the board;(11) Has violated any provisions of acts repealed hereby, or of rules, regulations or orders issued thereunder;(12) Has rejected milk sold or delivered or made available on consignment or otherwise by, or on behalf of, a producer in ordinary continuance of a previous course of dealing because the producer or his employe, agent or representative testified in any proceeding before the board, or in any civil or criminal case in any court, whether or not of record, in which any provision of this act or any order of the board was concerned, and it shall be no defense that reasonable advance notice was afforded the producer before the milk was rejected;(13) Has refused without reasonable cause to receive milk from a producer because it was not hauled to the milk dealer or handler by a hauler of the dealer's or handler's choosing, or because it was hauled to the dealer or handler by a producer or a hauler of a producer's or cooperative's choosing, providing that such producer or hauler has adequate facilities and equipment for hauling, and is delivering, or is ready, able and willing to deliver, milk to the plant of such dealer or handler in proper condition and at the times necessary to coincide with the current schedule of plant operations of the dealer or handler;(14) Has demonstrated through the financial information submitted with his application, a lack of financial responsibility or a probable inability to meet the financial responsibilities imposed by this act or by the act of July 6, 1984 ( P.L. 652, No.136), known as the "Milk Producers' Security Act," and by the regulations of the board.(15) Has been convicted of a felony during the five years immediately prior to the date upon which an application for license renewal has been submitted; or, if the applicant is a partnership, association or corporation, has had any partner, officer or management employe who was convicted of a felony during the five years immediately preceding the date upon which the application for a milk dealer's license or for a license renewal has been submitted. For purposes of this section, the word "felony" shall mean a criminal offense which has been designated a felony under Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (relating to crimes and offenses) or under the Federal or State laws of the jurisdiction where the person or dealer was convicted or found guilty and which has been committed as a result of, in furtherance or facilitation of, under the guise of or in relation to business activities and dealings which the board has authority to regulate under this act. The burden of proving reasonable cause under the provisions of this section shall be upon the milk dealer.
The issuance or renewal by the board of a license hereunder shall not preclude the board from suspending or revoking such license for a violation committed by the licensee prior to the license period, except where the board or its predecessor board or commission had proceeded against the licensee for such violation, and any valid order thereon has been complied with by the licensee.
The board may grant a provisional and temporary license to an applicant or to a prior licensee when and if for any cause the action of the board with respect to an application seasonably filed has not become final prior to the expiration of the period of such prior license. Such a temporary and provisional license may be issued on such terms and conditions as the board may impose, and shall authorize the licensee to continue in business until final action with respect to his pending application has been taken and no longer.
Amended by P.L. TBD 2023 No. 25,§ 3, eff. 1/5/2024.1937, April 28, P.L. 417, art. IV, § 404. Amended 1941, July 24, P.L. 443, § 12; 1968, July 31, P.L. 963, No. 294, § 18; 1984, Dec. 21, P.L. 1278, No. 243, § 2, effective 1/1/1985.