PA Gaming Board Seeks Public Comment On New Round of Draft Regulations

HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today launched a 30-day public-comment period on draft regulations governing application and licensing requirements for operators of gaming facilities across the Commonwealth.

“Act 71 gives the Board the ‘power and duty’ to adopt the regulations necessary to bring expanded gaming to Pennsylvania and ensure its integrity,” said Board Chairman Thomas A. “Tad” Decker. “With each set of regulations we develop, we move a step closer to the day when expanded gaming can begin in the Commonwealth.”

Board member Mary Colins, who oversees regulatory issues for the Board, said the draft regulations cover:

• General application and licensing requirements for gaming facility operators.

• Specific requirements for operators of gaming facilities at horse-racing tracks, also known as “Category 1” operators.

• Procedures for obtaining a Category 1 license through alternative licensing standards.

• Procedures for obtaining a Conditional Category 1 license.

• Bond or letter of credit specifications.

• Public input and political subdivision comment.

• Programs preventing and treating compulsive and problem gaming.

The draft regulations will be available for public inspection on the Board’s Web site, www.pgcb.state.pa.us, and people wishing to purchase a hard copy for review may do so by sending a certified check for $10 to cover copying, staff time and return postage, to PGCB, PO Box 69060, Harrisburg, PA, 17106-9060. Checks should be made out to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and requests should specify that the purchaser is seeking the draft regulations covering general application and licensing requirements.
The draft regulations will also be published in the May 28, 2005, edition of The Pennsylvania Bulletin, Colins added.

Comments on the draft regulations must submitted by U.S. mail only, with postmarks no later than June 17, 2005, to PGCB, PO Box 69060, Harrisburg, PA, 17106-9060, Attn: Public Comment.

To be included in the public record, comments must include the following information: name, organization represented (if appropriate), mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address, county, topic/regulation section number discussed, Colins said. The mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address are for verification purposes only and will not be published in the final record.

Colins also noted that submissions may be excluded from the final record if they do not address the topics covered by the draft regulations.

After the public comment period closes, the Board will make the complete record of comments and Board responses available to interested parties via the Board Web site, www.pgcb.state.pa.us, and via U.S. mail at a price to be determined once the extent of the record is known.

Separately, Colins said the comment period for draft regulations governing manufacturers and suppliers of gaming equipment, as well as those governing general administration, ended May 13, 2005. The earliest the Board will be able to publish those comments, as well as its responses to them, is Friday May 27, 2005, Colins said.