March 2020

General Program Update

The Responsible Beverage Service Training Program (RBSTP) team initiated public outreach regarding the new law and its requirements through a series of stakeholder meeting throughout the State in the late Summer and Fall of 2018. The series of meetings continued through 2019 and concluded with a public hearing at the end of the public comment period on October 11, 2019 as part of the regulation’s development process. These stakeholder meetings provided the Department with valuable input that helped to shape and define the curriculum requirements for an RBS training course, as well as the regulations for the program. Stakeholder meetings will resume as we get closer to the launch of the program.

The RBSTP team submitted the proposed regulations to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for approval in November of 2019. On, January 6, 2020, OAL disapproved the publication of the proposed regulations due to clarity, necessity, and minor procedural issues. The RBS curriculum standards did not present any issues and did not require any modifications. The Department’s Regulations and Policy Unit has prepared a modifications package to address the issues identified by OAL. A fifteen-day comment period addressing the changes began on Tuesday, February 19, 2020 and concluded at noon on Friday, March 6, 2020. We anticipate this package to be approved by OAL in Spring of 2020.

Additional Program Updates

After a competitive selection process, the Department has selected and entered into contract with an IT Solution vendor to build the database that will maintain the alcohol server exam and certifications. The RBSTP team is also currently working with their newly selected exam vendor to design and develop the alcohol server exam.

Upcoming RBSTP Events

We are planning additional stakeholder meetings for RBS training providers, licensees, alcohol servers, and law enforcement to discuss where we are at with the RBS Training Program and the features of the database.  If available at the time, these stakeholder meetings will also feature interactive demonstrations on how to use the various features of the database.

Current Estimated Timeline

• Winter 2019 – Finalize regulations.
• Spring 2020 – Additional stakeholder outreach.
• Late Spring/Summer 2020 – Design and development of the RBS certification exam to be completed.
• Summer 2020 – Accept RBS training provider applications and begin approval process.
• Late Fall 2020/Winter 2020 – ABC approved RBS providers begin to provide training.
• Winter 2020 – Design and development of the database to be completed. Public outreach campaign to begin and approved RBS training becomes available.
• Spring/Summer 2021 – ABC approved RBS providers continue training throughout the state.

Next Steps for Prospective Training Providers

The RBSTP team has designed a short survey for prospective training providers. This survey will assist the Department in estimating the initial number and type of training program applications (e.g., online, in-person, language) that will be received, as well as understanding what potential special features in the database would be valuable to the training providers. Additionally, the survey will assist in the identification of desired locations for future stakeholder meetings (Note: the survey is now closed).

We currently anticipate being able to begin accepting prospective training provider applications in the Summer of 2020. We will send a notice via the mailing list announcing when the Department will begin accepting training provider applications. The cost of the applications will be $1000.00 per training course plus an additional cost of fingerprint fees for certain persons associated with the applicant entity.

Contact

For alcohol server registration assistance or general assistance with RBS contact:

Online Services
Phone: (916) 318-6435
Email: onlineservices@abc.ca.gov

Translation Services
Email: eeo@abc.ca.gov

For training provider assistance or questions about RBS requirements contact:

RBSTP Team
3927 Lennane Drive, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95834
Email: rbstp@abc.ca.gov