§323D-44  Applications for certificates ofneed.  (a)  An applicant for a certificate of need shall file anapplication with the state agency.  The state agency shall provide technicalassistance to the applicant in the preparation and filing of the application.

Each application shall include a statementevaluating the facility's or service's probable impact on health care costs andproviding additional data as required by rule.  The statement shall includecost projections for at least the first and third years after its approval.

The state agency shall not accept anapplication for review until the application is complete and includes allnecessary information required by the state agency.  The state agency shalldetermine if the application is complete within thirty days of receipt of theapplication.  If the state agency determines that the application isincomplete, the state agency shall inform the applicant of the additionalinformation that is required to complete the application.  When the state agencydetermines that the application is complete, the period for agency reviewdescribed in subsection (b) shall begin, and the state agency shall transmitthe completed application to the appropriate subarea councils, the reviewpanel, the statewide council, appropriate individuals, and appropriate publicagencies.  The state agency may require the applicant to provide copies of theapplication to the state agency, the appropriate subarea councils, the reviewpanel, the statewide council, appropriate individuals, and appropriate publicagencies.  If, during the period for agency review, the state agency requiresthe applicant to submit information respecting the subject of the review, theperiod for agency review shall, at the request of the applicant, be extendedfifteen days.

(b)  The state agency shall issue a decision onthe application within ninety days after the beginning of the period for agencyreview, unless the state agency within the ninety days notifies the applicantin writing that the period for agency review has been extended by the stateagency sixty days beyond the ninety days.  The decision shall be subject topost-decision review procedures which the state agency may provide for by rulesadopted in conformity with chapter 91.

(c)  The state agency may adopt rules inconformity with chapter 91 for the issuance of certificates of need for thoseapplications for which the procedures in section 323D-45 would be infeasiblebecause of an emergency situation or other unusual circumstances.

(d)  Notwithstanding anything to the contraryin subsections (a) and (b), the state agency may adopt rules in conformity withchapter 91 providing that all completed applications pertaining to similartypes of services, facilities, or equipment affecting the same health servicearea shall be considered in relation to each other but no less often than twicea year. [L 1975, c 159, pt of §2; am L 1977, c 178, pt of §2; am L 1980, c 75,§13; am L 1982, c 245, §4; am L 1984, c 267, §10; am L 1997, c 336, §9]