[§323D-73]  Notice; procedures.  (a) Within five working days after receipt of a complete application under section323D-72, the agency shall give public notice of the application in the affectedcounty or counties where the hospital is located and shall notify byfirst-class mail any person who has requested notice of the filing of suchapplications.  The public notice shall state that a completed application hasbeen received, state the names of the parties to the agreement, describe thecontents of the application, and state the date by which a person may submitwritten comments about the application to the agency.

(b)  Within ninety days after receiving acomplete application, the agency shall review the application in accordancewith the standards set forth in this part and approve or disapprove theacquisition.

Within twenty days after receiving a completeapplication, the attorney general shall determine whether a review of theapplication in accordance with section 323D-76 is appropriate and notify theapplicant if a review is warranted.  If the attorney general determines that areview is unnecessary or not appropriate, then none of the other provisions ofthis part applicable to review by the attorney general shall apply.

(c)  For acquisitions which require approvalfrom the agency under this part and a certificate of need, the applicant shallsubmit a single application for both purposes and the application shall bereviewed under a single unified review process by the agency.  Following the singleunified review process, the agency shall simultaneously issue its decisionregarding the certificate of need and its decision for purposes of the sale ofa hospital under this part. [L 1998, c 257, pt of §1]