Administrative Rules of Montana
Department 37 - PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Chapter 37.106 - HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
Subchapter 37.106.1 - Certificate of Need
Rule 37.106.107 - SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

(1) An application will be accepted only after submission of a letter of intent.

(2) The deadline set by the department for submission of an application will not exceed 90 days unless the department and all affected applicants agree to a longer period.

(3) No application for a proposal will be accepted earlier than the deadline set by 50-5-302(5), MCA, for receipt of a letter of intent requesting comparative review with that proposal, with the exception of a proposal for which a letter of intent was submitted requesting comparative review with an earlier proposal.

(4) The application must contain, at a minimum, the information as specified by the department pursuant to ARM 37.106.133 and 37.106.134.

(5) The original and two copies of the application must be submitted to the department.

(6) If the application is received without the full fee ($500 or 0.3% of the application's projected capital expenditure, whichever is larger) , it will not be considered submitted to the department until the date the full fee due is received by the department. The fee must be paid by check made out to the department of public health and human services.

(7) Within 20 working days after receipt of an application, if the application is determined to be incomplete, the department shall notify the applicant in writing by mail of that fact and of the specific information that is necessary to complete the application. The department shall also indicate a time, which may be no less than 15 calendar days, within which the department must receive the additional information requested. Within 15 working days after receipt of the additional information, the department shall determine whether the application is complete.

(8) If an applicant does not submit adequate information within the time specified, their application will be considered withdrawn.

(9) If the applicant materially changes the proposal or the capital expenditures projected are increased by 15% or $150,000, whichever is greater, after the department declares the application complete, the department may cease review of the original application and require the applicant to begin the process again by filing a new letter of intent for the revised proposed project if it desires a certificate of need for it. If, after the department gives the applicant notice that the department considers the original proposal so altered that the review process must begin again, the department will continue on the original review schedule if the applicant notifies the department that it chooses to have review continue on the original application, rather than to commence a new review process on the revised application.

(10) The department may, in its discretion, conduct a comparative review of competing applications if such applications are being reviewed concurrently, if such comparative review can be conducted consistently with all other time constraints imposed by Title 50, chapter 5, part 3, MCA, and this subchapter, and if, as required by 50-5-302(12), MCA, they pertain to similar types of facilities or equipment affecting the same health service area, subject to the limitation that a proposal for which a letter of intent is submitted requesting comparative review, pursuant to 50-5-302(5), MCA, will not be reviewed comparatively with a proposal for which a letter of intent is filed after the 30-day deadline referred to in 50-5-302(5), MCA.