36-2233. Certificate of necessity to operate an ambulance service; notification of interested parties; exceptions; service areas

A. Any person wishing to operate an ambulance service in this state shall apply to the department on a form prescribed by the director for a certificate of necessity.

B. Within one hundred eighty days after receiving an application for a certificate of necessity as prescribed in this section, the director shall make a determination based on whether necessity for the ambulance service is found to exist and the applicant meets the requirements of subsection F of this section. If the director requests additional information from the applicant after initial review, the applicant shall have thirty business days to respond. On request, the director may give the applicant one additional period of thirty business days to respond.  If the applicant fails to respond to the director's request for additional information, the department shall deem the initial or amended application withdrawn. An application deemed withdrawn is not an appealable agency action pursuant to title 41, chapter 6, article 10. The applicant may appeal a denial only pursuant to section 36-2234. The one hundred eighty-day period for the director to make the determination of necessity does not include the time the applicant uses to respond to requests for additional information.

C. On receipt of an initial or amended application for a certificate of necessity, the department shall post a notice of the application on its website.  Within thirty days after the department posts a notice pursuant to this subsection, any interested party may provide information to the director on a form in a department-approved format for consideration. If an interested party fails to respond to the notice within sixty days in a department-approved format, the information may not be considered during the review of the application.

D. For the purposes of this section, a city, town, fire district, fire authority or tribal government whose jurisdictional boundaries in whole or in part are within the service area of a certificate of necessity, an existing certificate of necessity holder within the service area of the certificate of necessity or a hospital that is licensed pursuant to chapter 4 of this title and that is located within the service area of a certificate of necessity is considered to be an interested party as a matter of law.

E. All interested parties shall be notified of any application for an initial or amended certificate of necessity within fifteen days after the application is filed, within fifteen days after the application is complete and within fifteen days after a decision by the director. The director's decision pursuant to subsection F of this section is final unless appealed pursuant to section 36-2234, subsection A.

F. The director shall issue a certificate of necessity if all of the following apply:

1. The director finds that public necessity requires the service or any part of the service proposed by the applicant.

2. The director finds that the applicant is fit and proper to provide the service.

3. The applicant has paid the appropriate fees pursuant to section 36-2240.

4. The applicant has filed a surety bond pursuant to section 36-2237.

G. A certificate of necessity issued pursuant to subsection F of this section shall be for all or part of the service proposed by the applicant as determined necessary by the director for public convenience and necessity.

H. This section does not require a certificate of necessity for:

1. Vehicles and persons that are exempt from a certificate of registration pursuant to section 36-2217.

2. Ambulance services operating under temporary authority pursuant to section 36-2242.

I. The director may grant a service area by one or any combination of the following descriptions:

1. Metes and bounds.

2. A city, town or political subdivision not limited to a specific date.  The merger or consolidation of two or more fire districts pursuant to section 48-820 or 48-822 does not expand the service area boundaries of an existing certificate of necessity. 

3. A city, town or political subdivision as of a specific date that does not include annexation.