Georgia § 31-6-47 - 1. Prior notice and approval of certain activities.

§ 31-6-47. 1. Prior notice and approval of certain activities.

The department shall require prior notice from a new health care facility for approval of any activity which is believed to be exempt pursuant to Code Section 31-6-47 or excluded from the requirements of this chapter under other provisions of this chapter. The department may require prior notice and approval of any activity which is believed to be exempt pursuant to paragraphs (10), (15), (16), (17), (20), (21), (23), (25), (26), (27), (28), and (29) of subsection (a) of Code Section 31-6-47. The department shall establish timeframes, forms, and criteria to request a letter of determination that an activity is properly exempt or excluded under this chapter prior to its implementation. The department shall publish notice of all requests for letters of determination regarding exempt activity and opposition to such request. Persons opposing a request for approval of an exempt activity shall be entitled to file an objection with the department and the department shall consider any filed objection when determining whether an activity is exempt. After the department's decision, an opposing party shall have the right to a fair hearing pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act," on an adverse decision of the department and judicial review of a final decision in the same manner and under the same provisions as in Code Section 31-6-44.1. If no objection to a request for determination is filed within 30 days of the department's receipt of such request for determination, the department shall have 60 days from the date of the department's receipt of such request to review the request and issue a letter of determination. The department may adopt rules for deciding when it is not practicable to provide a determination in 60 days and may extend the review period upon written notice to the requestor but only for an extended period of no longer than an additional 30 days. (Code 1981, § 31-6-47.1 , enacted by Ga. L. 2008, p. 12, § 1-1/SB 433; Ga. L. 2019, p. 148, § 1-11/HB 186.) The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, substituted "(25), (26), (27), (28), and (29)" for "(25), and (26)" in the second sentence, substituted "department shall establish timeframes, forms, and criteria to request a letter of determination" for "department shall be authorized to establish timeframes, forms, and criteria relating to its certification" in the third sentence, substituted "letters of determination regarding" for "approval of an" in the fourth sentence, and added the last two sentences. Editor's notes. - Ga. L. 2008, p. 12, § 3-1/SB 433, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the enactment of this Code section shall only apply to applications submitted on or after July 1, 2008.