(a) In addition to the exemption required by Section 127175, the office director shall exempt from Sections 127210 to 127275, inclusive, and shall issue a certificate of need for those projects where the applicant has shown and the office director has found all of the following:

(1) The project is for either of the following:

(A) The conversion of a skilled nursing or community care facility, or acute psychiatric hospital or a county funded institution-based alcoholism program, certified by the State Department of Health Care Services pursuant to Section 11831 as a residential treatment program, to a chemical dependency recovery hospital as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250.3, and provided that the facility to be converted has, prior to June 1, 1981, and continuously thereafter, been used exclusively to provide 24-hour residential chemical dependency recovery services, including the basic services enumerated in Section 1250.3 under the direction of a medical director.

(B) The construction and licensure of a chemical dependency recovery hospital where the project was commenced prior to June 1, 1981, and is being diligently pursued to completion, and provided that the person or entity proposing the facility was, prior to June 1, 1981, operating in this state a skilled nursing or community care facility used exclusively for 24-hour residential chemical dependency recovery services, including the basic services enumerated in Section 1250.3, under the direction of a medical director. As used in this paragraph, “commencement of the project” means acquisition of the site where the facility is to be located and submission of drawings for the project to the local government having jurisdiction containing substantially sufficient detail for the issuance of a building permit or permits.

(2) The project could not meet the construction standards established by law or regulation for general acute care hospitals.

(3) The applicant has filed a notice of the project with the office director on forms supplied by the office director within 90 days of the effective date of this section.

The office director shall inform the applicant in writing of his or her determination as to eligibility of the application for a certificate of need under this subdivision within 60 days of receipt of a complete application.

(b) In addition to the exemption required by Section 127175, the office director shall exempt from Sections 127210 to 127275, inclusive, and shall issue a certificate of need for a project for the conversion of a portion of the authorized bed capacity of a general acute care hospital in the classifications listed in Section 1250.1 to chemical dependency recovery beds as provided in subdivision (h) of Section 1250.1, or for the conversion of a skilled nursing facility to a chemical dependency recovery hospital as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250.3, where the applicant has shown and the office director has found all of the following:

(1) Commencement of the project began prior to August 10, 1981, and is being diligently pursued to completion.

(2) The facility proposing a conversion was, prior to June 1, 1981, operating an alcoholism treatment program, including all the basic services enumerated in Section 1250.3, under the direction of a medical director, or the facility had obtained, prior to June 1, 1981, the services of a medical director and contracted with program professionals for the conversion of the facility.

As used in this subdivision, “commencement of the project” means a written declaration by the governing body or administration of a hospital of the intention to convert beds of other licensed categories to usage as chemical dependency beds pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 1250.3 as it existed on August 10, 1981, or a written declaration by the governing body or administration of a skilled nursing facility of the intention to convert to a chemical dependency recovery hospital. The written declaration shall be transmitted to the director by August 17, 1981.

(c) Construction or remodeling necessary to enable a facility exempted under this section to comply with applicable licensing regulations shall be deemed to be eligible for exemption under paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 127175.

(d) A certificate of exemption issued pursuant to this section shall, for all purposes, have the same effect as a certificate of need issued pursuant to this chapter.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 22, Sec. 73. (AB 75) Effective June 27, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 110 of Ch. 22.)