13:1E-48.17. Noncompliance determination

a. On or after the first day of the 25th month following the effective date of this act, the department shall make a written determination as to whether each county required to provide for its regulated medical waste disposal requirements has selected and implemented an appropriate disposal arrangement. In the event that a county has failed to provide for its regulated medical waste disposal requirements pursuant to section 16 of this act, the commissioner shall certify the failure of that county.

b. In the event that the department determines that a county has failed to fulfill its regulated medical waste disposal responsibilities, as certified by the commissioner pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the department shall hold a public hearing thereon within 30 days of making the determination. At the public hearing, the relevant county shall have the burden to show that the county has taken timely and significant action toward providing for its regulated medical waste disposal requirements and that the determination of the department is unwarranted. Within 45 days of the conclusion of the hearing, the department shall make a final determination, which action shall be considered to be final agency action thereon for the purposes of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c. 410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.), and shall be subject only to judicial review as provided in the Rules of Court.

c. In the event that the department makes a final determination after the public hearing that a county has failed to fulfill its regulated medical waste disposal responsibilities, the department shall have the power to designate and develop in that county one or more appropriate regulated medical waste disposal facilities, which facilities may utilize incineration or non-incineration technologies, to be utilized by the county or several counties on a regional basis.

L. 1989, c. 34, s. 17.