New York Laws
Article 32 - Regulation and Quality Control of Chemical Dependence Services and Compulsive Gambling Services.
32.05 - Operating Certificate Required.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of this section no provider
of services shall engage in any of the following activities without an
operating certificate issued by the commissioner pursuant to this
article:
1. operation of a residential program, including a community residence
for the care, custody, or treatment of persons suffering from chemical
abuse or dependence; provided, however, that giving domestic care and
comfort to a person in the home shall not constitute such an operation;
1-a. operation of a certified recovery residence in accordance with
section 32.05-a of this article for the promotion of sustained recovery
of persons suffering from a substance use disorder;
2. operation of a discrete unit of a hospital or other facility
possessing an operating certificate pursuant to article twenty-eight of
the public health law for the purpose of providing residential or
non-residential chemical dependence services; or
3. operation of a program established or maintained by a provider of
services for the rendition of out-patient or non-residential chemical
dependence services; provided, however, that such operation shall not be
deemed to include (i) professional practice, within the scope of a
professional license or certificate issued by an agency of the state, by
an appropriately licensed individual or by a partnership of such
individuals, or by a professional service corporation duly incorporated
pursuant to the business corporation law wherein all professionals bear
the same professional license, or a university faculty practice
corporation duly incorporated pursuant to the not-for-profit corporation
law, unless more than fifty percent of such practice by either such
corporation consists of the rendering of chemical dependence services;
or (ii) non-residential services which are chartered or issued a
certificate of incorporation pursuant to the education law; or (iii)
pastoral counseling by a clergyman or minister, including those defined
as clergyman or minister by section two of the religious corporations
law; or (iv) services which are exclusively prevention strategies and
approaches as defined in section 1.03 of this chapter.
(b) (i) Methadone, or such other controlled substance designated by
the commissioner of health as appropriate for such use, may be
administered to an addict, as defined in section thirty-three hundred
two of the public health law, by individual physicians, groups of
physicians and public or private medical facilities certified pursuant
to article twenty-eight or thirty-three of the public health law as part
of a chemical dependence program which has been issued an operating
certificate by the commissioner pursuant to subdivision (b) of section
32.09 of this article, provided, however, that such administration must
be done in accordance with all applicable federal and state laws and
regulations. Individual physicians or groups of physicians who have
obtained authorization from the federal government to administer
buprenorphine to addicts may do so without obtaining an operating
certificate from the commissioner. (ii) No provision of this article or
any other provision of law shall be construed to require a provider
licensed pursuant to article twenty-eight of the public health law,
article thirty-one of this chapter or a provider certified pursuant to
article sixteen of this chapter to obtain an operating certificate from
the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services if such provider
has been authorized to provide integrated services in accordance with
regulations issued by the commissioner of alcoholism and substance abuse
services in consultation with the commissioner of the department of
health, the commissioner of the office of mental health and the
commissioner of the office for people with developmental disabilities,

including regulations issued pursuant to subdivision seven of section
three hundred sixty-five-l of the social services law or part L of
chapter fifty-six of the laws of two thousand twelve.
(c) No individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited
liability company or partnership, public or private agency or any part
thereof shall adopt a corporate name or hold itself out to the public in
a manner which indicates, directly or indirectly, the availability of
treatment, programs, or services for persons suffering from chemical
abuse or dependence unless it has obtained an operating certificate from
the commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(d) The operation of a program for which an operating certificate is
required shall be in accordance with the terms of the operating
certificate and regulations of the commissioner.
(e) Any individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited
liability company or partnership, public or private agency or any part
thereof who knowingly fails to comply with the provisions of this
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor as defined in the penal law.
(f) If the commissioner has reason to believe that there is an
individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability
company or partnership, public or private agency or any part thereof
which is providing chemical dependence services or which purports to
provide such services and which does not possess a required current
valid operating certificate, he or she shall proceed pursuant to
applicable sections of this chapter including but not limited to
sections 32.13, 32.15, 32.19 and 32.27 of this article.