Section 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;
    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)  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.
    (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.