If you own x-ray equipment in New Jersey, you have 30 days from the date you take possession to file the Radiation-Producing Machine Registration application with the Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of X-Ray Compliance.1Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28-3.1 – Registration for Possession of Ionizing Radiation-Producing Machines You can email the completed PDF or mail a paper copy, and you do not send payment with the form. The state invoices you after it processes the registration.2New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Radiation-Producing Machine Registration Application
Who Has to Register
Every person, business, manufacturer, dealer, or government entity that possesses an ionizing radiation-producing machine in New Jersey must register it. There is no exemption for small facilities or for machines that run only occasionally.1Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28-3.1 – Registration for Possession of Ionizing Radiation-Producing Machines Medical offices, dental practices, hospitals, veterinary clinics, chiropractic offices, podiatrists, industrial facilities, schools, and government agencies all fall under the requirement.
The 30-day clock starts the day you gain possession, whether through purchase, lease, donation, or transfer. It does not wait until you power the machine on or treat your first patient. If the equipment is sitting in your facility, the registration is already due.
Filling Out the Application
The form runs two pages, and both must be completed. You can download it from the NJ DEP Radiation Protection website and either type into the PDF fields or print and complete it by hand.2New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Radiation-Producing Machine Registration Application
Facility Information
The first section asks for the facility’s legal name, a contact person, and the physical address where the machines are kept, including street, suite, city, state, ZIP+4, and county. If your billing or mailing address is different from the equipment location, use the separate billing section. The Bureau sends invoices and correspondence to the billing address, so leaving that section blank when it should differ sends your paperwork to the wrong place.
Facility Discipline
You select the facility type from the options on the form: Industrial, Medical, Dentist, Chiropractor, Podiatrist, Veterinarian, Hospital, School, or Government. Your discipline controls which fee schedule applies, so pick the one that matches the primary use of the equipment.2New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Radiation-Producing Machine Registration Application
Machine Inventory
Page two is the inventory, and this is where most errors occur. List every ionizing radiation-producing machine at the facility with its manufacturer, model number, and serial number. If you operate more than one tube, say a panoramic dental unit and a separate intraoral unit, each tube gets its own line. The Bureau tracks machines by tube. Missing or incorrect serial numbers will delay the registration.
Signature
An authorized representative of the facility signs and dates the form. Check every field first. A blank serial number or a transposed model number is the kind of error that will bounce the application back.
How to Submit the Form
The Bureau accepts the form two ways:2New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Radiation-Producing Machine Registration Application
- Email the completed PDF to BXC@dep.nj.gov.
- Mail paper to Bureau of X-Ray Compliance, PO Box 420, Mail Code 25-01, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420.
Do not enclose a check. The form itself flags this in bold. The Bureau registers the equipment first and then bills you, so sending payment up front only complicates processing. If you have questions while you work through the form, the Bureau’s phone number is 609-984-5463 and the fax line is 609-984-5811.
What You Pay, and When
New Jersey charges a $40.00 application fee for each x-ray tube on initial registration, plus a prorated share of the annual renewal fee for the rest of the first registration year.3Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28-3.12 – Application and Annual Registration Renewal Fees for Ionizing-Radiation-Producing Machines After the first year, you pay the full annual renewal fee.
Dental facilities pay $92.00 per x-ray tube per year, whether the tube is a standard intraoral unit, a panoramic machine, a cephalometric unit, a cone beam CT, or a handheld dental unit.4New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28 Non-hospital facilities such as medical offices, industrial sites, schools, and government buildings pay annual renewals that vary by machine category; a non-medical particle accelerator, for example, runs $185.00 per tube per year.3Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28-3.12 – Application and Annual Registration Renewal Fees for Ionizing-Radiation-Producing Machines Hospital fees follow a separate schedule and run higher for complex equipment like CT scanners and fluoroscopy units.
Once the Bureau sends an invoice, you can pay online by credit card or e-check through the NJ DEP website.5New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Radiation Protection
Radiation Safety Survey Within 60 Days
Registration is only half the compliance picture. A qualified individual must perform a radiation safety survey of the area around each medical x-ray machine, and the survey report must be submitted to the Department within 60 days of acquiring the machine.6Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28-15.10 – Structural Shielding and Radiation Safety Survey The facility keeps the original on file for as long as the machine is registered plus one additional year. Inspectors will ask for it.
The survey confirms that structural shielding, meaning the lead-lined walls and barriers around the machine, is adequate so that no one besides the patient being examined receives a dose above the limits in N.J.A.C. 7:28-6.6Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28-15.10 – Structural Shielding and Radiation Safety Survey If you are installing equipment in a new space, plan the shielding before the machine arrives so the survey can happen on time.
If You Sell, Move, or Dispose of a Machine
Once a machine is registered, you must notify the Bureau in writing within 30 days of any sale, relocation, or disposal. The obligation applies to owners and to dealers and manufacturers who sell or install equipment.7Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28-3.9 – Sale, Installation, Relocation or Disposal of Ionizing Radiation-Producing Machines The notification has to include:
- The New Jersey registration number, manufacturer, model, and serial number of each component.
- The name and address of whoever is receiving the machine.
- The address of the relocated machine, or details on how the equipment was junked, stored, or moved out of state.
You remain liable for fees until the Bureau actually receives this notification. Sell a machine in January but wait until June to tell the Bureau, and you owe fees for those five months.
The Bureau offers a Machine Disposition Form for this reporting. You choose a disposition code for each machine:8New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Machine Disposition Form
- Code 1: Sold, traded, or donated.
- Code 2: Moved to a second office under the same owner.
- Code 3: Junked.
- Code 4: Moved out of state.
- Code 5: Stored or deactivated and not in use.
An owner or authorized representative signs the form and mails it to the same Trenton address used for registrations. Filing promptly is what stops the invoicing cycle.
Penalties for Operating Unregistered Equipment
Running an x-ray machine without registering it is not treated as a paperwork lapse. The Department of Environmental Protection can seek a court injunction to halt operations and impose civil penalties for violations of the registration rules or any order issued under the state’s radiation protection regulations.4New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28 The state can also refuse to process license terminations or facility releases until outstanding civil penalties are paid. An unregistered machine discovered during an inspection or complaint sets off the penalty process and typically stops you from using the equipment while you catch up on compliance.
A Note on the FDA Assembler Form
If you are buying a new system, the installer has a separate federal duty. Whoever assembles or installs certified x-ray components into a diagnostic system must file FDA Form 2579, “Report of Assembly of a Diagnostic X-ray System,” within 15 days of completing the assembly, with a copy to the purchaser and, where applicable, to the state radiation protection agency.9eCFR. 21 CFR Part 1020 – Performance Standards for Ionizing Radiation Emitting Products New Jersey accepts the FDA form as part of its notification process for new installations when the information is complete.7Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 7:28-3.9 – Sale, Installation, Relocation or Disposal of Ionizing Radiation-Producing Machines It does not replace your own registration. Confirm your installer files it, and still submit the state application within your 30 days.