(a) The department will monitor and investigate a hearing officer's compliance with the timelines prescribed in Education Law sections 3020-a and 3020-b.

(b) A record of continued failure to commence and complete hearings within the time periods prescribed in Education Law sections 3020-a and 3020-b this section shall be considered grounds for the commissioner to exclude such individual from the list of potential hearing officers for these hearings. If a hearing officer is excluded, he or she may make an application to be reinstated to list after one year, which may be granted at the commissioner’s discretion.