Nebraska Environmental Protection Act

81-1501. Department; declaration of legislative purpose.
   Whereas the water, land, and air of this state are among its most precious resources and the pollution thereof becomes a menace to the health and welfare of each person, and the public in general, in this state and whereas pollution of these resources in this state is likewise a concern in adjoining states, the public policy of this state is hereby declared to be:
   (1) To conserve the water in this state and to protect and improve the quality of water for human consumption, wildlife, fish and other aquatic life, industry, recreation, and other productive, beneficial uses;
   (2) To achieve and maintain such a reasonable degree of purity of the natural atmosphere of this state that human beings and all other animals and plants which are indigenous to this state will flourish in approximately the same balance as they have in recent history and to adopt and promulgate laws, rules, and regulations and enforce uniformly the same in such a manner as to give meaningful recognition to the protection of each element of the environment, air, water, and land;
   (3) To cooperate with other states and the federal government to accomplish the objectives set forth in the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act; and
   (4) To protect human health through environmental enforcement.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 1; Laws 1987, LB 152, § 1; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 75; Laws 1994, LB 570, § 4; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 17.

Cross References
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.

Annotations
      The Environmental Protection Act does not preempt the field of pollution control such that municipalities cannot enact ordinances on the subject of pollution control. State ex rel. Alma v. Furnas Cty. Farms, 266 Neb. 558, 667 N.W.2d 512 (2003).

      Environmental Protection Act does not divest district courts of subject matter jurisdiction to enjoin proposed solid waste disposal operations alleged to be in violation of county ordinances. Omaha Fish and Wildlife Club, Inc. v. Community Refuse, Inc., 208 Neb. 110, 302 N.W.2d 379 (1981).

      Even in an industrial or rural area, one cannot conduct a business in such a manner as to materially prejudice a neighbor, but before enjoining it perpetually, a court of equity will usually allow the owner to correct or eliminate the cause of the grievance. Botsch v. Leigh Land Co., 195 Neb. 509, 239 N.W.2d 481 (1976).

81-1502. Terms, defined.
   For purposes of the Environmental Protection Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
   (1) Air contaminant or air contamination shall mean the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of any dust, fume, mist, smoke, vapor, gas, other gaseous fluid, or particulate substance differing in composition from or exceeding in concentration the natural components of the atmosphere;
   (2) Air pollution shall mean the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more air contaminants or combinations thereof in such quantities and of such duration as are or may tend to be injurious to human, plant, or animal life, property, or the conduct of business;
   (3) Chairperson shall mean the chairperson of the Environmental Quality Council and council shall mean the Environmental Quality Council;
   (4) Complaint shall mean any charge, however informal, to or by the council, that any person or agency, private or public, is polluting the air, land, or water or is violating the Environmental Protection Act or any rule or regulation of the department in respect thereof;
   (5) Control and controlling shall include prohibition and prohibiting as related to air, land, or water pollution;
   (6) Department shall mean the Department of Environmental Quality, which department is hereby created;
   (7) Director shall mean the Director of Environmental Quality, which position is hereby established;
   (8) Disposal system shall mean a system for disposing of wastes, including hazardous wastes, either by surface or underground methods, and includes sewerage systems and treatment works, disposal wells and fields, and other systems;
   (9) Emissions shall mean releases or discharges into the outdoor atmosphere of any air contaminant or combination thereof;
   (10) Person shall mean any: Individual; partnership; limited liability company; association; public or private corporation; trustee; receiver; assignee; agent; municipality or other governmental subdivision; public agency; other legal entity; or any officer or governing or managing body of any public or private corporation, municipality, governmental subdivision, public agency, or other legal entity;
   (11) Rule or regulation shall mean any rule or regulation of the department;
   (12) Sewerage system shall mean pipelines, conduits, pumping stations, force mains, and all other constructions, devices, appurtenances, and facilities used for collecting or conducting wastes to an ultimate point for treatment or disposal;
   (13) Treatment works shall mean any plant or other works used for the purpose of treating, stabilizing, or holding wastes;
   (14) Wastes shall mean sewage, industrial waste, and all other liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other substances which may pollute or tend to pollute any air, land, or waters of the state;
   (15) Refuse shall mean putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes, except body wastes, and includes garbage, rubbish, ashes, incinerator ash, incinerator residue, street cleanings, and solid market and industrial wastes;
   (16) Garbage shall mean rejected food wastes, including waste accumulation of animal, fruit, or vegetable matter used or intended for food or that attend the preparation, use, cooking, dealing in, or storing of meat, fish, fowl, fruit, or vegetables, and dead animals rejected by rendering plants;
   (17) Rubbish shall mean nonputrescible solid wastes, excluding ashes, consisting of both combustible and noncombustible wastes, such as paper, cardboard, tin cans, yard clippings, wood, glass, bedding, crockery, or litter of any kind that will be a detriment to the public health and safety;
   (18) Junk shall mean old scrap, copper, brass, iron, steel, rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber debris, waste, dismantled or wrecked automobiles, or parts thereof, and other old or scrap ferrous or nonferrous material;
   (19) Land pollution shall mean the presence upon or within the land resources of the state of one or more contaminants or combinations of contaminants, including, but not limited to, refuse, garbage, rubbish, or junk, in such quantities and of such quality as will or are likely to (a) create a nuisance, (b) be harmful, detrimental, or injurious to public health, safety, or welfare, (c) be injurious to plant and animal life and property, or (d) be detrimental to the economic and social development, the scenic beauty, or the enjoyment of the natural attractions of the state;
   (20) Water pollution shall mean the manmade or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of water;
   (21) Waters of the state shall mean all waters within the jurisdiction of this state, including all streams, lakes, ponds, impounding reservoirs, marshes, wetlands, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, situated wholly or partly within or bordering upon the state;
   (22) Point source shall mean any discernible confined and discrete conveyance, including, but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, or vessel or other floating craft from which pollutants are or may be discharged;
   (23) Effluent limitation shall mean any restriction, including a schedule of compliance, established by the council on quantities, rates, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, and other constituents which are discharged from point sources into waters of the state;
   (24) Schedule of compliance shall mean a schedule of remedial measures including an enforceable sequence of actions or operations leading to compliance with an effluent limitation, other limitation, prohibition, or standard;
   (25) Hazardous waste shall mean a solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may (a) cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness or (b) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human or animal health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed;
   (26) Solid waste shall mean any garbage, refuse, or sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, and mining operations and from community activities. Solid waste shall not include slag, a product that is a result of the steel manufacturing process and is managed as an item of value in a controlled manner and not as a discarded material; solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under section 402 of the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.; or source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.;
   (27) Storage, when used in connection with hazardous waste, shall mean the containment of hazardous waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such manner as not to constitute disposal of such hazardous waste;
   (28) Manifest shall mean the form used for identifying the quantity, composition, origin, routing, and destination of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of disposal, treatment, or storage;
   (29) Processing shall mean to treat, detoxify, neutralize, incinerate, biodegrade, or otherwise process a hazardous waste to remove such waste's harmful properties or characteristics for disposal in accordance with regulations established by the council;
   (30) Well shall mean a bored, drilled, or driven shaft or a dug hole, the depth of which is greater than the largest surface dimension of such shaft or hole;
   (31) Injection well shall mean a well into which fluids are injected;
   (32) Fluid shall mean a material or substance which flows or moves whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or other form or state;
   (33) Mineral production well shall mean a well drilled to promote extraction of mineral resources or energy, including, but not limited to, a well designed for (a) mining of sulfur by the Frasch process, (b) solution mining of sodium chloride, potash, phosphate, copper, uranium, or any other mineral which can be mined by this process, (c) in situ combustion of coal, tar sands, oil shale, or any other fossil fuel, or (d) recovery of geothermal energy for the production of electric power. Mineral production well shall not include any well designed for conventional oil or gas production, for use of fluids to promote enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas, or for injection of hydrocarbons for storage purposes;
   (34) Mineral exploration hole shall mean a hole bored, drilled, driven, or dug in the act of exploring for a mineral other than oil and gas;
   (35) Solution mining shall mean the use of an injection well and fluids to promote the extraction of mineral resources;
   (36) Uranium shall mean tri-uranium oct-oxide;
   (37) Solid waste management facility shall mean a facility as defined in section 13-2010; and
   (38) Livestock waste control facility shall have the same meaning as in section 54-2417.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 2; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 1; Laws 1973, LB 538, § 1; Laws 1980, LB 853, § 1; Laws 1981, LB 216, § 2; Laws 1983, LB 356, § 2; Laws 1984, LB 742, § 1; Laws 1984, LB 1078, § 1; Laws 1986, LB 1008, § 1; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 76; Laws 1993, LB 121, § 538; Laws 1994, LB 570, § 5; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 18; Laws 2004, LB 916, § 25; Laws 2013, LB203, § 1.

81-1503. Environmental Quality Council; membership; appointment; compensation; Director of Environmental Quality; appointment; oath; duties.
   (1)(a) The Environmental Quality Council is hereby created.
   (b) Until April 28, 2005, the council shall consist of sixteen members to be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Legislature as follows:
   (i) One representative of the food products manufacturing industry;
   (ii) One representative of conservation;
   (iii) One representative of the agricultural processing industry;
   (iv) One representative of the automotive or petroleum industry;
   (v) One representative of the chemical industry;
   (vi) One representative of heavy industry;
   (vii) One representative of the power generating industry;
   (viii) One representative of agriculture actively engaged in crop production;
   (ix) One representative of labor;
   (x) One professional engineer experienced in control of air and water pollution and solid wastes;
   (xi) One physician knowledgeable in the health aspects of air, water, and land pollution;
   (xii) One representative from county government;
   (xiii) Two representatives from municipal government, one of whom shall represent cities other than those of the primary or metropolitan class;
   (xiv) One representative of the livestock industry; and
   (xv) One representative of the public at large.
   (c) On and after April 28, 2005, the council shall consist of seventeen members to be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Legislature as follows:
   (i) One representative of the food products manufacturing industry;
   (ii) One representative of conservation;
   (iii) One representative of the agricultural processing industry;
   (iv) One representative of the automotive or petroleum industry;
   (v) One representative of the chemical industry;
   (vi) One representative of heavy industry;
   (vii) One representative of the power generating industry;
   (viii) One representative of agriculture actively engaged in crop production;
   (ix) One representative of labor;
   (x) One professional engineer experienced in control of air and water pollution and solid wastes;
   (xi) One physician knowledgeable in the health aspects of air, water, and land pollution;
   (xii) One representative from county government;
   (xiii) Two representatives from municipal government, one of whom shall represent cities other than those of the primary or metropolitan class;
   (xiv) One representative of the livestock industry;
   (xv) One representative of minority populations; and
   (xvi) One biologist.
   (d)(i) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, members of the council serving on April 28, 2005, shall continue to serve on the council as representatives of the entity they were appointed to represent until their current terms of office expire and their successors are appointed and confirmed. The member representing the public at large shall serve until the member representing minority populations is appointed.
   (ii) The Governor shall appoint members pursuant to subdivisions (1)(c)(xv) and (1)(c)(xvi) of this section within ninety days after April 28, 2005.
   (2) Members shall serve for terms of four years. All appointments shall be subject to confirmation by the Legislature when initially made. As the term of an appointee to the council expires, the succeeding appointee shall be a representative of the same segment of the public as the previous appointee. In the case of appointees to vacancies occurring from unexpired terms, each successor shall serve out the term of his or her predecessor. Members whose terms have expired shall continue to serve until their successors have been appointed. All members shall be citizens and residents of the State of Nebraska.
   (3) Members may be removed by the Governor for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or misconduct in office but only after delivering to the member a copy of the charges and affording him or her an opportunity to be publicly heard in person or by counsel, in his or her own defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. Such hearing shall be held before the Governor. When a member is removed, the Governor shall file, in the office of the Secretary of State, a complete statement of all charges made against such member and the findings thereon, together with a complete record of the proceedings.
   (4) The council shall elect from its members a chairperson and a vice-chairperson, who shall hold office at the pleasure of the council. The vice-chairperson shall serve as chairperson in case of the absence or disability of the chairperson. The director shall serve as secretary of the council and shall keep all records of meetings of and actions taken by the council. He or she shall be promptly advised as to such actions by the chairperson.
   (5) The members of the council, while engaged in the performance of their official duties, shall receive a per diem of forty dollars while so serving, including travel time. In addition, members of the council shall receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses as provided in sections 81-1174 to 81-1177.
   (6) The council shall hold at least two regular meetings each year, at a time and place fixed by the council and shall keep a record of its proceedings which shall be open to the public for inspection. Special meetings may be called by the chairperson. Such special meetings must be called by him or her upon receipt of a written request signed by two or more members of the council. Written notice of the time and place of all meetings shall be mailed in advance to the office of each member of the council by the secretary. A majority of the members of the council shall constitute a quorum.
   (7) The council shall submit to the Governor a list of names from which he or she shall appoint the Director of Environmental Quality who shall be experienced in air, water, and land pollution control and who may be otherwise an employee of state government. The director shall be responsible for administration of the department and all standards, rules, and regulations adopted pursuant to Chapter 81, article 15, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act. All such standards, rules, and regulations shall be adopted by the council after consideration of the recommendations of the director. All grants to political subdivisions under the control of the department shall be made by the director in accordance with priorities established by the council, unless otherwise directed by statute. A majority of the members of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the council shall be necessary for the adoption of standards, rules, and regulations.
   (8) Before the director enters upon the duties of his or her office, he or she shall take and subscribe to the constitutional oath of office and shall, in addition thereto, swear and affirm that he or she holds no other public office nor any position under any political committee or party, that he or she has not during the two years immediately prior to his or her appointment received a significant portion of his or her income directly or indirectly from permitholders or applicants for a permit under the Environmental Protection Act, and that he or she will not receive such income during his or her term as director, except that such requirements regarding income prior to the term of office shall not apply to employees of any agency of the State of Nebraska or any political subdivision which may be a permitholder under the Environmental Protection Act. Such oath and affirmation shall be filed with the Secretary of State.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 3; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 2; Laws 1974, LB 1029, § 1; Laws 1979, LB 321, § 2; Laws 1981, LB 204, § 195; Laws 1983, LB 356, § 3; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 77; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 19; Laws 2005, LB 351, § 1; Laws 2012, LB760, § 1.

Cross References
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.

Annotations
      For purposes of subsection (7) of this section, a statutorily required public hearing is the transaction of business. Johnson v. Nebraska Environmental Control Council, 2 Neb. App. 263, 509 N.W.2d 21 (1993).

81-1504. Department; powers; duties.
   The department shall have and may exercise the following powers and duties:
   (1) To exercise exclusive general supervision of the administration and enforcement of the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, the Livestock Waste Management Act, and all rules and regulations and orders promulgated under such acts;
   (2) To develop comprehensive programs for the prevention, control, and abatement of new or existing pollution of the air, waters, and land of the state;
   (3) To advise and consult, cooperate, and contract with other agencies of the state, the federal government, and other states, with interstate agencies, and with affected groups, political subdivisions, and industries in furtherance of the purposes of the acts;
   (4) To act as the state water pollution, air pollution, and solid waste pollution control agency for all purposes of the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., the Clean Air Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq., the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq., and any other federal legislation pertaining to loans or grants for environmental protection and from other sources, public or private, for carrying out any of its functions, which loans and grants shall not be expended for other than the purposes for which provided;
   (5) To encourage, participate in, or conduct studies, investigations, research, and demonstrations relating to air, land, and water pollution and causes and effects, prevention, control, and abatement of such pollution as it may deem advisable and necessary for the discharge of its duties under the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act, using its own staff or private research organizations under contract;
   (6) To collect and disseminate information and conduct educational and training programs relating to air, water, and land pollution and the prevention, control, and abatement of such pollution;
   (7) To issue, modify, or revoke orders (a) prohibiting or abating discharges of wastes into the air, waters, or land of the state and (b) requiring the construction of new disposal systems or any parts thereof or the modification, extension, or adoption of other remedial measures to prevent, control, or abate pollution;
   (8) To administer state grants to political subdivisions for solid waste disposal facilities and for the construction of sewage treatment works and facilities to dispose of water treatment plant wastes;
   (9) To (a) hold such hearings and give notice thereof, (b) issue such subpoenas requiring the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such evidence, (c) administer such oaths, and (d) take such testimony as the director deems necessary, and any of these powers may be exercised on behalf of the director by a hearing officer designated by the director;
   (10) To require submission of plans, specifications, and other data relative to, and to inspect construction of, disposal systems or any part thereof prior to issuance of such permits or approvals as are required by the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act;
   (11) To issue, continue in effect, revoke, modify, or deny permits, under such conditions as the director may prescribe and consistent with the standards, rules, and regulations adopted by the council, (a) to prevent, control, or abate pollution, (b) for the discharge of wastes into the air, land, or waters of the state, and (c) for the installation, modification, or operation of disposal systems or any parts thereof;
   (12) To require proper maintenance and operation of disposal systems;
   (13) To exercise all incidental powers necessary to carry out the purposes of the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act;
   (14) To establish bureaus, divisions, or sections for the control of air pollution, water pollution, mining and land quality, and solid wastes which shall be administered by full-time salaried bureau, division, or section chiefs and to delegate and assign to each such bureau, division, or section and its officers and employees the duties and powers granted to the department for the enforcement of Chapter 81, article 15, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, the Livestock Waste Management Act, and the standards, rules, and regulations adopted pursuant thereto;
   (15)(a) To require access to existing and available records relating to (i) emissions or discharges which cause or contribute to air, land, or water pollution or (ii) the monitoring of such emissions or discharges; and
   (b) To require, for purposes of developing or assisting the development of any regulation or enforcing any of the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act which pertain to hazardous waste, any person who generates, stores, treats, transports, disposes of, or otherwise handles or has handled hazardous waste, upon request of any officer, employee, or representative of the department, to furnish information relating to such waste and any permit involved. Such person shall have access at all reasonable times to a copy of all results relating to such waste;
   (16) To obtain such scientific, technical, administrative, and operational services including laboratory facilities, by contract or otherwise, as the director deems necessary;
   (17) To encourage voluntary cooperation by persons and affected groups to achieve the purposes of the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act;
   (18) To encourage local units of government to handle air, land, and water pollution problems within their respective jurisdictions and on a cooperative basis and to provide technical and consultative assistance therefor;
   (19) To consult with any person proposing to construct, install, or otherwise acquire an air, land, or water contaminant source or a device or system for control of such source, upon request of such person, concerning the efficacy of such device or system or concerning the air, land, or water pollution problem which may be related to the source, device, or system. Nothing in any such consultation shall be construed to relieve any person from compliance with the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, the Livestock Waste Management Act, rules and regulations in force pursuant to the acts, or any other provision of law;
   (20) To require all persons engaged or desiring to engage in operations which result or which may result in air, water, or land pollution to secure a permit prior to installation or operation or continued operation;
   (21) To enter and inspect, during reasonable hours, any building or place, except a building designed for and used exclusively for a private residence;
   (22) To receive or initiate complaints of air, water, or land pollution, hold hearings in connection with air, water, or land pollution, and institute legal proceedings in the name of the state for the control or prevention of air, water, or land pollution, and for the recovery of penalties, in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act;
   (23) To delegate, by contract with governmental subdivisions which have adopted local air, water, or land pollution control programs approved by the council, the enforcement of state-adopted air, water, or land pollution control regulations within a specified region surrounding the jurisdictional area of the governmental subdivisions. Prosecutions commenced under such contracts shall be conducted by the Attorney General or county attorneys as provided in the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act;
   (24) To conduct tests and take samples of air, water, or land contaminants, fuel, process materials, or any other substance which affects or may affect discharges or emissions of air, water, or land contaminants from any source, giving the owner or operator a receipt for the sample obtained;
   (25) To develop and enforce compliance schedules, under such conditions as the director may prescribe and consistent with the standards, rules, and regulations adopted by the council, to prevent, control, or abate pollution;
   (26) To employ the Governor's Keep Nebraska Beautiful Committee for such special occasions and projects as the department may decide. Reimbursement of the committee shall be made from state and appropriate federal matching funds for each assignment of work by the department as provided in sections 81-1174 to 81-1177;
   (27) To provide, to the extent determined by the council to be necessary and practicable, for areawide, selective, and periodic inspection and testing of motor vehicles to secure compliance with applicable exhaust emission standards for a fee not to exceed five dollars to offset the cost of inspection;
   (28) To enforce, when it is not feasible to prescribe or enforce any emission standard for control of air pollutants, the use of a design, equipment, a work practice, an operational standard, or a combination thereof, adequate to protect the public health from such pollutant or pollutants with an ample margin of safety;
   (29) To establish the position of public advocate to be located within the department to assist and educate the public on departmental programs and to carry out all duties of the ombudsman as provided in the Clean Air Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7661f;
   (30) Under such conditions as it may prescribe for the review, recommendations, and written approval of the director, to require the submission of such plans, specifications, and other information as it deems necessary to carry out the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act or to carry out the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the acts. When deemed necessary by the director, the plans and specifications shall be prepared and submitted by a professional engineer licensed to practice in Nebraska;
   (31) To carry out the provisions of the Petroleum Products and Hazardous Substances Storage and Handling Act;
   (32) To consider the risk to human health and safety and to the environment in evaluating and approving plans for remedial action; and
   (33) To evaluate permits proposed to be issued to any political subdivision under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System created by the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., as provided in section 81-1517.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 4; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 3; Laws 1973, LB 254, § 1; Laws 1974, LB 1029, § 2; Laws 1979, LB 342, § 1; Laws 1980, LB 853, § 2; Laws 1981, LB 204, § 196; Laws 1983, LB 356, § 4; Laws 1984, LB 1078, § 2; Laws 1986, LB 217, § 15; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 78; Laws 1994, LB 570, § 6; Laws 1996, LB 1226, § 13; Laws 1997, LB 622, § 124; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 20; Laws 2015, LB413, § 1.

Cross References
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.
      Petroleum Products and Hazardous Substances Storage and Handling Act, see section 81-15,117.

81-1504.01. Department of Environmental Quality; reports required; contents.
   The Department of Environmental Quality shall provide the following information to the Governor and to the Clerk of the Legislature by December 1 of each year:
   (1) A report by type of service or aid provided by the use and distribution of federal funds received by the department. The report shall also include user fees, permit fees, license fees, and application fees authorized by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as follows:
   (a) Actual expenditure of each grant or authorized fees for the most recently completed state fiscal year, including state matching funds;
   (b) Current budget and planned use and distribution of each grant and authorized fees for the current state fiscal year, including state matching funds;
   (c) A summary of the projected funding level of each grant and authorized fees and the impact of federal mandates and regulations upon the future use of each grant and authorized fees; and
   (d) Program summaries including statistical summaries when applicable for the most recently completed state fiscal year and program activity goals for the current state fiscal year;
   (2) A summary of regulations of the federal Environmental Protection Agency which the department is required to implement and which do not include federal funding assistance and the possible financial impact to the state and political subdivisions;
   (3) A report by type of service or aid provided by the use and distribution of state general and cash funds, including user fees, permit fees, license fees, and application fees, to carry out activities that are not funded by federal grants as follows:
   (a) Actual expenditure of state funds, by agency sections, for the most recently completed state fiscal year, including a breakdown of expenditures by personal services, operations, travel, capital outlay, and consulting and contractual services;
   (b) Current budget and planned use and distribution of state funds, by agency sections, for the current state fiscal year, including a breakdown of expenditures for personal services, operations, travel, capital outlay, and consulting and contractual services;
   (c) A summary of projected program funding needs based upon the statutory requirements and public demand for services and the department's assessment of anticipated needs statewide; and
   (d) Program summaries including statistical summaries when applicable for the most recently completed state fiscal year and program activity goals for the current state fiscal year;
   (4) A report regarding staff turnover by job class and the department's assessment of its ability to hire and retain qualified staff considering the state's personnel pay plan;
   (5) A report listing the method used by each new or existing licensee, permittee, or other person who is required by the department to establish proof of financial responsibility; and
   (6) A report for the previous state fiscal year relating to the purpose of the Nebraska Litter Reduction and Recycling Act and of funds credited to the Nebraska Litter Reduction and Recycling Fund.
   The reports and summaries submitted to the Clerk of the Legislature shall be submitted electronically.
Source:Laws 1991, LB 528, § 1; Laws 1993, LB 3, § 47; Laws 1993, LB 203, § 1; Laws 1994, LB 1034, § 2; Laws 2003, LB 143, § 9; Laws 2007, LB79, § 1; Laws 2012, LB782, § 201.

Cross References
      Nebraska Litter Reduction and Recycling Act, see section 81-1534.

81-1504.02. Department; establish telephone line.
   The department shall establish a telephone line to provide information on the department's programs and requirements and to report complaints and suspected violations of the various environmental statutes and regulations which the department administers, as well as complaints regarding the department's regulation and enforcement activities. The department may charge a fee for the use of such a telephone line.
Source:Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 29.

81-1504.03. Grants or loans; restrictions.
   No disbursements from grants or loans administered pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act shall be made for projects related to tire-derived fuel.
Source:Laws 2001, LB 461, § 9.

81-1505. Council; rules and regulations; standards of air, land, and water quality.
   (1) In order to carry out the purposes of the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act, the council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations which shall set standards of air, water, and land quality to be applicable to the air, waters, and land of this state or portions thereof. Such standards of quality shall be such as to protect the public health and welfare. The council shall classify air, water, and land contaminant sources according to levels and types of discharges, emissions, and other characteristics which relate to air, water, and land pollution and may require reporting for any such class or classes. Such classifications and standards made pursuant to this section may be made for application to the state as a whole or to any designated area of the state and shall be made with special reference to effects on health, economic and social factors, and physical effects on property. Such standards and classifications may be amended as determined necessary by the council.
   (2) In adopting the classifications of waters and water quality standards, the primary purpose for such classifications and standards shall be to protect the public health and welfare and the council shall give consideration to:
   (a) The size, depth, surface area, or underground area covered, the volume, direction, and rate of flow, stream gradient, and temperature of the water;
   (b) The character of the area affected by such classification or standards, its peculiar suitability for particular purposes, conserving the value of the area, and encouraging the most appropriate use of lands within such area for domestic, agricultural, industrial, recreational, and aquatic life purposes;
   (c) The uses which have been made, are being made, or are likely to be made, of such waters for agricultural, transportation, domestic, and industrial consumption, for fishing and aquatic culture, for the disposal of sewage, industrial waste, and other wastes, or other uses within this state and, at the discretion of the council, any such uses in another state on interstate waters flowing through or originating in this state;
   (d) The extent of present pollution or contamination of such waters which has already occurred or resulted from past discharges therein; and
   (e) Procedures pursuant to section 401 of the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., for certification by the department of activities requiring a federal license or permit which may result in a discharge.
   (3) In adopting effluent limitations or prohibitions, the council shall give consideration to the type, class, or category of discharges and the quantities, rates, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, and other constituents which are discharged from point sources into navigable or other waters of the state, including schedules of compliance, best practicable control technology, and best available control technology.
   (4) In adopting standards of performance, the council shall give consideration to the discharge of pollutants which reflect the greatest degree of effluent reduction which the council determines to be achievable through application of the best available demonstrated control technology, processes, operating methods, or other alternatives, including, when practicable, a standard permitting no discharge of pollutants.
   (5) In adopting toxic pollutant standards and limitations, the council shall give consideration to the combinations of pollutants, the toxicity of the pollutant, its persistence, degradability, the usual or potential presence of the affected organisms in any waters, the importance of the affected organisms, and the nature and extent of the effect of the toxic pollutant on such organisms.
   (6) In adopting pretreatment standards, the council shall give consideration to the prohibitions or limitations to noncompatible pollutants, prohibitions against the passage through a publicly owned treatment works of pollutants which would cause interference with or obstruction to the operation of publicly owned treatment works, damage to such works, and the prevention of the discharge of pollutants therefrom which are inadequately treated.
   (7) In adopting treatment standards, the council shall give consideration to providing for processes to which wastewater shall be subjected in a publicly owned wastewater treatment works in order to make such wastewater suitable for subsequent use.
   (8) In adopting regulations pertaining to the disposal of domestic and industrial liquid wastes, the council shall give consideration to the minimum amount of biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, or equivalent in the case of industrial wastewaters, which must be removed from the wastewaters and the degree of disinfection necessary to meet water quality standards with respect to construction, installation, change of, alterations in, or additions to any wastewater treatment works or disposal systems, including issuance of permits and proper abandonment, and requirements necessary for proper operation and maintenance thereof.
   (9)(a) The council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations for controlling mineral exploration holes and mineral production and injection wells. The rules and regulations shall include standards for the construction, operation, and abandonment of such holes and wells. The standards shall protect the public health and welfare and air, land, water, and subsurface resources so as to control, minimize, and eliminate hazards to humans, animals, and the environment. Consideration shall be given to:
   (i) Area conditions such as suitability of location, geologic formations, topography, industry, agriculture, population density, wildlife, fish and other aquatic life, sites of archeological and historical importance, mineral, land, and water resources, and the existing economic activities of the area including, but not limited to, agriculture, recreation, tourism, and industry;
   (ii) A site-specific evaluation of the geologic and hydrologic suitability of the site and the injection, disposal, and production zones;
   (iii) The quality of the existing ground water, the effects of exemption of the aquifer from any existing water quality standards, and requirements for restoration of the aquifer;
   (iv) Standards for design and use of production facilities, which shall include, but not be limited to, all wells, pumping equipment, surface structures, and associated land required for operation of injection or production wells; and
   (v) Conditions required for closure, abandonment, or restoration of mineral exploration holes, injection and production wells, and production facilities in order to protect the public health and welfare and air, land, water, and subsurface resources.
   (b) The council shall establish fees for regulated activities and facilities and for permits for such activities and facilities. The fees shall be sufficient but shall not exceed the amount necessary to pay the department for the direct and indirect costs of evaluating, processing, and monitoring during and after operation of regulated facilities or performance of regulated activities.
   (c) With respect to mineral production wells, the council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations which require restoration of air, land, water, and subsurface resources and require mineral production well permit applications to include a restoration plan for the air, land, water, and subsurface resources affected. Such rules and regulations may provide for issuance of a research and development permit which authorizes construction and operation of a pilot plant by the permittee for the purpose of demonstrating the permittee's ability to inject and restore in a manner which meets the standards required by this subsection and the rules and regulations.
   The rules and regulations adopted and promulgated may also provide for issuance of a commercial permit after a finding by the department that the injection and restoration procedures authorized by the research and development permit have been successful in demonstrating the applicant's ability to inject and restore in a manner which meets the standards required by this subsection and the rules and regulations.
   (d) For the purpose of this subsection, unless the context otherwise requires, restoration shall mean the employment, during and after an activity, of procedures reasonably designed to control, minimize, and eliminate hazards to humans, animals, and the environment, to protect the public health and welfare and air, land, water, and subsurface resources, and to return each resource to a quality of use consistent with the uses for which the resource was suitable prior to the activity.
   (10) In adopting livestock waste control regulations, the council shall consider the discharge of livestock wastes into the waters of the state or onto land not owned by the livestock operator, conditions under which permits for such operations may be issued, including design, location, and proper management of such facilities, protection of ground water from such operations, and revocation, modification, or suspension of such permits for cause and all requirements of the Livestock Waste Management Act.
   (11) In adopting regulations for the issuance of permits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System created by the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., the council shall consider when such permits shall be required and exemptions, application and filing requirements, terms and conditions affecting such permits, notice and public participation, duration and review of such permits, the evaluation provided for under section 81-1517, and monitoring, recording, and reporting under the system.
   (12) The council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations for air pollution control which shall include:
   (a) A construction permit program which requires the owner or operator of an air contaminant source to obtain a permit prior to construction. Application fees shall be according to section 81-1505.06;
   (b) An operating permit program consistent with requirements of the Clean Air Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq., and an operating permit program for minor sources of air pollution, which programs shall require permits for both new and existing sources;
   (c) Provisions for operating permits to be issued after public notice, to be terminated, modified, or revoked for cause, and to be modified to incorporate new requirements;
   (d) Provisions for applications to be on forms provided by the department and to contain information necessary to make a determination on the appropriateness of issuance or denial. The department shall make a completeness determination in a timely fashion and after such determination shall act on the application within time limits set by the council. Applications for operating permits shall include provisions for certification of compliance by the applicant;
   (e) Requirements for operating permits which may include such conditions as necessary to protect public health and welfare, including, but not limited to (i) monitoring and reporting requirements on all sources subject to the permit, (ii) payment of annual fees sufficient to pay the reasonable direct and indirect costs of developing and administering the air quality permit program, (iii) retention of records, (iv) compliance with all air quality standards, (v) a permit term of no more than five years from date of issuance, (vi) any applicable schedule of compliance leading to compliance with air quality regulations, (vii) site access to the department for inspection of the facility and records, (viii) emission limits or control technology requirements, (ix) periodic compliance certification, and (x) other conditions necessary to carry out the purposes of the Environmental Protection Act. For purposes of this subsection, control technology shall mean a design, equipment, a work practice, an operational standard which may include a requirement for operator training or certification, or any combination thereof;
   (f) Classification of air quality control regions;
   (g) Standards for air quality that may be established based upon protection of public health and welfare, emission limitations established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and maximum achievable control technology standards for sources of toxic air pollutants. For purposes of this subdivision, maximum achievable control technology standards shall mean an emission limit or control technology standard which requires the maximum degree of emission reduction that the council, taking into consideration the cost of achieving such emission reduction, any health and environmental impacts not related to air quality, and energy requirements, determines is achievable for new or existing sources in the category or subcategory to which the standard applies through application of measures, processes, methods, systems, or techniques, including, but not limited to, measures which accomplish one or a combination of the following:
   (i) Reduce the volume of or eliminate emissions of the pollutants through process changes, substitution of materials, or other modifications;
   (ii) Enclose systems or processes to eliminate emissions; or
   (iii) Collect, capture, or treat the pollutants when released from a process, stack, storage, or fugitive emission point;
   (h) Restrictions on open burning and fugitive emissions;
   (i) Provisions for issuance of general operating permits, after public notice, for sources with similar operating conditions and for revoking such general authority to specific permittees;
   (j) Provisions for implementation of any emissions trading programs as defined by the department. Such programs shall be consistent with the Clean Air Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq., and administered through the operating permit program;
   (k) A provision that operating permits will not be issued if the Environmental Protection Agency objects in a timely manner;
   (l) Provisions for periodic reporting of emissions;
   (m) Limitations on emissions from process operations, fuel-burning equipment, and incinerator emissions and such other restrictions on emissions as are necessary to protect the public health and welfare;
   (n) Time schedules for compliance;
   (o) Requirements for owner or operator testing and monitoring of emissions;
   (p) Control technology requirements when it is not feasible to prescribe or enforce an emission standard; and
   (q) Procedures and definitions necessary to carry out payment of the annual emission fee set in section 81-1505.04.
   (13)(a) In adopting regulations for hazardous waste management, the council shall give consideration to generation of hazardous wastes, labeling practices, containers used, treatment, storage, collection, transportation including a manifest system, processing, resource recovery, and disposal of hazardous wastes. It shall consider the permitting, licensing, design and construction, and development and operational plans for hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities, and conditions for licensing or permitting of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal areas. It shall consider modification, suspension, or revocation of such licenses and permits, including requirements for waste analysis, site improvements, fire prevention, safety, security, restricted access, and covering and handling of hazardous liquids and materials. Licenses and permits for hazardous waste, treatment, storage, and disposal facilities shall not be issued until certification by the State Fire Marshal as to fire prevention and fire safety has been received by the department. The council shall further consider the need at treatment, storage, or disposal facilities for required equipment, communications and alarms, personnel training, and contingency plans for any emergencies that might arise and for a coordinator during such emergencies.
   In addition the council shall give consideration to (i) ground water monitoring, (ii) use and management of containers and tanks, (iii) surface impoundments, (iv) waste piles, (v) land treatment, (vi) incinerators, (vii) chemical or biological treatment, (viii) landfills including the surveying thereof, and (ix) special requirements for ignitable, reactive, or incompatible wastes.
   In considering closure and postclosure of hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facilities, the council shall consider regulations that would result in the owner or operator closing his or her facility so as to minimize the need for future maintenance, and to control, minimize, or eliminate, to the extent necessary to protect humans, animals, and the environment, postclosure escape of hazardous waste, hazardous waste constituents, and leachate to the ground water or surface waters, and to control, minimize, or eliminate, to the extent necessary to protect humans, animals, and the environment, waste decomposition to the atmosphere. In considering corrective action for hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facilities, the council shall consider regulations that would require the owner or operator, or any previous owner or operator with actual knowledge of the presence of hazardous waste at the facility, to undertake corrective action or such other response measures necessary to protect human health or the environment for all releases of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents from any treatment, storage, or disposal facility or any solid waste management unit at such facility regardless of the time at which waste was placed in such unit.
   Such regulations adopted pursuant to this subsection shall in all respects comply with the Environmental Protection Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.
   (b) In adopting regulations for hazardous waste management, the council shall consider, in addition to criteria in subdivision (a) of this subsection, establishing criteria for (i) identifying hazardous waste including extraction procedures, toxicity, persistence, and degradability in nature, potential for accumulation in tissue, flammability or ignitability, corrosiveness, reactivity, and generation of pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means, and other hazardous characteristics, (ii) listing all materials it deems hazardous and which should be subject to regulation, and (iii) locating treatment, storage, or disposal facilities for such wastes. In adopting criteria for flammability and ignitability of wastes pursuant to subdivision (b)(i) of this subsection, no regulation shall be adopted without the approval of the State Fire Marshal.
   (c) In adopting regulations for hazardous waste management, the council shall establish a schedule of fees to be paid to the director by licensees or permittees operating hazardous waste processing facilities or disposal areas on the basis of a monetary value per cubic foot or per pound of the hazardous wastes, sufficient but not exceeding the amount necessary to reimburse the department for the costs of monitoring such facilities or areas during and after operation of such facilities or areas. The licensees may assess a cost against persons using the facilities or areas. The director shall remit any money collected from fees paid to him or her to the State Treasurer who shall credit the entire amount thereof to the General Fund.
   (d) In adopting regulations for solid waste disposal, the council shall consider storage, collection, transportation, processing, resource recovery, and disposal of solid waste, developmental and operational plans for solid waste disposal areas, conditions for permitting of solid waste disposal areas, modification, suspension, or revocation of such permits, regulations of operations of disposal areas, including site improvements, fire prevention, ground water protection, safety and restricted access, handling of liquid and hazardous materials, insect and rodent control, salvage operations, and the methods of disposing of accumulations of junk outside of solid waste disposal areas. Such regulations shall in all respects comply with the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.
   (14) In adopting regulations governing discharges or emissions of oil and other hazardous materials into the waters, in the air, or upon the land of the state, the council shall consider the requirements of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, methods for prevention of such discharges or emissions, and the responsibility of the discharger or emitter for cleanup, toxicity, degradability, and dispersal characteristics of the substance.
   (15) In adopting regulations governing composting and composting sites, the council shall give consideration to:
   (a) Approval of a proposed site by the local governing body, including the zoning authority, if any, prior to issuance of a permit by the department;
   (b) Issuance of permits by the department for such composting operations, with conditions if necessary;
   (c) Submission of construction and operational plans by the applicant for a permit to the department, with approval of such plans before issuance of such permit;
   (d) A term of up to ten years for such permits;
   (e) Renewal of permits if the operation has been in substantial compliance with composting regulations adopted pursuant to this subsection, permit conditions, and operational plans;
   (f) Review by the department of materials to be composted, including chemical analysis when found by the department to be necessary;
   (g) Inspections of such compost sites by the department. Operations out of compliance with composting regulations, permit conditions, or operational plans shall be given a reasonable time for voluntary compliance, and failure to do so within the specified time shall result in a hearing after notice is given, at which time the owner or operator shall appear and show cause why his or her permit should not be revoked;
   (h) Special permits of the department for demonstration projects not to exceed six months;
   (i) Exemptions from permits of the department; and
   (j) The Integrated Solid Waste Management Act.
   (16) Any person operating or responsible for the operation of air, water, or land contaminant sources of any class for which the rules and regulations of the council require reporting shall make reports containing information as may be required by the department concerning quality and quantity of discharges and emissions, location, size, and height of contaminant outlets, processes employed, fuels used, and the nature and time periods or duration of discharges and emissions, and such other information as is relevant to air, water, or land pollution and is available.
   (17) Prior to adopting, amending, or repealing standards and classifications of air, water, and land quality and rules and regulations under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act or the Livestock Waste Management Act, the council shall, after due notice, conduct public hearings thereon. Notice of public hearings shall specify the waters or the area of the state for which standards of air, water, or land are sought to be adopted, amended, or repealed and the time, date, and place of such hearing. Such hearing shall be held in the general area to be affected by such standards. Such notice shall be given in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.
   (18) Standards of quality of the air, water, or land of the state and rules and regulations adopted under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act or the Livestock Waste Management Act or any amendment or repeal of such standards or rules and regulations shall become effective upon adoption by the council and filing in the office of the Secretary of State. In adopting standards of air, water, and land quality or making any amendment thereof, the council shall specify a reasonable time for persons discharging wastes into the air, water, or land of the state to comply with such standards and upon the expiration of any such period of time may revoke or modify any permit previously issued which authorizes the discharge of wastes into the air, water, or land of this state which results in reducing the quality of such air, water, or land below the standards established therefor by the council.
   (19) All standards of quality of air, water, or land and all rules and regulations adopted pursuant to law by the council prior to May 29, 1981, and applicable to specified air, water, or land are hereby approved and adopted as standards of quality of and rules and regulations for such air, water, or land.
   (20) In addition to such standards as are heretofore authorized, the council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations to set standards of performance, effluent standards, pretreatment standards, treatment standards, toxic pollutant standards and limitations, effluent limitations, effluent prohibitions, and quantitative limitations or concentrations which shall in all respects conform with and meet the requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System in the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
   (21)(a) The council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations requiring all new or renewal permit or license applicants regulated under the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act to establish proof of financial responsibility by providing funds in the event of abandonment, default, or other inability of the permittee or licensee to meet the requirements of its permit or license or other conditions imposed by the department pursuant to the acts. The council may exempt classes of permittees or licensees from the requirements of this subdivision when a finding is made that such exemption will not result in a significant risk to the public health and welfare.
   (b) Proof of financial responsibility shall include any of the following made payable to or held in trust for the benefit of the state and approved by the department:
   (i) A surety bond executed by the applicant and a corporate surety licensed to do business in this state;
   (ii) A deposit of cash, negotiable bonds of the United States or the state, negotiable certificates of deposit, or an irrevocable letter of credit of any bank or other savings institution organized or transacting business in the United States in an amount or which has a market value equal to or greater than the amount of the bonds required for the bonded area under the same terms and conditions upon which surety bonds are deposited;
   (iii) An established escrow account; or
   (iv) A bond of the applicant without separate surety upon a satisfactory demonstration to the director that such applicant has the financial means sufficient to self-bond pursuant to bonding requirements adopted by the council consistent with the purposes of this subdivision.
   (c) The director shall determine the amount of the bond, deposit, or escrow account which shall be reasonable and sufficient so the department may, if the permittee or licensee is unable or unwilling to do so and in the event of forfeiture of the bond or other financial responsibility methods, arrange to rectify any improper management technique committed during the term of the permit or license and assure the performance of duties and responsibilities required by the permit or license pursuant to law, rules, and regulations.
   (d) In determining the amount of the bond or other method of financial responsibility, the director shall consider the requirements of the permit or license or any conditions specified by the department, the probable difficulty of completing the requirements of such permit, license, or conditions due to such factors as topography, geology of the site, and hydrology, and the prior history of environmental activities of the applicant.
   This subsection shall apply to hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facilities which have received interim status.
   (22) The council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations no more stringent than the provisions of section 1453 et seq. of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 300j-13 et seq., for public water system source water assessment programs.
   The council may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations to implement a source water petition program no more stringent than section 1454 et seq. of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 300j-14 et seq.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 5; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 4; Laws 1973, LB 538, § 2; Laws 1974, LB 1029, § 3; Laws 1979, LB 342, § 2; Laws 1980, LB 853, § 3; Laws 1981, LB 216, § 3; Laws 1983, LB 356, § 5; Laws 1984, LB 1078, § 3; Laws 1986, LB 1008, § 2; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 79; Laws 1993, LB 623, § 3; Laws 1994, LB 570, § 7; Laws 1994, LB 1031, § 1; Laws 1997, LB 517, § 25; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 21; Laws 1999, LB 784, § 1; Laws 2001, LB 126, § 1; Laws 2001, LB 667, § 49; Laws 2004, LB 449, § 1; Laws 2006, LB 872, § 3; Laws 2011, LB30, § 1; Laws 2015, LB413, § 2.

Cross References
      Administrative Procedure Act, see section 84-920.
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.

Annotations
      A city ordinance with a mandatory bond requirement conflicts with subsection (21) of this section, which provides for certain exemptions from the requirement of showing financial responsibility, and is impermissible. State ex rel. Alma v. Furnas Cty. Farms, 266 Neb. 558, 667 N.W.2d 512 (2003).

81-1505.01. Department of Environmental Quality Cash Fund; created; use; investment.

There is hereby created the Department of Environmental Quality Cash Fund which shall be used to pay the expenses of the department. The department shall remit all fees collected pursuant to subsection (9) of section 81-1505 and section 81-1521.09 to the State Treasurer for credit to the fund. Any fee collected pursuant to section 81-1521.09 shall be used to pay the expenses related to the notice of intent for which the fee was paid. Any money in the fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

Source:Laws 1983, LB 356, § 8; Laws 1987, LB 114, § 1; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 80; Laws 1993, LB 3, § 48; Laws 1994, LB 1066, § 112; Laws 1995, LB 429, § 2.

Cross References Nebraska Capital Expansion Act, see section 72-1269.
Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, see section 72-1260.

81-1505.02. Mineral exploration holes; rules and regulations.

The council may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing mineral exploration holes prior to August 1, 1983, but such rules and regulations shall not be effective until such date.

The council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations authorized by the amendments made by Laws 1983, LB 356, to subsection (9) of section 81-1505 within one hundred twenty days of May 26, 1983. All requirements of the Environmental Protection Act shall apply to any permit application regardless of the date of submission, except that the department shall continue to diligently process any application submitted prior to May 26, 1983.

Source:Laws 1983, LB 356, § 9.

81-1505.03. Small Business Compliance Advisory Panel; created; members; duties; expenses.

   (1) There is hereby created the Small Business Compliance Advisory Panel. The panel shall consist of the following:

   (a) Two members who are not owners or representatives of owners of small business stationary sources of air emissions selected by the Governor to represent the general public;

   (b) Four members selected by the Legislature who are owners or who represent owners of small business stationary sources of air emissions; and

   (c) One member selected by the director.

   (2) The panel shall be responsible for all requirements of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq., as such act existed on January 1, 2004. Members shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses as provided in sections 81-1174 to 81-1177. The panel shall conduct its meetings in accordance with the Open Meetings Act and shall submit an annual report to the Governor no later than January 1 of each year. The panel shall receive necessary staff support from the department.

Source:Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 81; Laws 2004, LB 821, § 31.

Cross References Open Meetings Act, see section 84-1407.

81-1505.04. Annual emission fee; payment; amount; adjustment; allocation of costs; department; duties; report.

   (1)(a) The department shall collect an annual emission fee from major sources of air pollution. Each major source shall pay the emission fee for regulated pollutants in the amount of twenty-five dollars per ton per pollutant or as adjusted pursuant to this section. The fee shall be based upon the amount of emissions of each regulated pollutant as reported or estimated by the source in the previous calendar year, but fees shall not be paid on amounts in excess of four thousand tons per year for any regulated pollutant.

   (b) Beginning with calendar year 2001 emissions, fees shall not be paid for a mid-sized electric generation facility on amounts in excess of four hundred tons per year for any regulated pollutant.

   (c) A mid-sized electric generation facility owned by a municipality shall continue to be considered a separate mid-sized electric generation facility for purposes of this section even if the facility is subsequently permitted with another general unit larger than one hundred fifteen megawatts under separate ownership. Each facility under separate ownership shall be considered a separate major source for purposes of this section.

   (d) For purposes of this section, mid-sized electric generation facility means a facility that:

   (i) Uses coal as the primary source of fuel in the facility's largest generation unit;

   (ii) Has a name plate generating capacity of between seventy and one hundred fifteen megawatts in the facility's largest generation unit; and

   (iii) Is not operating in a political subdivision which has been delegated the authority to enforce the air quality permit program within its jurisdiction.

   (2)(a) The emission fee may be increased or decreased annually by the department by the percentage difference between the Consumer Price Index for the most recent year ending before the beginning of such year and the Consumer Price Index for the year 1989 or as required to pay all reasonable direct and indirect costs of developing and administering the air quality permit program. For purposes of this section, Consumer Price Index means the change in the price of goods and services for all urban consumers published by the United States Department of Labor at the close of the twelve-month period ending on August 31 of each year.

   (b) For purposes of this section, reasonable direct and indirect costs of developing and administering the air quality permit program, as required under the federal Clean Air Act, as the act existed on May 31, 2001, 42 U.S.C. 7661a through f, include:

   (i) Consideration of any associated overhead charges for personnel, equipment, buildings, and vehicles;

   (ii) Reviewing and acting on any application for a permit or permit revision;

   (iii) Implementing and enforcing the terms of any permit, not including any court costs or other costs associated with any formal enforcement action;

   (iv) Emissions and ambient monitoring, including adequate resources to audit and inspect source-operated monitoring programs;

   (v) Preparing generally applicable regulations or guidance;

   (vi) Modeling, analyses, or demonstrations;

   (vii) Preparing inventories and tracking emissions;

   (viii) Developing and implementing any emissions trading programs as defined by the department; and

   (ix) Providing support to sources under the Small Business Compliance Advisory Panel.

   (c) The council shall establish procedures for the method of calculation and payment of the emission fee in a manner consistent with this section and shall establish the definition of or a table listing the pollutants which are regulated pollutants and a definition of major source. Such definitions or listing shall comply with and not be more stringent than the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act, as the act existed on May 31, 2001, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

   (3) On or before January 1 of each year, the department shall submit electronically a report to the Legislature in sufficient detail to document all direct and indirect program costs incurred in the previous fiscal year in carrying out the air quality permit program. The Appropriations Committee of the Legislature shall review such report in its analysis of executive programs in order to verify that revenue generated from emission fees was used solely to offset appropriate and reasonable costs associated with the air quality permit program. The report shall identify costs incurred by the department to administer the permit program for each major source. In addition, the department shall identify costs incurred by primary activity not specific to a major source.

   (4) The department shall administer a cost tracking system which shall show costs for each major source and costs for each primary activity that is not specific to a major source. The department shall consult with interested parties regarding identification of primary activities to be tracked by the cost tracking system.

Source:Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 82; Laws 1996, LB 634, § 1; Laws 2001, LB 461, § 7; Laws 2005, LB 94, § 1; Laws 2006, LB 872, § 4; Laws 2011, LB156, § 1; Laws 2012, LB782, § 202.

81-1505.05. Clean Air Title V Cash Fund; created; use; investment.
The Clean Air Title V Cash Fund is created. The department shall remit all fees collected pursuant to section 81-1505.04 to the State Treasurer for credit to the fund. Any fee collected pursuant to section 81-1505.04 shall be used solely to pay the reasonable direct and indirect costs required to develop and administer the air quality permit program, including expenses of the Small Business Compliance Advisory Panel. Any money in the fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

Source:Laws 1995, LB 429, § 1.

Cross References
Nebraska Capital Expansion Act, see section 72-1269.
Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, see section 72-1260.

81-1505.06. Air quality construction permit; fees; Air Quality Permit Cash Fund; created; use; investment.

   (1) Beginning January 1, 2005, each application for an air quality construction permit required by rules and regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (12) of section 81-1505 shall be accompanied by an application fee. If fees are required under more than one subdivision of this subsection, the application shall be accompanied by the one fee which is the highest of the applicable fees. The application fee shall be based on potential to emit, as defined in such rules and regulations, in accordance with the following schedule:

   (a) Three thousand dollars for facilities that directly emit or have the potential to emit one hundred tons per year or more of any air pollutant, except hazardous air pollutants;

   (b) Three thousand dollars for facilities that directly emit or have the potential to emit ten tons per year or more of any single hazardous air pollutant or twenty-five tons per year or more of any combination of hazardous air pollutants;

   (c) One thousand five hundred dollars for facilities that directly emit or have the potential to emit fifty tons per year or more but less than one hundred tons per year of any air pollutant, except hazardous air pollutants;

   (d) One thousand five hundred dollars for facilities that directly emit or have the potential to emit (i) two and one-half tons per year or more but less than ten tons per year of any single hazardous air pollutant or (ii) ten tons per year or more but less than twenty-five tons per year of any combination of hazardous air pollutants;

   (e) Two hundred fifty dollars for facilities that directly emit or have the potential to emit less than fifty tons per year of any air pollutant, except hazardous air pollutants; and

   (f) Two hundred fifty dollars for facilities that directly emit or have the potential to emit (i) less than two and one-half tons per year of any single hazardous air pollutant and (ii) less than ten tons per year of any combination of hazardous air pollutants.

   (2) All application fees collected under this section shall be remitted to the State Treasurer for credit to the Air Quality Permit Cash Fund, which fund is hereby created. The Air Quality Permit Cash Fund shall be used for purposes identified in subsection (12) of section 81-1505. Any money in the fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

   (3) For purposes of this section, (a) air pollutant means particulate matter with a diameter of ten microns or less, sulfur dioxide or sulfur trioxide or any combination of the two, oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide and (b) hazardous air pollutant means any pollutant defined as such in rules and regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (12) of section 81-1505.

Source:Laws 2004, LB 449, § 2.

Cross References Nebraska Capital Expansion Act, see section 72-1269.
Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, see section 72-1260.

81-1506. Unlawful acts.

   (1) It shall be unlawful for any person:

   (a) To cause pollution of any air, waters, or land of the state or to place or cause to be placed any wastes in a location where they are likely to cause pollution of any air, waters, or land of the state; or

   (b) To discharge or emit any wastes into any air, waters, or land of the state which reduce the quality of such air, waters, or land below the air, water, or land quality standards established therefor by the council. Any such action is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. An animal feeding operation is not a nuisance if:

   (i) Reasonable techniques are employed to keep dust, noise, insects, and odor at a minimum;

   (ii) It is in compliance with applicable regulations adopted by the council and zoning regulations of the local governing body having jurisdiction; and

   (iii) The action is brought by or on behalf of a person whose date of lawful possession of the land claimed to be affected by an animal feeding operation is subsequent to the issuance of an appropriate permit by the department for such operation or is subsequent to the operation of the feedlot and an onsite inspection by the department is made, before or after filing of the suit, and the inspection reveals that no permit is required for such operation.

   (2) It shall be unlawful for any person to:

   (a) Discharge any pollutant into waters of the state without obtaining a permit as required by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System created by the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., and by rules and regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to section 81-1505;

   (b) Construct, install, modify, or operate any disposal system or part thereof or any extension or addition thereto without obtaining necessary permits from the department;

   (c) Increase in volume or strength any waste in excess of permitted discharges specified under any existing permit;

   (d) Construct, install, or operate any industrial, commercial, or other facility or extend, modify, or add to any such facility if the operation would cause an increase in the discharge or emission of wastes into the air, waters, or land of the state or would otherwise cause an alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any air, waters, or land of the state in a manner that is not lawfully authorized; or

   (e) Construct or use any new outlet for the discharge or emission of any wastes into the air, waters, or land of the state without the necessary permit.

   (3) It shall be unlawful for any person to:

   (a) Construct or operate a solid waste management facility without first obtaining a permit required under the Environmental Protection Act or under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act and the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the council pursuant to the acts;

   (b) Violate any term or condition of a solid waste management facility permit;

   (c) Violate any rule or regulation adopted and promulgated by the council pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act or the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act; or

   (d) After October 1, 1993, dispose of any solid waste at any location other than a solid waste management facility holding a current permit issued by the department pursuant to the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act.

   (4) It shall be unlawful to:

   (a) Construct or operate an air pollution source without first obtaining a permit required under the Environmental Protection Act and the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the council pursuant to subsection (12) of section 81-1505;

   (b) Violate any term or condition of an air pollution permit or any emission limit set in the permit; or

   (c) Violate any emission limit or air quality standard established by the council.

   (5) It shall be unlawful for any person to:

   (a) Construct or operate an animal feeding operation without first obtaining a permit if required under the Livestock Waste Management Act or under the Environmental Protection Act and the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the council pursuant to such acts;

   (b) Violate any provision of the Livestock Waste Management Act;

   (c) Violate any term or condition of an animal feeding operation permit; or

   (d) Violate any rule or regulation adopted and promulgated by the council pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act or the Livestock Waste Management Act.

   (6) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the department to specify the type, design, method of installation, or type of construction of any equipment of manufacturing processes.

Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 6; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 5; Laws 1974, LB 1029, § 4; Laws 1977, LB 132, § 1; Laws 1980, LB 915, § 1; Laws 1983, LB 356, § 6; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 83; Laws 1993, LB 623, § 4; Laws 1994, LB 570, § 8; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 22; Laws 2004, LB 916, § 26.

Cross References Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.

Annotations
Even in an industrial or rural area, one cannot conduct a business in such a manner as to materially prejudice a neighbor, but before enjoining it perpetually, a court of equity will usually allow the owner to correct or eliminate the cause of the grievance. Botsch v. Leigh Land Co., 195 Neb. 509, 239 N.W.2d 481 (1976).

81-1507. Director; violations; hearings; orders.

   (1) Whenever the director has reason to believe that a violation of any provision of the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, the Livestock Waste Management Act, a rule or regulation pursuant to such acts, or any order of the department has occurred, he or she may cause a written complaint to be served upon the alleged violator or violators or he or she may bring a criminal or civil action under section 81-1508.01 or 81-1508.02. The complaint shall specify the provision of the act, rule or regulation, or order alleged to be violated and the facts alleged to constitute a violation thereof and shall order that necessary corrective action be taken within a reasonable time to be prescribed in such order. Any such order shall become final unless each person named therein requests in writing a hearing before the director no later than thirty days after the date such order is served. In lieu of such order, the director may require that the alleged violator appear before the director at a time and place specified in the notice and answer the charges complained of. The notice shall be delivered to the alleged violator or violators in accordance with the provisions of subsection (5) of this section not less than thirty days before the time set for the hearing.

   Whenever, on the basis of any information, the director determines that there is or has been a release of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents into the environment from a facility authorized to operate under the Environmental Protection Act or from a facility subject to hazardous waste management regulations adopted and promulgated under the act, the director may issue an order requiring the owner or operator to monitor, investigate, and undertake corrective action or such other response at the facility or beyond the facility boundary where necessary to protect human health and the environment. In the case of any facility or site not in operation at the time a determination is made to require corrective action, if the director finds that the owner could not reasonably be expected to have actual knowledge of the presence of hazardous waste at the site, the director may issue an order requiring any previous owner or operator who could reasonably be expected to have actual knowledge to carry out the necessary monitoring, investigation, and corrective action.

   (2) The director shall afford an opportunity for a fair hearing, in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act, to the alleged violator or violators at the time and place specified in the notice or any modification thereof. On the basis of the evidence produced at the hearing, the director or hearing officer shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law and enter such order as in his or her opinion will best further the purposes of the acts and shall give written notice of such order to the alleged violator and to such other persons who appear at the hearing and make written request for notice of the order. If the hearing is held before any person other than the director, such person shall transmit a record of the hearing together with findings of fact and conclusions of law to the director. The director, prior to entering his or her order on the basis of such record, shall provide opportunity to the parties to submit for his or her consideration exceptions to the findings or conclusions and supporting reasons for such exceptions. The order of the director shall become final and binding on all parties unless appealed to the courts as provided in section 81-1509 within thirty days after notice has been sent to the parties.

   (3) Any person who is denied a permit by the director or who has such permit revoked or modified shall be afforded an opportunity for a fair hearing as provided in subsection (2) of this section in connection therewith upon written application to the director within thirty days after receipt of notice from the director of such denial, revocation, or modification. On the basis of such hearing the director shall affirm, modify, or revoke his or her previous determination.

   (4) Whenever the director finds that an emergency exists requiring immediate action to protect the public health and welfare, the director may, without notice or hearing, issue an order reciting the existence of such an emergency and requiring that such action be taken as the director deems necessary to meet the emergency. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, such order shall be effective immediately. Any person to whom such order is directed shall comply therewith immediately but on application to the director shall be afforded a hearing as soon as possible and not later than ten days after such application by such affected person. On the basis of such hearing, the director shall continue such order in effect, revoke it, or modify it.

   (5) Except as otherwise expressly provided, any notice, order, or other instrument issued by or under authority of the director shall be served on any person affected thereby in a manner provided for service of a summons in a civil action. Proof of service shall be filed in the office of the department.

   Every certificate or affidavit of service made and filed as provided in this section shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated, and a certified copy thereof shall have like force and effect.

   (6) The hearings provided for in this section may be conducted by the director or by any member of the department acting in his or her behalf, or the director may designate hearing officers who shall have the power and authority to conduct such hearings in the name of the director at any time and place. A verbatim record of the proceedings of such hearings shall be taken and filed with the director, together with findings of fact and conclusions of law made by the director or hearing officer. Witnesses who are subpoenaed shall receive the same fees as in civil actions in the district court and mileage as provided in section 81-1176. In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a notice of hearing or subpoena issued under the provisions of this section, the district court shall have jurisdiction, upon application of the director, to issue an order requiring such person to appear and testify or produce evidence as the case may require and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as contempt thereof.

   If requested to do so by any party concerned with such hearing, the full stenographic notes, or tapes of an electronic transcribing device, of the testimony presented at such hearing shall be taken and filed. The stenographer shall, upon the payment of the stenographer's fee allowed by the court therefor, furnish a certified transcript of the whole or any part of the stenographer's notes to any party to the action requiring and requesting the same.

Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 7; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 6; Laws 1974, LB 1029, § 5; Laws 1981, LB 204, § 197; Laws 1983, LB 447, § 99; Laws 1987, LB 152, § 2; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 84; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 23; Laws 1999, LB 784, § 2; Laws 1999, LB 789, § 1.

Cross References Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2401.

Annotations
The Director of Environmental Quality is not required to issue a complaint under this section for each and every possible violation of the Environmental Protection Act, but if the director decides to pursue enforcement of a violation, then the director is required to issue a complaint meeting the requirements of this section. State ex rel. Wood v. Fisher Foods, Ltd., 254 Neb. 982, 581 N.W.2d 409 (1998).

81-1508. Violations of Environmental Protection Act, Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or Livestock Waste Management Act; civil penalties; injunctions.

(1) Any person who violates any of the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act, fails to perform any duty imposed by either act or any rule or regulation issued thereunder, or violates any order or determination of the director promulgated pursuant to either act and causes the death of fish or other wildlife shall, in addition to the penalties provided in sections 81-1508.01 and 81-1508.02, be liable to pay to the state an additional amount equal to the sum of money reasonably necessary to restock waters with fish or replenish such wildlife as determined by the director after consultation with the Game and Parks Commission. Such amount may be recovered by the director on behalf of the state in a civil action brought in the district court of the county in which such violation or failure to perform the duty imposed occurred.

(2) Except as provided for in subsection (3) of this section for the handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of solid or hazardous waste, in addition to the penalties provided by this section and sections 81-1508.01 and 81-1508.02, the director, whenever he or she has reason to believe that any person, firm, or corporation is violating or threatening to violate any provision of the acts, any rule or regulation adopted and promulgated thereunder, or any order of the director, may petition the district court for an injunction. It shall be the duty of each county attorney or the Attorney General to whom the director reports a violation to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted without delay to assure compliance with the acts.

(3) Upon receipt of evidence that the handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of any solid waste or hazardous waste is presenting an imminent and substantial endangerment to the health of humans or animals or to the environment, the director may petition the district court for an injunction to immediately restrain any person from contributing to the alleged acts, to stop such handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal, and to take such other action as may be necessary. It shall be the duty of each county attorney or the Attorney General to whom the director reports a violation to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted without delay to assure compliance with the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act.

Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 8; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 7; Laws 1973, LB 538, § 3; Laws 1979, LB 342, § 3; Laws 1981, LB 216, § 4; Laws 1983, LB 356, § 7; Laws 1984, LB 1078, § 4; Laws 1987, LB 565, § 1; Laws 1991, LB 413, § 1; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 85; Laws 1994, LB 570, § 9; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 24.

Cross References Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.

Annotations
A showing of pollution is not a requisite to recovery of a civil penalty under subsection (1)(c) of this section. In an action for civil penalties under subsection (1)(c) of this section, the size of the operation must be considered in determining the amount, if any, of a penalty. State ex rel. Grams v. Beach, 243 Neb. 126, 498 N.W.2d 83 (1993).

81-1508.01. Violations of Environmental Protection Act, Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or Livestock Waste Management Act; criminal penalties.
   (1) Any person who violates the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act by knowingly and willfully committing any of the following offenses shall be guilty of a Class IV felony:
   (a) Violating any water pollution control law, rule, or regulation adopted pursuant to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System created by the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., or any permit or permit condition or limitation or failing to obtain a permit as required by the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act;
   (b) Violating any air pollution control law, rule, regulation, permit, license, or permit or license condition or limitation;
   (c) Violating any hazardous waste control law, rule, regulation, permit, license, or permit or license condition or limitation;
   (d) Violating any mineral production, mineral exploration, or injection control law, rule, regulation, permit, license, or permit or license condition or limitation;
   (e) Making any false statement, representation, or certification in any application, label, manifest, record, report, plan, or other document required to be filed or maintained by the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act or the rules or regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to such acts;
   (f) Falsifying, tampering with, or rendering inaccurate any monitoring device or method used or required for compliance with any permit or license or the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act or the rules or regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to such acts; or
   (g) Transporting hazardous waste to an unpermitted facility.
   (2) Any person who violates the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act by knowingly and willfully committing any of the following offenses shall be guilty of a Class I misdemeanor:
   (a) Violating any solid waste control law, rule, regulation, permit, license, or permit or license condition or limitation; or
   (b) Violating any livestock waste control law, rule, regulation, permit, license, or permit or license condition or limitation.
   (3) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any other provision of the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act or any rule or regulation adopted and promulgated pursuant to such acts shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor.
   (4) Each violation under this section shall be actionable. In case of a continuing violation, each day shall constitute a separate offense. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates this section shall be subject to personal liability under this section. In assessing the amount of any fine, the court shall consider the degree and extent of the violation, the size of the operation, and any economic benefit derived from noncompliance.
Source:Laws 1994, LB 570, § 10; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 25.

Cross References
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.

81-1508.02. Unlawful acts; civil penalty.
   (1) It shall be unlawful for any person:
   (a) To refuse the right of entry and inspection to any authorized representative of the department when the representative is acting under the provisions of a permit issued by the department;
   (b) To violate any air, water, or land quality standards, any emission or effluent standards or limitations, any permit or license condition or limitation, any order of the director, or any monitoring, reporting, or record-keeping requirements contained in or issued or entered into pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act or the rules or regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to such acts;
   (c) To make any false statement, representation, or certification in any application, label, record, report, plan, or other document required to be filed or maintained by such acts, rules, or regulations;
   (d) To falsify, tamper with, or render inaccurate any monitoring device or method used or required for compliance with a permit or license or such acts, rules, or regulations; or
   (e) To violate any other provision of or fail to perform any other duty imposed by such acts, rules, or regulations.
   (2) Each violation of this section or of section 81-1506 shall subject a person to a civil penalty of no more than ten thousand dollars per day. In case of a continuing violation, each day shall constitute a separate offense. In assessing the amount of the fine, the court shall consider the degree and extent of the violation, the size of the operation, and any economic benefit derived from noncompliance.
Source:Laws 1994, LB 570, § 11; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 26; Laws 1999, LB 789, § 2.

Cross References
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2401.

Annotations
      Before seeking the imposition of a civil penalty under this section, the Director of Environmental Quality must first issue a complaint satisfying the requirements of section 81-1507. State ex rel. Wood v. Fisher Foods, Ltd., 254 Neb. 982, 581 N.W.2d 409 (1998).

81-1509. Appeal; procedure.
   An appeal may be taken from any final decision of the director, and the appeal shall be in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 9; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 8; Laws 1974, LB 1029, § 6; Laws 1979, LB 321, § 3; Laws 1988, LB 352, § 174.

Cross References
      Administrative Procedure Act, see section 84-920.

Annotations
      For the purposes of this section, no final decision has been rendered unless a complaint has first been issued by the Director of Environmental Quality. State ex rel. Wood v. Fisher Foods, Ltd., 254 Neb. 982, 581 N.W.2d 409 (1998).

81-1510. Director; voluntary compliance; records.
   (1) The director shall make every effort to obtain voluntary compliance through warning, conference, or any other appropriate means prior to initiating enforcement proceedings, except that such requirement shall not be construed to alter enforcement duties or requirements of the director and the department.
   (2) The director may require the maintenance of records relating to the operation of disposal systems, and any authorized representative of the director may examine and copy any such records or memoranda pertaining to the operation of disposal systems. Copies of such records shall be submitted to the director upon request.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 10; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 9; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 86.

81-1511. Department; inspections; search warrants.
   Any duly authorized officer, employee, or representative of the director may at any reasonable time, with the consent of the person or persons in control of an air, land, or water contaminant source, enter and inspect any property, premise, or place on or at which such a contaminant source is located or being constructed, installed, or established for the purpose of ascertaining the state of compliance with the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, and the Livestock Waste Management Act and rules and regulations in force pursuant to the acts. A suitably restricted search warrant, upon a showing of probable cause in writing and upon oath or affirmation, may be issued by the district court as provided by law to such officer, employee, or representative of the department for the purpose of enabling him or her to make such inspection. No person shall refuse entry or access to any authorized representative of the department who requests entry for purposes of inspection and who presents appropriate credentials and warrants. No person shall obstruct, hamper, or interfere with any such inspection. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent prompt inspection without consent or appropriate warrant in acute and compelling emergency situations when there is neither sufficient time nor opportunity to obtain a search warrant. If requested, the owner or operator of the premises shall receive a report setting forth all facts found which relate to compliance status.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 11; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 10; Laws 1987, LB 152, § 3; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 87; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 27.

Cross References
      Inspection of grain warehouses, department, duties, see section 88-550.
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.

81-1512. Department; emergency powers.
   Nothing in the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, or the Livestock Waste Management Act shall be construed to limit any power which the Governor or any other officer may have to declare an emergency and act on the basis of such declaration if such power is conferred by statute or constitutional provision or inheres in the office.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 12; Laws 1987, LB 152, § 4; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 88; Laws 1998, LB 1209, § 28.

Cross References
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Livestock Waste Management Act, see section 54-2416.

81-1513. Variances from rules or regulations; notice; conditions for granting; appeal.
   (1) Any person who owns or is in control of any plant, building structure, process, or equipment may apply to the director for a variance from rules or regulations. The director may grant such variance if he or she finds that the emissions or discharges occurring or proposed to occur do not endanger or tend to endanger human health or safety or that compliance with the rules or regulations from which variance is sought would produce serious hardship without equal or greater benefits to the public. In making such findings the director shall give due consideration to all the facts and circumstances bearing upon the reasonableness of the emissions or discharges involved including, but not limited to:
   (a) The character and degree of injury to or interference with the health and physical property of the people;
   (b) The social and economic value of the source of the air, water, or land pollution;
   (c) The question of priority of location in the area involved; and
   (d) The technical practicability and economic reasonableness of reducing or eliminating the emissions or discharges resulting from such source.
   (2) No variance shall be granted until the director has considered the relative interests of the applicant, other owners of property likely to be affected by the discharges, and the general public. Before any variance is granted, the director shall give public notice of an application for such variance immediately upon receipt of such application and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the department. The notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the plant, building structure, process, or equipment on which the proposed variance is located.
   (3) Any variance or renewal thereof shall be granted within the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, for time periods and under conditions consistent with the reasons therefor, and within the following limitations:
   (a) If the variance is granted on the ground that there is no practicable means known or available for the adequate prevention, abatement, or control of the air, water, or land pollution involved, it shall be only until the necessary means for prevention, abatement, or control become known and available and subject to the taking of any substitute or alternate measures that the director may prescribe;
   (b) If the variance is granted on the ground that compliance with the particular requirement or requirements from which variance is sought will necessitate the taking of measures which, because of their extent or cost, must be spread over a considerable period of time, it shall be for a period not to exceed such reasonable time as, in the view of the director, is requisite for the taking of the necessary measures. A variance granted on the ground specified in this section shall contain a timetable for the taking of action in an expeditious manner and shall be conditioned on adherence to such timetable; and
   (c) If the variance is granted on the ground that it is justified to relieve or prevent hardship of a kind other than that provided for in subdivision (a) or (b) of this subsection, it shall be for not more than one year.
   (4) Any variance granted pursuant to this section may be renewed on terms and conditions and for periods which would be appropriate on initial granting of a variance. If complaint is made to the director on account of the variance, no renewal thereof shall be granted unless the director finds that renewal is justified. No renewal shall be granted except on application therefor. Any such application shall be made at least thirty days prior to the expiration of the variance. Immediately upon receipt of an application for renewal and before approving the renewal application, the director shall give public notice of such application in accordance with rules and regulations of the department. The public notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the plant, building structure, process, or equipment on which the variance is located.
   (5) A variance or renewal shall not be a right of the applicant or holder thereof but shall be in the discretion of the director. The granting or denial of a variance or a renewal shall be by final order of the director. Any person adversely affected by such an order may appeal the decision, and the appeal shall be in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.
   (6) Nothing in this section and no variance or renewal granted pursuant to this section shall be construed to prevent or limit the application of the emergency provisions and procedures of section 81-1507 to any person or his or her property.
   (7) No variance shall be granted which will sanction any violation of state or federal statutes or regulations.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 13; Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 11; Laws 1974, LB 1029, § 7; Laws 1988, LB 352, § 175; Laws 2006, LB 975, § 19.

Cross References
      Administrative Procedure Act, see section 84-920.

81-1514. Land resources; public policy.
   It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the State of Nebraska to achieve and maintain such a reasonable degree of purity of the land resources of the state as will protect human health and safety, and, to the greatest degree practicable, prevent injury to plant and animal life and property, foster the comfort and convenience of the people, promote the economic and social development of the state, protect the scenic beauty of the state, facilitate the enjoyment of the natural attractions of the state, and to provide for the prevention, abatement and control of new or existing land pollution.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 14.

81-1515. Repealed. Laws 1972, LB 1435, § 16.

81-1516. Refuse, garbage, and rubbish; disposal; conditions.
   No person shall dispose of any refuse, garbage, or rubbish at any place except a disposal area for which a permit has been issued as provided by the Environmental Protection Act or, on and after October 1, 1993, in a facility for which a permit has been issued under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act. Nothing in either act and no act of the director shall usurp the legal right of a local governing body to develop and enforce local ordinances, codes, or rules and regulations on solid waste disposal equal to or more stringent than the provisions of the acts as necessary to protect the public health and welfare and the environment, and the provisions of the acts shall not relieve the applicant from obtaining a permit from a local governing body when required or relieve the person owning or operating a disposal area from responsibility for securing proper zoning permits or complying with all applicable local ordinances, codes, or rules and regulations not in conflict with the provisions of the acts.
Source:Laws 1971, LB 939, § 16; Laws 1987, LB 152, § 5; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 89.

Cross References
      Garbage and solid waste disposal facilities, construction and operation by cities of the first and second classes and villages, see sections 19-2101 to 19-2111.
      Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, see section 13-2001.
      Solid waste disposal areas and facilities, siting approval from city, village, or county, see sections 13-1701 to 13-1714.

81-1517. Political subdivision; permits; department; powers; evaluation and determination of terms and conditions; factors.
   (1) In issuing permits to any political subdivision under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System created by the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., the department may exercise all possible discretion allowed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to enable the political subdivision to maintain environmental infrastructure while improving water quality in a manner that is sustainable and within the financial capability of the political subdivision. In exercising such discretion, the department may, when requested by a political subdivision, undertake an evaluation and make a determination of the necessity of specific permit terms and conditions to achieve water quality objectives. Such determination may affect the level of water treatment or pollution control, the length of time necessary for compliance, or both. Any political subdivision may request this evaluation and determination from the department in the issuance or reissuance of its permit.
   (2) The department may include, but is not limited to, consideration of the following factors in making its evaluation and determination under subsection (1) of this section:
   (a) The financial capability of a political subdivision to raise and secure necessary funding at a reasonable cost;
   (b) The affordability for ratepayers for implementation of pollution control options available to a political subdivision using the most appropriate methodology and measurements for the political subdivision in making such affordability determination;
   (c) The future growth potential and projections of a political subdivision and whether its infrastructure is sufficient for projected needs;
   (d) The overall costs and environmental benefits of control technologies;
   (e) Other environmental improvement investments made by a political subdivision; and
   (f) Any other relevant economic and social concerns or environmental conditions.
Source:Laws 2015, LB413, § 3.

81-1517. Political subdivision; permits; department; powers; evaluation and determination of terms and conditions; factors.
   (1) In issuing permits to any political subdivision under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System created by the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., the department may exercise all possible discretion allowed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to enable the political subdivision to maintain environmental infrastructure while improving water quality in a manner that is sustainable and within the financial capability of the political subdivision. In exercising such discretion, the department may, when requested by a political subdivision, undertake an evaluation and make a determination of the necessity of specific permit terms and conditions to achieve water quality objectives. Such determination may affect the level of water treatment or pollution control, the length of time necessary for compliance, or both. Any political subdivision may request this evaluation and determination from the department in the issuance or reissuance of its permit.
   (2) The department may include, but is not limited to, consideration of the following factors in making its evaluation and determination under subsection (1) of this section:
   (a) The financial capability of a political subdivision to raise and secure necessary funding at a reasonable cost;
   (b) The affordability for ratepayers for implementation of pollution control options available to a political subdivision using the most appropriate methodology and measurements for the political subdivision in making such affordability determination;
   (c) The future growth potential and projections of a political subdivision and whether its infrastructure is sufficient for projected needs;
   (d) The overall costs and environmental benefits of control technologies;
   (e) Other environmental improvement investments made by a political subdivision; and
   (f) Any other relevant economic and social concerns or environmental conditions.
Source:Laws 2015, LB413, § 3.

81-1518. Environmental Infrastructure Sustainability Fund; created; use; investment.
   The Environmental Infrastructure Sustainability Fund is created. The fund shall be administered by the department. Revenue from the following sources shall be credited to the fund: (1) Application fees collected under section 81-1519; (2) reimbursements for actual costs necessary to complete environmental infrastructure sustainability evaluations as authorized under section 81-1517; (3) supplemental environmental projects resulting from enforcement settlements; and (4) gifts, grants, reimbursements, or appropriations from any source intended to be used for purposes of section 81-1517. The fund shall be used by the department to offset costs related to the completion of environmental infrastructure sustainability evaluations as authorized by section 81-1517. Any money in the fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.
Source:Laws 2015, LB413, § 4.

Cross References
      Nebraska Capital Expansion Act, see section 72-1269.
      Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, see section 72-1260.

81-1519. Political subdivision; evaluation; application fee; costs; refund.
   Any political subdivision requesting an evaluation authorized under section 81-1517 shall submit a request on a form approved by the department and provide the department with an application fee not to exceed five thousand dollars. If the costs of the department exceed the initial deposit, the department and political subdivision shall enter into an agreement establishing a schedule for the payment of additional costs by the political subdivision. After the completion of the environmental infrastructure sustainability evaluation, any balance of funds paid under this section shall be refunded to the political subdivision.
Source:Laws 2015, LB413, § 5.

81-1520. Political subdivision; evaluation; fee schedule.
   The council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations to establish a tiered application fee schedule to be charged to political subdivisions requesting an environmental infrastructure sustainability evaluation as authorized under section 81-1517. The rules and regulations shall take into account the population of a political subdivision and any financial hardship that may impact the ability to pay the application fee.
Source:Laws 2015, LB413, § 6.

81-1521. Repealed. Laws 1974, LB 1029, § 10.

81-1521.01. Transferred to section 81-1521.15.

81-1521.02. Transferred to section 81-1521.17.

81-1521.03. Transferred to section 81-1521.20.

81-1521.04. Transferred to section 81-1521.21.

81-1521.05. Transferred to section 81-1521.22.

81-1521.06. Transferred to section 81-1521.23.

81-1521.07. Repealed. Laws 1987, LB 152, § 12.

81-1521.08. Hazardous waste; terms, defined.
   For purposes of sections 81-1521.08 to 81-1521.23, unless the context otherwise requires:
   (1) Chief executive officer shall mean the mayor, city manager, or chairperson of the board of trustees of a municipality;
   (2) Commercial hazardous waste management facility shall mean a hazardous waste management facility which accepts hazardous waste for treatment, storage, or disposal which is generated by any person other than the person which owns or operates such facility;
   (3) Committee shall mean the specific site review committee established in response to a notice of intent filed pursuant to section 81-1521.09;
   (4) Hazardous waste management facility shall mean all contiguous land, and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land, used for the treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste. A hazardous waste management facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal operational units such as one or more landfills or surface impoundments or any combination of such operational units;
   (5) Municipality shall mean an incorporated city or village; and
   (6) Other definitions found in section 81-1502 shall apply.
Source:Laws 1987, LB 114, § 2.

81-1521.09. Hazardous waste; commercial hazardous waste management facility; notice of intent to apply for permit; fee; site review committee; director; appoint designee.
   (1) Commencing on June 30, 1988, any person who desires a permit for a commercial hazardous waste management facility shall, at least one hundred eighty days prior to making application therefor, file a notice of intent with the director on a form provided by the director. The notice of intent shall include such information as prescribed by the director and shall be accompanied by a fee established by the department in an amount sufficient, but not in excess of the amount necessary, to pay the department for the direct and indirect costs of processing the notice of intent and to pay the costs and expenses specified in section 81-1521.12. Within fifteen days of receipt of a notice of intent, the director shall notify the appropriate local officials and shall establish a specific site review committee. The purpose of establishing the committee shall be to provide for early public involvement in the consideration of a proposed facility.
   (2) The director may appoint a designee to carry out duties assigned to the director related to a notice of intent or an application for a permit except the duty to make the decision required by section 81-1521.19. If the applicant is an individual, the application shall include the applicant's social security number.
Source:Laws 1987, LB 114, § 3; Laws 1997, LB 752, § 225.

81-1521.10. Hazardous waste; site review committee; membership.
   (1) The committee shall consist of twelve members, six of whom shall be local members and six of whom shall be regional members.
   (2) The six local members shall be chosen as follows:
   (a) If the proposed facility will be located within the zoning jurisdiction of a municipality, the chief executive officer of the municipality shall appoint six members who reside within such zoning jurisdiction;
   (b) If the proposed facility will be located in an unincorporated area which is within five miles of the zoning jurisdiction of one or more municipalities, the chief executive officer of each such municipality shall appoint a member who resides within the zoning jurisdiction of the respective municipality and the chairperson of the county board of the county in which the facility would be located shall appoint additional members who reside within five miles of the proposed facility for a total of six members; and
   (c) If the proposed facility will be located in an unincorporated area which is more than five miles from the zoning jurisdiction of any municipality, the chairperson of the county board of the county in which the facility would be located shall appoint six members who reside within five miles of the proposed facility.
   (3) The six regional members shall be appointed by the director to represent various interests affected by a proposed facility and shall include at least one environmental representative, one academic expert, one industry representative, one community planner, one representative of public interest groups, and one representative of the medical community. The regional members shall be appointed for two-year terms and shall serve whenever a committee is needed during that time. Alternates shall be appointed to serve in case a regional member is unable to do so or is already serving on a committee.
Source:Laws 1987, LB 114, § 4.

81-1521.11. Hazardous waste; site review committee; meetings; officers; professional facilitator.
   The director shall organize a meeting of the committee within twenty-one days of the filing of a notice of intent by an applicant. The director shall serve as temporary chairperson of the committee and shall select as a professional facilitator a person trained in group dynamics and objectivity to handle committee meetings with the public and the applicant. At its first meeting, the committee shall select a chairperson and any other officers it deems necessary and shall adopt procedures for gathering information and preparing a report. The committee shall hold factfinding meetings near the proposed site for the facility. The applicant shall make a technical advisor and other resource people available to the committee.
Source:Laws 1987, LB 114, § 5.

81-1521.12. Hazardous waste; department; provide staff; applicant; pay expenses.
   The department shall provide a secretary and other staff persons to assist the committee. The applicant shall pay the expenses for such clerical and other help and the salary of the professional facilitator, shall pay the costs of printing the committee's report, and shall reimburse the committee members for their mileage expenses at the rate provided in section 81-1176 for state employees. The department shall keep a record of all such costs and expenses and assess the applicant for any amount over the estimated amount on which the fee paid by the applicant was based.
Source:Laws 1987, LB 114, § 6.

81-1521.13. Hazardous waste; site review committee; consider factors; enumerated.
   Factors to be considered by the committee shall include, but not be limited to:
   (1) Economic considerations such as whether the facility is needed, profit expectations for the facility, how the facility will be operated, effects on the community, the potential for compensation to the local governing body, and aspects related to closure of the facility;
   (2) The function of the facility, including the management processes involved, the wastes to be handled, the relationship to any integrated system or master plan for hazardous waste management, and plans for future expansion;
   (3) Considerations related to the technology to be used such as why that process was chosen, plans for quality control, reliability of the technology, and the sequence of steps involved from generation of the wastes to postclosure of the facility;
   (4) Characteristics of the site for the facility, the methods for determining the characteristics, and why the site was chosen;
   (5) Surface drainage, ground water protection, air emissions, and other factors related to environmental quality;