Senate Bill No. 533–Committee on Natural Resources

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to the control of air pollution; authorizing the control officer of a local air pollution control board to request the initiation of certain proceedings regarding the enforcement of certain laws pertaining to the control of air pollution; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

   Section 1. NRS 445B.460 is hereby amended to read as follows:

   445B.460  1.  If , in the judgment of the director, any person is

 engaged in or is about to engage in any act or practice which constitutes or

 will constitute a violation of any provision of NRS 445B.100 to 445B.640,

 inclusive, or any rule, regulation, order or operating permit issued [under]

 pursuant to NRS 445B.100 to 445B.640, inclusive, the directormay

 request that the attorney general [to] apply to the district court for an order

 enjoining [such] the act or practice, or for an order directing compliance

 with any provision of NRS 445B.100 to 445B.640, inclusive, or any rule,

 regulation, order or operating permit issued [under] pursuant to NRS

 445B.100 to 445B.640, inclusive.

   2.  If, in the judgment of the control officer of a local air pollution

 control board, any person is engaged in or is about to engage in such an

 act or practice, the control officer may request that the district attorney

 of the county in which the act or practice is being engaged in or is about

 to be engaged in apply to the district court for such an order.

   3.  Upon a showing by the director or the control officer that [such] a

 person has engaged in or is about to engage in any such act or practice, a

 permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order or other appropriate

 order may be granted by the court.

   Sec. 2.  NRS 445B.470 is hereby amended to read as follows:

   445B.470  1.  A person shall not knowingly:

   (a) Violate any applicable provision, the terms or conditions of any

 permit or any provision for the filing of information;

   (b) Fail to pay any fee;

   (c) Falsify any material statement, representation or certification in any

 notice or report; or

   (d) Render inaccurate any monitoring device or method,

required pursuant to the provisions of NRS 445B.100 to 445B.450,

 inclusive, or 445B.470 to 445B.640, inclusive, or any regulation adopted

 pursuant to those provisions.

   2.  Any person who violates any provision of subsection 1 shall be

 punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 for each day of the violation.

   3.  The burden of proof and degree of knowledge required to establish a

 violation of subsection 1 are the same as those required by 42 U.S.C. §

 7413(c), as that section [exists] existed on October 1, 1993.

   4.  If, in the judgment of the director of the department or his designee,

 any person is engaged in any act or practice which constitutes a criminal

 offense [under] pursuant to NRS 445B.100 to 445B.640, inclusive, the

 director of the department or his designee may request that the attorney

 general or the district attorney of the county in which the criminal offense

is alleged to have occurred [to] institute by indictment or information a

criminal prosecution of the person.

   5.  If, in the judgment of the control officer of a local air pollution

 control board, any person is engaged in such an act or practice, the

 control officer may request that the district attorney of the county in

 which the criminal offense is alleged to have occurred institute by

 indictment or information a criminal prosecution of the person.

   Sec. 3.  NRS 445B.500 is hereby amended to read as follows:

   445B.500  1.  Except as otherwise provided in this section and in NRS

 445B.310:

   (a) The district board of health, county board of health or board of

 county commissioners in each county whose population is 100,000 or

 more shall establish a program for the control of air pollution and

 administer the program within its jurisdiction unless superseded.

   (b) The program must:

     (1) Include standards for the control of emissions, emergency

 procedures and variance procedures established by ordinance or local

 regulation which are equivalent to or stricter than those established by

 statute or state regulation; and

     (2) Provide for adequate administration, enforcement, financing and

 staff.

   (c) The district board of health, county board of health or board of

 county commissioners is designated as the air pollution control agency of

 the county for the purposes of NRS 445B.100 to 445B.640, inclusive, and

 the federal act insofar as it pertains to local programs, and that agency is

 authorized to take all action necessary to secure for the county the benefits

 of the federal act.

   (d) Powers and responsibilities provided for in NRS 445B.210,

 445B.240 to [445B.450,] 445B.470, inclusive, 445B.560, 445B.570,

 445B.580 and 445B.640 are binding upon and inure to the benefit of local

 air pollution control authorities within their jurisdiction.

   2.  The local air pollution control board shall carry out all provisions of

 NRS 445B.215 with the exception that notices of public hearings must be

 given in any newspaper, qualified pursuant to the provisions of chapter

 238 of NRS, once a week for 3 weeks. The notice must specify with

 particularity the reasons for the proposed regulations and provide other

 informative details. NRS 445B.215 does not apply to the adoption of

 existing regulations upon transfer of authority as provided in NRS

 445B.610.

   3.  In a county whose population is 400,000 or more, the local air

 pollution control board may delegate to an independent hearing officer or

 hearing board its authority to determine violations and levy administrative

 penalties for violations of the provisions of NRS 445B.100 to 445B.450,

 inclusive, and 445B.500 to 445B.640, inclusive, or any regulation adopted

 pursuant to those sections. If such a delegation is made, 17.5 percent of

 any penalty collected must be deposited in the county treasury in an

 account to be administered by the local air pollution control board to a

 maximum of $17,500 per year. The money in the account may only be

 used to defray the administrative expenses incurred by the local air

 pollution control board in enforcing the provisions of NRS 445B.100 to

 445B.640, inclusive. The

remainder of the penalty must be deposited in the county school district

fund of the county where the violation occurred.

   4.  Any county whose population is less than 100,000 or any city may

 meet the requirements of this section for administration and enforcement

 through cooperative or interlocal agreement with one or more other

 counties, or through agreement with the state, or may establish its own

 program for the control of air pollution. If the county establishes such a

 program, it is subject to the approval of the commission.

   5.  No district board of health, county board of health or board of

 county commissioners may adopt any regulation or establish a compliance

 schedule, variance order or other enforcement action relating to the control

 of emissions from plants which generate electricity by using steam

 produced by the burning of fossil fuel.

   6.  For the purposes of this section, “plants which generate electricity

 by using steam produced by the burning of fossil fuel” means plants that

 burn fossil fuels in a boiler to produce steam for the production of

 electricity. The term does not include any plant which uses technology for

 a simple or combined cycle combustion turbine, regardless of whether the

 plant includes duct burners.

   Sec. 4.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2001.

 

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