NRS590.835. Fund for Cleaning Up Discharges of Petroleum: Expenditures for certain discharges; limitations; reimbursement.

  Notwithstanding any provision of NRS 590.700 to 590.920, inclusive, to the contrary, and except as otherwise provided in this section:

      1.  The Division may expend not more than $250,000 from the Fund per year as reimbursement for necessary costs incurred by the Division in the response to and cleanup of any discharge involving petroleum, including discharges from a storage tank and discharges from a mobile tank that occur during the transportation of petroleum on roads and highways. If the discharge involving petroleum also involves the discharge of another hazardous material, the Division may expend money pursuant to this section in the cleanup of the discharge of petroleum and the other hazardous material. The Division shall not expend money from the Fund pursuant to this section to clean up discharges involving petroleum from pipelines.

      2.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, money from the Fund expended by the Division pursuant to this section must be used to augment, and must not be used to replace or supplant, any money available from other sources for the cleanup of discharges of petroleum, including, without limitation, reimbursements by operators required to be made to the Division pursuant to NRS 590.850 and 590.870. If no money is available from those other sources, the Division may expend money from the Fund pursuant to this section to reimburse the Division for any costs specified in subsection 1.

      3.  If the Division expends money pursuant to this section to clean up a discharge involving petroleum, the operator of the tank shall reimburse the Division for the operator’s share of the costs for cleaning up the discharge. The Division shall, upon being reimbursed by the operator of the tank pursuant to this subsection, deposit that money in the Fund.

      4.  As used in this section:

      (a) “Discharge” means any release, leaking or spilling from a tank into water or soil, unless the discharge is authorized by state or federal law.

      (b) “Operator” means a person who owns, controls or is responsible for the operation of a tank.

      (c) “Tank” means a storage tank or a mobile tank used to transport petroleum received for sale or use in this State.

      (Added to NRS by 2005, 298)