66-1521 Petroleum release remedial action fee; amount; license required; filing; violation; penalty; Motor Fuel Tax Enforcement and Collection Division of the Department of Revenue; powers and duties;
66-1521. Petroleum releaseremedial action fee; amount; license required; filing; violation; penalty;Motor Fuel Tax Enforcement and Collection Division of the Department of Revenue;powers and duties; Petroleum Release Remedial Action Collection Fund; created;use; investment.(1) A petroleum release remedialaction fee is hereby imposed upon the producer, refiner, importer, distributor,wholesaler, or supplier who engages in the sale, distribution, delivery, anduse of petroleum within this state, except that the fee shall not be imposedon petroleum that is exported. The fee shall also be imposed on diesel fuelwhich is indelibly dyed. The amount of the fee shall be nine-tenths of onecent per gallon on motor vehicle fuel as defined in section 66-482 and three-tenthsof one cent per gallon on diesel fuel as defined in section 66-482. The amountof the fee shall be used first for payment of claims approved by the StateClaims Board pursuant to section 66-1531; second, up to three million dollarsof the fee per year shall be used for reimbursement of owners and operatorsunder the Petroleum Release Remedial Action Act for investigations of releasesordered pursuant to section 81-15,124; and third, the remainder of the feeshall be used for any other purpose authorized by section 66-1519. The feeshall be paid by all producers, refiners, importers, distributors, wholesalers,and suppliers subject to the fee by filing a monthly return on or before thetwenty-fifth day of the calendar month following the monthly period to whichit relates. The pertinent provisions, specifically including penalty provisions,of the motor fuel laws as defined in section 66-712 shall apply to the administrationand collection of the fee except for the treatment given refunds. There shallbe a refund allowed on any fee paid on petroleum which was taxed and thenexported, destroyed, or purchased for use by the United States Governmentor its agencies. The department may also adjust for all errors in the paymentof the fee. In each calendar year, no claim for refund related to the feecan be for an amount less than ten dollars.(2) No producer, refiner, importer, distributor, wholesaler,or supplier shall engage in the sale, distribution, delivery, or use of petroleumin this state without having first obtained a petroleum release remedial actionlicense. Application for a license shall be made to the Motor Fuel Tax Enforcementand Collection Division of the Department of Revenue upon a form preparedand furnished by the division. If the applicant is an individual, the applicationshall include the applicant's social security number. Failure to obtain alicense prior to engaging in the sale, distribution, delivery, or use of petroleumshall be a Class IV misdemeanor. The division may suspend or cancel the licenseof any producer, refiner, importer, distributor, wholesaler, or supplier whofails to pay the fee imposed by subsection (1) of this section in the samemanner as licenses are suspended or canceled pursuant to section 66-720.(3) The division may adopt and promulgate rules and regulationsnecessary to carry out this section.(4) The division shall deduct and withhold from the petroleumrelease remedial action fee collected pursuant to this section an amount sufficientto reimburse the direct costs of collecting and administering the petroleumrelease remedial action fee. Such costs shall not exceed one hundred fiftythousand dollars for each fiscal year. The one hundred fifty thousand dollarsshall be prorated, based on the number of months the fee is collected, wheneverthe fee is collected for only a portion of a year. The amount deducted andwithheld for costs shall be deposited in the Petroleum Release Remedial ActionCollection Fund which is hereby created. The Petroleum Release Remedial ActionCollection Fund shall be appropriated to the Department of Revenue, except that transfers may be made fromthe fund to the General Fund at the direction of the Legislature.Any money in the Petroleum Release Remedial Action CollectionFund available for investment shall be invested by the state investmentofficer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska StateFunds Investment Act.(5) The division shall collect the fee imposed by subsection(1) of this section. SourceLaws 1989, LB 289, § 21; Laws 1991, LB 409, § 14; Laws 1991, LB 627, § 139; Laws 1994, LB 1066, § 58; Laws 1994, LB 1160, § 120; Laws 1997, LB 752, § 153; Laws 1998, LB 1161, § 31; Laws 2000, LB 1067, § 31; Laws 2004, LB 983, § 66; Laws 2009, LB165, § 1; Laws 2009, First Spec. Sess., LB3, § 41.Effective Date: November 21, 2009 Cross ReferencesNebraska Capital Expansion Act, see section 72-1269.Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, see section 72-1260.