Section 146-A:11-b License Required.
I. Under this section, the following terms shall be construed as follows:
(a) ""Person'' means any operator, distributor, dealer, or broker who, or any wholesale terminal facility which, imports or causes to be imported oil into the state. ""Person'' does not mean an oil spill cleanup organization or other person acting to contain, remove, cleanup, restore or take other remedial or corrective action or measures with regard to the spillage or discharge of oil or threatened spillage or discharge of oil.
(b) ""Import'' means, for the purpose of determining the license fees under this section, any import of oil into this state by any person whether by vessel, pipeline, truck, railroad or any other contrivance to the extent that the import of such oil has not been previously subject to the license fee under this section. Fueling or refueling of vessels employed in transfer operations shall not be included.
(c) ""Oil'' means petroleum products and their by-products including, but not limited to, crude, motor fuels, aviation fuels, and any oil used for heating, processing, or generating electricity. The term ""oil'' shall not include natural gas, liquified petroleum gas, or synthetic natural gas regardless of derivation or source.
II. Any person who imports or causes to be imported oil into the state, except those using oil pipelines, railroads, and highways to transport oil products between states other than New Hampshire or for international transport of oil products, shall be licensed by the department of safety under this chapter. The annual fee for the license shall be $.00125 per gallon of oil imported into this state. The fee shall be paid monthly by such person to the department of safety. The department of safety shall deposit the first $100,000 of fees paid in each fiscal year into the general fund. The remainder shall be deposited into the oil pollution control fund administered by the department of environmental services. Imposition of the fee shall be based on the records of the person and certified as accurate to the department of safety.
III. Any person who imports or causes to be imported oil into the state and who is licensed under this chapter shall be entitled to a credit against his annual license fee assessed under this section equal to the amount of any hazardous material transporter's license fee which he has paid to the department of safety pursuant to the provisions of RSA 21-P:20 upon presenting satisfactory evidence of payment of the hazardous material transporter's fee for any vehicles involved in the importation, transfer or transport of oil into this state. Any person licensed under this section may seek, and shall receive for valid claims, an import credit for oil which the person transfers out of state during any reporting period.
IV. Every person who imports or causes to be imported oil shall file a monthly report for the preceding month and shall include all fees due for that reporting period with the department of safety on or before the twentieth day of the following calendar month. Failure to file by the required date or to enclose fees due shall result in the assessment of a 10 percent penalty to be added to the amount of fees due for that month. If no fees are due, a penalty of $1 per day shall be assessed. Said penalty shall immediately accrue and thereafter the overdue fees and the penalty shall bear interest at the rate established by the commissioner of safety under RSA 260:40-a. The department may waive all or any portion of penalties or interest for good cause.
V. Unless otherwise provided, any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if a natural person or guilty of a felony if any other person.
Source. 1985, 287:6. 1986, 202:6, I(a). 1987, 377:11, 13. 1988, 271:5. 1989, 230:1-5. 1990, 3:97, 98. 1991, 322:5, 6. 1993, 171:1. 1994, 364:9. 1996, 228:106, 108. 2003, 187:3, 4, eff. July 1, 2003.