NAC532.210. Additional penalties: Administrative fines; enforcement costs and cost of compliance inspections; calculation.

     1. The State Engineer may assess a penalty not to exceed $10,000 per day for each violation, not including any assessed enforcement costs or requirement to replace any water.

     2. The period for which the State Engineer may impose an administrative fine pursuant to NRS 533.481, 534.193, 535.200 or 536.200 begins on the first day the violation occurs and continues to accrue until the day the respondent corrects the violation. In calculating a period of time pursuant to this subsection, the State Engineer will not include delays which are not caused by the respondent.

     3. In addition to an administrative fine, the State Engineer may assess enforcement costs and the cost of compliance inspections as follows:

     (a) For enforcement costs, time spent to enforce actions surrounding the violation by water enforcement staff, supervisors and the Office of the Attorney General, at the full cost of the hourly rate of each employee, including, without limitation, salary, benefits, overhead and other directly related costs.

     (b) For compliance inspections, the amount due based on staff time at the full cost of the hourly rate of the employee, including, without limitation, salary, benefits, overhead and other directly related costs.

     4. The amount of a penalty assessed pursuant to this section is based on:

     (a) The gravity of the violation, including, without limitation, any economic injury or impact to other persons;

     (b) Whether the respondent made significant progress toward correcting the violation and attempted to comply with any applicable orders of the State Engineer;

     (c) Any prior violations committed by the respondent;

     (d) The economic benefit, if any, derived by the respondent from the violation;

     (e) In the case of unlawfully using, wasting or diverting water:

          (1) The relative amount of water involved; and

          (2) The method used to measure the water in question; and

     (f) Any other relevant facts established at a hearing to show cause before the State Engineer.

     (Added to NAC by St. Engineer by R024-08, eff. 9-18-2008)