NAC459.95521. Investigation of accidents.

     1. The Division may investigate an accident occurring in connection with a process that involves one or more highly hazardous substances or explosives at a facility which results in an uncontrolled emission, fire or explosion and which presents or presented an imminent and substantial danger to the health of the employees of the facility, the public health or the environment, to determine the cause of the accident if the owner or operator of the facility:

     (a) Is unwilling to commence and has not commenced an investigation of the accident in a timely manner; or

     (b) Is not capable of conducting an investigation and has not retained persons who have expertise to conduct an investigation of the accident.

     2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, before the Division commences an investigation of an accident, the Division must provide written notice to the owner or operator:

     (a) Defining the scope of the investigation;

     (b) Citing the Division’s authority and the reasons pursuant to subsection 1 for conducting the investigation;

     (c) Providing an explanation of how the Division’s costs will be recovered; and

     (d) Informing the owner or operator that if the owner or operator fails to commence an investigation of the accident within 24 hours after receiving the written notice, the Division will commence its investigation of the accident and begin accruing costs.

     3. The provisions of subsection 2 do not preclude the Division from commencing its investigation immediately if the Division determines that time is of the essence in gathering data.

     4. The decision by the Division to conduct an investigation pursuant to this section does not relieve the owner or operator of the obligation to investigate pursuant to NAC 459.95429.

     5. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, the Division shall accrue costs for the investigation and invoice the owner or operator the following amounts:

     (a) For activities conducted by personnel of the Division, the amount of $68 per hour;

     (b) For activities conducted by contractors, an amount equal to the cost to the Division; and

     (c) Such other amounts as are necessary for the Division to recover all costs incurred by the Division in conducting the investigation.

     6. In no event may the total amount invoiced by the Division pursuant to subsection 5 for an investigation exceed the total costs incurred by the Division in conducting the investigation.

     7. An investigation conducted by the Division pursuant to this section shall be deemed complete when, to the satisfaction of the Division:

     (a) The direct cause of the accident and each contributing cause or potential cause of the accident has been identified;

     (b) Each root cause of the accident, or each potential root cause, has been identified;

     (c) The remedial steps to prevent recurrence of the accident have been identified; and

     (d) The remedial steps so identified have been implemented.

     8. As used in this section:

     (a) “Direct cause of the accident” means the condition or event that resulted in the accident.

     (b) “Expertise to conduct an investigation” means having technical or operational knowledge plus knowledge of investigative techniques to make a determination of the direct, contributing and root causes of an accident.

     (c) “In a timely manner” means to start the investigation process with a formally defined investigation team within 48 hours after the accident.

     (d) “Is not capable of conducting an investigation” means that the owner or operator does not have the expertise to conduct an investigation within the group of employees and contractors of the owner or operator.

     (e) “Root cause of the accident” means a condition or event that, if corrected, would prevent recurrence of the accident.

     (Added to NAC by Environmental Comm’n by R137-04, eff. 2-15-2005)