NAC534.500. Assessment of demerit points against license of well driller; suspension and reinstatement of license; removal of demerit points.

     1. The Division shall assess demerit points against the license of a licensed well driller who is found by the State Engineer to have violated any provision of this chapter or chapter 534 of NRS pursuant to the following table:

Classification of Violations	Maximum Demerits
Notice of Intent/Approval
Failing to submit a notice of intent to drill to the Division as required by NAC 534.320.......................................................................................	........ 25
Failing to notify the Division or obtain approval from the Division as required by NAC 534.370 if drilling is suspended or drilling equipment is moved from the drilling site before a well is completed or plugged.............................................................................................	........ 75
Log or Record of Work of Well Driller
Failing to furnish a copy of a log or record of work to the State Engineer as required by NRS 534.170, intentionally making a material misstatement of fact in a log or record of work submitted to the State Engineer pursuant to NRS 534.170 or intentionally making a material misstatement of fact in an amendment to a log or record of work submitted to the State Engineer pursuant to NRS 534.170........	........ 75
Submitting a log or record of work to the State Engineer pursuant to NRS 534.170 more than 30 days after a well is completed.................	........ 10
Submitting a log or record of work to the Division pursuant to NAC 534.420 more than 30 days after a water well has been plugged.........	........ 10
Licenses
Intentionally making a material misstatement of fact in an application for a well-drilling license......................................................................	....... 100
A well driller failing to have the well driller’s license card in his or her possession at a drilling site or failing to produce the license card when requested to do so by a representative of the Division as required by NAC 534.330....................................................................	........ 10
Failing to have a licensed well driller at a well-drilling site when a drill rig is in operation or when any activity involving the construction or plugging of the well is conducted as required by NAC 534.330. (Demerit points will be assessed against the license of the principal well driller for the well-drilling company and against the license of the well driller listed on the notice of intent.)......................................	........ 50
Well construction and plugging
Failing to comply with any provision of this chapter which establishes standards for the construction or plugging of a well, including, without limitation, improperly placing the annular seal, constructing a well with substandard well casing, using improper products or procedures during the construction or plugging of a well and failing to protect against contamination..........................................................	........ 75
Failing to make a well accessible to measurements of the water level of the well as required by NAC 534.430..................................................	........ 30
Failing to prevent, control or stop the flow of water from an artesian well as required by NRS 534.060 and NAC 534.378..........................	........ 30
Approvals
Drilling a replacement well more than 300 feet from the location of the existing point of diversion described in the permit or moving the replacement well outside of the 40-acre subdivision described in the permit, waiver or certificate of water right in violation of NAC 534.300.................................................................................................	........ 25
Failing to comply with any term or condition of a permit, waiver or order issued by the State Engineer concerning the drilling of a well as required by NAC 534.330, including, without limitation, the depth of the annular seal, the location of perforations and the minimum or maximum depth of the well.............................................	........ 50
Miscellaneous
Any other violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or chapter 534 of NRS..........................................................................................	..... To be determined by the Division based on the severity of the violation, but not to exceed 10

     2. The Division shall assess demerit points against the license of a well driller only:

     (a) After the State Engineer makes a finding that the well driller has violated a provision of this chapter or chapter 534 of NRS as provided in subsection 1;

     (b) After the Division gives written notice of an alleged violation to the well driller by registered or certified mail to the last known address of the well driller which specifies the provision of this chapter or chapter 534 of NRS that the well driller is alleged to have violated;

     (c) If, within 30 days after the date on which the well driller receives a notice of an alleged violation sent pursuant to paragraph (b), the well driller has failed to respond to the notice of an alleged violation or provides a response to the notice of an alleged violation that is unsatisfactory, as determined by the Division; and

     (d) After the conditions set forth in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) are satisfied, regardless of when the violation occurred.

     3. If a licensed well driller accumulates 100 or more demerit points, the State Engineer may, after giving notice and holding a hearing pursuant to NRS 534.160 to determine that the violations which resulted in the demerit points occurred, suspend the license of the well driller indefinitely. If the State Engineer suspends the license of a well driller, the Division shall notify the well driller that his or her license is suspended and the well driller is prohibited from engaging in any activity for which a well-drilling license issued pursuant to NRS 534.140 is required until the license of the well driller is reinstated.

     4. A well driller whose license has been suspended pursuant to subsection 3 may have the license reinstated if the well driller:

     (a) Satisfies the requirements set forth in NAC 534.293;

     (b) Appears before the State Engineer at a hearing and the State Engineer finds that the well driller is competent to engage in the practice of well drilling in the State of Nevada; and

     (c) Resolves any outstanding complaints related to his or her license as a well driller to the satisfaction of the Division.

     5. The Division shall reduce the number of demerit points accumulated against the license of a well driller whose license has been suspended pursuant to subsection 3 and reinstated pursuant to subsection 4 to zero.

     6. Demerit points assessed against the license of a well driller may be removed by the Division as follows:

     (a) Five demerit points may be removed for each credit unit of continuing education approved by the Division and successfully completed by the well driller, as determined by the Division up to a maximum of 50 points per year. The credit units of continuing education that must be completed for the purposes of the removal of demerit points pursuant to this paragraph are in addition to those required by NAC 534.2923.

     (b) One-half of the demerit points assessed against the license of a well driller may be removed if the well driller is determined by the State Engineer to not have violated a provision of this chapter or chapter 534 of NRS for the entire year before his or her license is required to be renewed pursuant to NRS 534.140.

     (c) Twenty demerit points may be removed if the well driller takes and passes the written examination section of the examination for a license as a well driller. The Division may remove demerit points pursuant to this paragraph once every other year.

     (Added to NAC by St. Engineer by R009-06, eff. 6-1-2006)