NAC590.710. Interpretation of certain statutory terms.

     1. For the purposes of NRS 590.700 to 590.920, inclusive, the Board interprets:

     (a) “Costs for cleaning up” to mean any expense of corrective action necessitated by a discharge from a storage tank. The term does not include:

          (1) The expense of any bond posted to release a writ of attachment;

          (2) Any expense incurred by an operator to investigate or defend any claim or suit, except any such expense incurred at the request of the Board;

          (3) Any expense taxed against the operator as costs of suit in a suit or administrative proceeding;

          (4) Any award of prejudgment interest, except for interest awarded on that part of the judgment paid by the Fund;

          (5) Any expense of repairing, replacing or upgrading any storage tank or its contents;

          (6) Any expense incurred by an operator during the transportation, loading or unloading of a portable storage tank; and

          (7) Any loss of income or revenue of the business of an operator that is incurred by an operator during a corrective action necessitated by a discharge.

     (b) “Damages” to mean any money the operator of a storage tank becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage to any person other than the State or the operator caused by a discharge. The term does not include:

          (1) Any expense excluded from the definition contained in paragraph (a);

          (2) Any obligation of the operator imposed pursuant to any statute providing benefits for workers’ compensation, disability or unemployment compensation;

          (3) Any bodily injury to an employee of the operator, or the spouse, parent, brother or sister of the employee, arising out of and in the course of the employee’s employment by the operator. This exclusion applies whether the operator may be liable as an employer or in any other capacity, and to any obligation to share damages with or reimburse another person who must pay damages because of the injury;

          (4) Any obligation of the operator imposed by a contractual assumption of liability; or

          (5) Any expense incurred by an operator during the transportation, loading or unloading of a portable storage tank.

     (c) “Emergency action” to mean any action that:

          (1) Stops the release of petroleum;

          (2) Identifies or mitigates existing or potential hazards from fire, explosion, vapor or other hazards associated with a release; or

          (3) Prevents the migration of petroleum which poses a substantial imminent threat to the environment.

     (d) “Marina storage tank” to mean a petroleum storage tank used to provide fuel to water vessels, at least 90 percent of which is either above ground level or in or over water and which has a capacity of at least 110 gallons but not more than 12,000 gallons. The term includes all piping connected to the tank, except piping, valves, hoses, filters and nozzles associated with the fuel dispenser.

     (e) “Site” to mean the facility, whether situated on a single parcel or on multiple adjacent parcels, where the tank is located.

     (f) “Small business” to mean a business which receives less than $500,000 in gross annual receipts from the site where the tank is located, based upon the average annual gross receipts for the following period:

          (1) If the business has been in operation for 5 or more fiscal years on the date on which the discharge is discovered, the 5 fiscal years immediately preceding the date on which the discharge was discovered; or

          (2) If the business has been in operation for less than 5 fiscal years on the date the discharge is discovered, the total number of years the business has been in operation.

     (g) “Storage tank” to mean any tank, including any connected pipes, except piping above the dispenser shear valve, used to contain an accumulation of petroleum. The term does not include any tank that is:

          (1) Exempted from the provisions of NRS 590.700 to 590.920, inclusive, unless the operator of the tank chooses to register it pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 1 of NRS 590.920;

          (2) Excluded from the definition of “underground storage tank” in 40 C.F.R. § 280.12, except that a farm or residential tank having a capacity of 1,100 gallons or less and that is used for storing motor fuel for noncommercial purposes is a storage tank;

          (3) Permanently closed in accordance with NAC 459.9972 and 40 C.F.R. § 280.71; or

          (4) Not federally regulated which is permanently closed in accordance with a rule or an ordinance of a local governmental entity.

     2. As used in this section:

     (a) “Bodily injury” means any injury, sickness, disease or death suffered by a person as a proximate result of a discharge.

     (b) “Property damage” means any actual injury to real or tangible personal property, loss of use of the property, or both, occurring as a proximate result of a discharge.

     (c) “Suit” means any civil proceeding in which damages are sought for which the Fund is potentially liable. The term includes any arbitration proceeding in which such damages are sought, to which the operator must submit or to which he or she submits with the consent of the Board.

     (Added to NAC by Bd. to Review Claims, eff. 6-15-90; A 12-23-91; 1-22-96; A by Div. of Environmental Protec. by R226-05, 5-4-2006)