§ 2-954 — Act; enforcement; director, control authorities, and superintendents; powers and duties; expenses

Nebraska § 2-954

• Jurisdiction: Nebraska
• Ch. 2: Agriculture

Text

(1)(a) The duty of enforcing and carrying out the Noxious Weed Control
Act shall be vested in the director and the control authorities as designated
in the act. The director shall determine what weeds are noxious for purposes
of the act. A list of such noxious weeds shall be included in the rules and
regulations adopted and promulgated by the director. The director shall prepare,
publish, and revise as necessary a list of noxious weeds. The list shall be
distributed to the public by the director, the Cooperative Extension Service,
the control authorities, and any other body the director deems appropriate.
The director shall, from time to time, adopt and promulgate rules and regulations
on methods for control of noxious weeds and adopt and promulgate such rules
and regulations as are necessary to carry out the act. Whenever special weed
control problems exist in a county involving weeds not included in the rules
and regulations, the control authority may petition the director to bring
such weeds under the county control program. The petition shall contain the
approval of the county board. Prior to petitioning the director, the control
authority, in cooperation with the county board, shall hold a public hearing
and take testimony upon the petition. Such hearing and the notice thereof
shall be in the manner prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Act. A copy
of the transcript of the public hearing shall accompany the petition filed
with the director. The director may approve or disapprove the request. If
approval is granted, the control authority may proceed under the forced control
provisions of sections 2-953 to 2-955 and 2-958 .
(b) The director shall (i) investigate the subject of noxious weeds,
(ii) require information and reports from any control authority as to the
presence of noxious weeds and other information relative to noxious weeds
and the control thereof in localities where such control authority has jurisdiction,
(iii) cooperate with control authorities in carrying out other laws administered
by him or her, (iv) cooperate with agencies of federal and state governments
and other persons in carrying out his or her duties under the Noxious Weed
Control Act, (v) with the consent of the Governor, conduct investigations
outside this state to protect the interest of the agricultural industry of
this state from noxious weeds not generally distributed therein, (vi) with
the consent of the federal agency involved, control noxious weeds on federal
lands within this state, with reimbursement, when deemed by the director to
be necessary to an effective weed control program, (vii) advise and confer
as to the extent of noxious weed infestations and the methods determined best
suited to the control thereof, (viii) call and attend meetings and conferences
dealing with the subject of noxious weeds, (ix) disseminate information and
conduct educational campaigns with respect to control of noxious weeds, (x)
procure materials and equipment and employ personnel necessary to carry out
the director's duties and responsibilities, and (xi) perform such other acts
as may be necessary or appropriate to the administration of the act.
(c) The director may (i) temporarily designate a weed as a noxious weed
for up to eighteen months if the director, in consultation with the advisory
committee created under section 2-965.01 , has adopted criteria for making
temporary designations and (ii) apply for and accept any gift, grant, contract,
or other funds or grants-in-aid from the federal government or other public
and private sources for noxious weed control purposes and account for such
funds as prescribed by the Auditor of Public Accounts.
(d) When the director determines that a control authority has substantively
failed to carry out its duties and responsibilities as a control authority
or has substantively failed to implement a county weed control program, he
or she shall instruct the control authority regarding the measures necessary
to fulfill such duties and responsibilities. The director shall establish
a reasonable date by which the control authority shall fulfill such duties
and responsibilities. If the control authority fails or refuses to comply
with instructions by such date, the Attorney General shall file an action
as provided by law against the control authority for such failure or refusal.
(2)(a) Each control authority shall carry out the duties and responsibilities
vested in it under the act with respect to land under its jurisdiction in
accordance with rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the director.
Such duties shall include the establishment of a coordinated program for control
of noxious weeds within the county.
(b) A control authority may cooperate with any person in carrying out
its duties and responsibilities under the act.
(3)(a) Each county board shall employ one or more weed control superintendents.
Each such superintendent shall, as a condition precedent to employment, be
certified in writing by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as a commercial
applicator under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
Each superintendent shall be bonded for such sum as the county board shall
prescribe. The same person may be a weed control superintendent for more than
one county. Such employment may be for such tenure and at such rates of compensation
and reimbursement for travel expenses as the county board may prescribe. Such
superintendent shall be reimbursed for mileage at a rate equal to or greater
than the rate provided in section 81-1176 .
(b) Under the direction of the control authority, it shall be the duty
of every weed control superintendent to examine all land under the jurisdiction
of the control authority for the purpose of determining whether the Noxious
Weed Control Act and the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by
the director have been complied with. The weed control superintendent shall:
(i) Compile such data on infested areas and controlled areas and such other
reports as the director or the control authority may require; (ii) consult
and advise upon matters pertaining to the best and most practical methods
of noxious weed control and render assistance and direction for the most effective
control; (iii) investigate or aid in the investigation and prosecution of
any violation of the act; and (iv) perform such other duties as required by
the control authority in the performance of its duties. Weed control superintendents
shall cooperate and assist one another to the extent practicable and shall
supervise the carrying out of the coordinated control program within the county.
(c) In cases involving counties in which municipalities have ordinances
for weed control, the control authority may enter into agreements with municipal
authorities for the enforcement of local weed ordinances and may follow collection
procedures established by such ordinances. All money received shall be deposited
in the noxious weed
control fund or, if no noxious weed control fund exists,
in the county general fund.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1965, c. 7, § 3, p. 79; Laws 1969, c. 13, § 2, p. 153; Laws 1975, LB 14, § 4; Laws 1981, LB 204, § 3; Laws 1987, LB 1, § 2; Laws 1987, LB 138, § 4; Laws 1988, LB 807, § 1; Laws 1989, LB 49, § 6; Laws 1991, LB 663, § 24; Laws 1996, LB 1011, § 2; Laws 2004, LB 869, § 3; Laws 2010, LB731, § 1. Cross References: Administrative Procedure Act, see section 84-920.