NRS 445B.500 Establishment and administration of program; contents of program; designation of air pollution 

control agency of county for purposes of federal act; powers and duties of local air pollution control board; notice of 

public hearings; delegation of authority to determine violations and levy administrative penalties; cities and smaller 

counties; regulation of certain electric plants prohibited. 

1. Except as otherwise provided in this section and in NRS 445B.310: 

(a) The district board of health, county board of health or board of county commissioners in each county whose population is 

100,000 or more shall establish a program for the control of air pollution and administer the program within its jurisdiction

unless superseded. 

(b) The program: 

(1) Must include, without limitation, standards for the control of emissions, emergency procedures and variance procedures 

established by ordinance or local regulation which are equivalent to or stricter than those established by statute or state 

regulation; 

(2) May, in a county whose population is 400,000 or more, include requirements for the creation, receipt and exchange for 

consideration of credits to reduce and control air contaminants in accordance with NRS 445B.508; and 

(3) Must provide for adequate administration, enforcement, financing and staff. 

(c) The district board of health, county board of health or board of county commissioners is designated as the air pollution 

control agency of the county for the purposes of NRS 445B.100 to 445B.640, inclusive, and the Federal Act insofar as it 

pertains to local programs, and that agency is authorized to take all action necessary to secure for the county the benefits of 

the Federal Act. 

(d) Powers and responsibilities provided for in NRS 445B.210, 445B.240 to 445B.470, inclusive, 445B.560, 445B.570, 

445B.580 and 445B.640 are binding upon and inure to the benefit of local air pollution control authorities within their 

jurisdiction. 

2. The local air pollution control board shall carry out all provisions of NRS 445B.215 with the exception that notices of 

public hearings must be given in any newspaper, qualified pursuant to the provisions of chapter 238 of NRS, once a week for 

3 weeks. The notice must specify with particularity the reasons for the proposed regulations and provide other informative 

details. NRS 445B.215 does not apply to the adoption of existing regulations upon transfer of authority as provided in NRS 

445B.610. 

3. In a county whose population is 400,000 or more, the local air pollution control board may delegate to an independent 

hearing officer or hearing board its authority to determine violations and levy administrative penalties for violations of the 

provisions of NRS 445B.100 to 445B.450, inclusive, and 445B.500 to 445B.640, inclusive, or any regulation adopted 

pursuant to those sections. If such a delegation is made, 17.5 percent of any penalty collected must be deposited in the county 

treasury in an account to be administered by the local air pollution control board to a maximum of $17,500 per year. The 

money in the account may only be used to defray the administrative expenses incurred by the local air pollution control board

in enforcing the provisions of NRS 445B.100 to 445B.640, inclusive. The remainder of the penalty must be deposited in the 

county school district fund of the county where the violation occurred. 

4. Any county whose population is less than 100,000 or any city may meet the requirements of this section for administration 

and enforcement through cooperative or interlocal agreement with one or more other counties, or through agreement with the 

State, or may establish its own program for the control of air pollution. If the county establishes such a program, it is subject 

to the approval of the Commission. 

5. No district board of health, county board of health or board of county commissioners may adopt any regulation or establish 

a compliance schedule, variance order or other enforcement action relating to the control of emissions from plants which 

generate electricity by using steam produced by the burning of fossil fuel. 

6. For the purposes of this section, “plants which generate electricity by using steam produced by the burning of fossil fuel” 

means plants that burn fossil fuels in a boiler to produce steam for the production of electricity. The term does not include 

any plant which uses technology for a simple or combined cycle combustion turbine, regardless of whether the plant includes 

duct burners. 

(Added to NRS by 1971, 1199; A 1973, 1819; 1975, 1126, 1782; 1977, 1559; 1979, 546; 1985, 291; 1991, 2161; 1993, 175; 

1997, 1999; 1999, 1976; 2001, 1296, 1515; 2003, 44)