Opinion ID: 1242127
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: whether dnr exceeded its authority by enacting disputed regulation

Text: [2] The District assigns that the DNR exceeded its statutory authority when promulgating 457 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 24, § 001.02, of the DNR's rules and regulations. [3-5] The Legislature may delegate to an administrative agency the power to make rules and regulations to implement the policy of a statute. [5] However, an administrative agency is limited in its rulemaking authority to powers granted to the agency by the statutes which it is to administer, and it may not employ its rulemaking power to modify, alter, or enlarge portions of its enabling statute. [6] Deference is accorded to an agency's interpretation of its own regulations unless plainly erroneous or inconsistent. [7] Section 46-748 authorizes the DNR to adopt and promulgate ... such rules and regulations as are necessary to the discharge of duties assigned to the director or the Department ... by the ... Act. And the last sentence of § 46-713(1)(d) directs the DNR, in connection with the preparation of its report regarding the appropriated status of a river basin, to specify by rule and regulation the types of scientific data and other information that will be considered for making the preliminary determinations required by this section. Under this rulemaking authority, the DNR enacted 457 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 24. At particular issue in this case is § 001.02, which provides: The geographic area within which the Department preliminarily considers surface water and ground water to be hydrologically connected for the purpose prescribed in Section 46-713(3) is the area within which pumping of a well for 50 years will deplete the river or a base flow tributary thereof by at least 10 percent of the amount pumped in that time. The parties appear to agree that there is no language in 457 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 24, § 001.02, which precludes surface water and ground water that is geographically located in different natural resources districts from being hydrologically connected within the meaning of the regulation. Nor do the parties dispute that applying the regulation resulted in the DNR's conclusion that ground water geographically located in the Big Blue River Basin was hydrologically connected to surface water in the Upper Platte River Basin. Finally, there is no dispute that the result of the application of this regulation in this case was that a geographic area located in the Big Blue River Basin was included in the DNR's order finding that the Upper Platte River Basin was fully appropriated. Such a determination imposes certain restrictions with respect to the use of surface water and ground water in the affected geographic area. In support of its contention that the DNR exceeded its authority, the District notes there is nothing in the language of the relevant statutes which permits the DNR to cross natural resources district boundary lines when making determinations regarding the appropriated status of river basins, subbasins, and reaches. The District further argues that language in § 46-713 expressly provides that the hydrological connection should be evaluated in each of the state's river basins (emphasis supplied), and that such language implies areas outside a river basin cannot be considered in determining appropriated status. We disagree with the District's interpretation. An examination of the findings of the Legislature with respect to the passage of the Act demonstrates that the Legislature was fully aware of the hydrological connection often existing between surface water and ground water [8] and was interested in protecting those resources. [9] The findings also indicate that the Legislature recognized these hydrological connections sometimes affect more than one natural resources district [10] and that it was the expectation of the Legislature that all interested parties would cooperate in the management of the State's hydrologically connected water resources. [11] This expectation of cooperation was also expressed in § 46-715, which provides for the cooperation of the DNR and any affected natural resources districts in preparing an integrated management plan upon a DNR determination that a river basin is fully appropriated or overappropriated. In addition to recognizing this connection in its findings, the Legislature explicitly required that these areas of hydrological connection be considered by the DNR in making its determinations under the Act. In particular, § 46-713(1)(a) provides that the DNR's report with respect to its preliminary determination as to the appropriated status of a river basin shall describe ... the geographic area within which the department preliminarily considers surface water and ground water to be hydrologically connected and the criteria used for that determination. Moreover, the DNR is required to set forth by regulation the scientific data and information it utilizes in determining this hydrological connection. [12] Thus, the Act explicitly requires consideration of hydrological connections in determining the appropriated status of a river basin. What the Act does not do is set forth any limitations on the DNR's ability to define that connection. Given the detail of the Act and its focus on the hydrological connection between surface water and ground water, we find this omission telling. We agree with the DNR that the District's interpretation would require the Department to completely ignore the real-world hydrologic interconnections between surface water and ground water, and said connections' effect on a basin. In addition, such a requirement would set an arbitrary standard for managing the State's interconnected water resources, which simply goes against the intent of the Act. [T]he intent of the Act is ... to integrate the management of surface water and ground water.... [13] We therefore conclude that 457 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 24, § 001.02, was authorized by its enabling legislation and that the DNR did not exceed its statutory authority in enacting it. The District's assignment of error is without merit.