Nebraska § 46-1239 - Unauthorized employment; construction, decommissioning, or installation without license; criminal penalty; civil penalty.

§ 46-1239. Unauthorized employment; construction, decommissioning, or installation without license; criminal penalty; civil penalty.

Any person who fails to employ or use at least one individual appropriately licensed and available or any person who engages, without a license for such activities, in the construction of water wells, the installation of pumps and pumping equipment, or the decommissioning of water wells is guilty of a Class II misdemeanor or subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each day the violation occurs.

Any civil penalty assessed and unpaid shall constitute a debt to the state which may be collected in the manner of a lien foreclosure or sued for and recovered in a proper form of action in the name of the state in the district court of the county in which the violator resides or owns property. An action to collect a civil penalty shall be brought within two years of the alleged violation providing the basis of the penalty, except that if the cause of action is not discovered and could not be reasonably discovered within the two-year period, the action may be commenced within two years after the date of discovery or after the date of discovery of facts which would reasonably lead to discovery, whichever is earlier. The department shall remit the civil penalty to the State Treasurer, within thirty days after receipt, for distribution in accordance with Article VII, section 5, of the Constitution of Nebraska.