71-5306.

Director; powers and duties; Safe Drinking Water Act Cash Fund; created; use; investment.

(1) To carry out the provisions and purposes of the Nebraska Safe Drinking Water Act, the director may:

(a) Enter into agreements, contracts, or cooperative arrangements, under such terms as are deemed appropriate, with other state, federal, or interstate agencies or with municipalities, educational institutions, local health departments, or other organizations, entities, or individuals;

(b) Require all laboratory analyses to be performed at the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Environmental Laboratory, or at any other certified laboratory which has entered into an agreement for such services with the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to section 71-2618;

(c) Receive financial and technical assistance from an agency of the federal government or from any other public or private agency;

(d) Enter the premises of a public water system at any time for the purpose of conducting monitoring, making inspections, or collecting water samples for analysis;

(e) Delegate those responsibilities and duties as deemed appropriate for the purpose of administering the requirements of the Nebraska Safe Drinking Water Act, including entering into agreements with designated agents which shall perform specifically delegated responsibilities and possess specifically delegated powers;

(f) Require the owner and operator of a public water system to establish and maintain records, make reports, and provide information as the department may reasonably require by regulation to enable it to determine whether such owner or operator has acted or is acting in compliance with the Nebraska Safe Drinking Water Act and rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto. The department or its designated agent shall have access at all times to such records and reports; and

(g) Assess by regulation a fee for any review of plans and specifications pertaining to a public water system governed by section 71-5305 in order to defray no more than the actual cost of the services provided.

(2) All fees collected by the department pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the State Treasurer for credit to the Safe Drinking Water Act Cash Fund, which is hereby created. Such fund shall be used by the department for the purpose of administering the Nebraska Safe Drinking Water Act. Any money in the fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.