81-2,270.

Food establishment, food processing plant, or salvage operation; permits; application; contents; fees; late fee; exemptions.

(1) No person shall operate without a valid permit:

(a) A food establishment conducting those food handling activities authorized by such permit;

(b) A food processing plant; or

(c) A salvage operation.

(2) Application for a permit shall be made to the director on forms prescribed and furnished by the department. Such application shall include (a) the applicant's full name and mailing address and the names and addresses of any partners, members, or corporate officers, (b) whether the applicant is an individual, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or other legal entity, (c) the location and type of proposed establishment or operation, and (d) the signature of the applicant. Application for a permit shall be made prior to the operation of a food establishment, food processing plant, or salvage operation. The application shall be accompanied by an initial permit fee and an initial inspection fee in the same amount as the annual inspection fee if inspections are required to be done by the department. If any food establishment, food processing plant, or salvage operation is operating without a valid permit, such establishment, plant, or operation shall pay an additional fee of sixty dollars prior to the issuance of a valid permit.

(3) Payment of the initial permit fee, the initial inspection fee, and the fee for operating without a valid permit shall not preclude payment of the annual inspection fees due on August 1 of each year. Except as provided in subsections (7) through (10) of this section and subsection (2) of section 81-2,281, a permitholder shall pay annual inspection fees on or before August 1 of each year regardless of when the initial permit was obtained.

(4)(a) The director shall set the initial permit fee and the annual inspection fees on or before July 1 of each fiscal year to meet the criteria in this subsection. The director may raise or lower the fees each year, but the fees shall not exceed the maximum fees listed in subdivision (4)(b) of this section. The director shall determine the fees based on estimated annual revenue and fiscal year-end cash fund balance as follows:

(i) The estimated annual revenue shall not be greater than one hundred seven percent of program cash fund appropriations allocated for the Nebraska Pure Food Act;

(ii) The estimated fiscal year-end cash fund balance shall not be greater than seventeen percent of program cash fund appropriations allocated for the act; and

(iii) All fee increases or decreases shall be equally distributed between all categories.

(b) The maximum fees are:

(5) For a food establishment, a base inspection fee includes one food preparation area and one food handling activity based upon the primary food handling activity conducted within the food establishment as determined by the department. The annual inspection fee shall also include any fees assessed for each additional food preparation area within the primary establishment and any applicable secondary food handling activity as determined by the department. Any mobile food establishment that does not return to a commissary each day shall obtain a separate permit and pay the base inspection fee for the mobile food establishment.

(6) If a person fails to pay the inspection fee for more than one month after the fee is due, such person shall pay a late fee equal to fifty percent of the total fee for the first month that the fee is late and one hundred percent for the second month that the fee is late. The purpose of the late fee is to cover the administrative costs associated with collecting fees. All money collected as a late fee shall be remitted to the State Treasurer for credit to the Pure Food Cash Fund. If the total fees due remain unpaid ninety days after the original due date, the permit shall no longer be valid.

(7) An educational institution, health care facility, nursing home, or governmental organization operating any type of food establishment, other than a mobile food unit or pushcart, is exempt from the requirements in subsections (1) through (6) of this section.

(8) A food establishment which produces eggs and only stores, packages, sells, delivers, or otherwise provides for human consumption the eggs it produces, or only stores, packages, sells, delivers, or otherwise provides for human consumption eggs produced from no more than four producers at the same time, is exempt from the requirements of subsections (1) through (6) of this section.

(9) A food establishment or food processing plant holding a permit under the Nebraska Milk Act is exempt from the requirements of subsections (1) through (6) of this section.

(10) A single event food vendor or a religious, charitable, or fraternal organization operating any type of temporary food establishment, mobile food unit, or pushcart is exempt from the requirements of subsections (1) through (6) of this section. Any such organization operating any nontemporary food establishment prior to July 1, 1985, is exempt from the requirements of subsection (2) of this section.

(11) A permitholder may sell food prepared by the permitholder at the location of another permitholder without obtaining a separate permit at such location so long as the permitholder preparing the food is not a food processing plant. Both the permitholder preparing the food and the permitholder selling the food are responsible for compliance with the Nebraska Pure Food Act.