PRESERVATION OF ENDANGERED AND THREATENED WILDLIFE IN CERTAIN RURAL COUNTIES ACT

[Rev. 6/29/2024 7:33:22 PM--2023]

Chapter 349, Statutes of Nevada 1999

AN ACT relating to land use planning; authorizing certain cities and counties to represent themselves with respect to certain matters involving the use of federal land; authorizing certain cities and counties to bring and intervene in actions with respect to certain activities of federal agencies and instrumentalities; authorizing the Board of County Commissioners of Esmeralda, Lincoln or Nye County to create an area or zone for the preservation of a species or subspecies of wildlife that is threatened with extinction and to impose and collect a fee for that purpose; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

[Approved: May 28, 1999]

(Leadlines for sections have been supplied by the Legislative Counsel of the State of Nevada)

The People of the State of Nevada, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Sec. 6. Legislative findings and declaration; authority of certain boards of county commissioners; imposition and administration of fee for construction of structure or grading of land.

1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:

(a) Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties contain species and subspecies of wildlife that have been or are likely to be declared endangered or threatened pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended;

(b) These counties are not authorized currently to carry out programs for the preservation of endangered or threatened species or subspecies of wildlife;

(c) The declaration of species and subspecies of wildlife in Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties as endangered or threatened will have a serious adverse effect on the economy of those counties and on the lifestyles of their residents; and

(d) Because a general law cannot be made applicable because of the economic and geographical diversity of these rural counties, it is necessary by special act to provide a means by which Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties may promote the protection of their natural resources while simultaneously protecting their human and financial resources.

2. The Board of County Commissioners of Esmeralda, Lincoln or Nye County, individually or jointly by interlocal agreement, may by ordinance establish, control, manage and operate or provide money for the establishment, control, management and operation of an area or zone for the preservation of a species or subspecies of wildlife that has been declared endangered or threatened pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. In addition, the Board of County Commissioners, in cooperation with the responsible state and federal agencies, may encourage in any other manner the preservation of those species or subspecies or any species or subspecies of wildlife in the county which have been determined by the Board of County Commissioners to be likely to have a significant impact upon the economy and lifestyles of the residents of the county if listed as endangered or threatened, including, without limitation, the expenditure for this purpose of money collected pursuant to subsection 3 or the participation in an agreement made pursuant to NRS 503.589. The Board of County Commissioners may purchase, sell, exchange or lease real property, personal property, water rights, grazing permits and other interests in such property for this purpose, pursuant to such reasonable regulations as the Board of County Commissioners may establish. If any such property, rights or other interests are purchased from a nonprofit organization, the Board of County Commissioners may reimburse the organization for its cost of acquisition, not to exceed its appraised value, and any interest, carrying costs, direct expenses and reasonable overhead charges.

3. The Board of County Commissioners may, by ordinance, impose a reasonable fee of not more than $550 per acre on the construction of a structure or the grading of land in the unincorporated areas of the county for the expense of carrying out the provisions of subsection 2. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the fee must be collected at the same time and in the same manner as the fee for the issuance of a building permit collected pursuant to NRS 278.580. If a county does not issue building permits in all areas of the county, the fee must be collected before the construction of a structure or the grading of land in an area of the county in which the county does not issue building permits.

4. If a fee is imposed pursuant to subsection 3, the Board of County Commissioners shall create an enterprise fund exclusively for fees collected pursuant to subsection 3. Any interest or other income earned on the money in the Fund, after deducting any applicable charges, must be credited to the Fund. The money in the Fund may only be used to pay the actual direct costs of the program or programs established pursuant to subsection 2.

(Ch. 349, Stats. 1999 p. 1422)