Session Review: Natural Resources
The Natural Resources Committee this session advanced measures that created a battery recycling program, raised the cap on state park entry fees and merged two state agencies tasked with managing Nebraska’s water resources.
LB317, introduced by Plymouth Sen. Tom Brandt at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, merges the state Department of Natural Resources with the state Department of Environment and Energy, which will be renamed the Department of Water, Energy and Environment. The agencies merged July 1.
The director of the Department of Environment and Energy will lead the new agency. The Department of Natural Resources director will become the Chief Water Officer, who will head the new Division of Water and report directly to the DWEE director.
The Chief Water Officer will be appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the Legislature.
The bill passed on a vote of 34-12 and took effect immediately.
Omnibus bill
LB36, introduced by Brandt and passed on a vote of 43-6, includes provisions of seven measures considered by the committee this session.
The amended provisions of LB309, sponsored by Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward, create the Safe Battery Collection and Recycling Act. The act requires battery manufacturers to pay for the collection and recycling of portable and medium format batteries at the end of their useful life.
Beginning in 2028, producers and retailers may not sell any covered battery or battery containing product unless they are a member of a battery stewardship organization approved by the state Department of Water, Energy and Environment. Each BSO is required to submit a battery stewardship plan to the department by Jan. 1, 2027.
Among several other requirements, a BSO must provide for free and convenient statewide collection opportunities for all covered batteries and provide a certain number of collection sites within three years after a plan’s approval.
Finally, the measure creates civil penalties for violating the act and prohibits individuals from improperly disposing of a covered battery.
The provisions of LB344, introduced by Brandt, modify groundwater allocations for municipalities in fully or overappropriated areas.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, any new or expanded commercial or industrial user served by a municipal water source that uses more than 25 million gallons of water annually is subject to the controls of an integrated management plan, rule or order and is required to provide a mitigation report to the applicable natural resources district.
Integrated management plans, rules or orders within fully or overappropriated areas may require municipalities to report annual water use and consumption.
The amended provisions of LB459, sponsored by Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad, create the Home Weatherization Clearinghouse.
The clearinghouse is required to establish an information hub for home weatherization project funding. It also will assist in coordinating efforts by state and local agencies to optimize the execution of those projects.
The provisions of LB480, introduced by Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara, authorize the state Game and Parks Commission to carry out additional projects at Lake McConaughy, the Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area and Niobrara State Park under the Water Recreation Enhancement Act.
The provisions of LB562, sponsored by Brandt, increase the maximum fees that the commission may charge for an annual resident motor vehicle park entry permit from $35 to $50 and a temporary permit from $7 to $10.
The maximum fees for nonresident annual and temporary permits are twice the corresponding resident permit fees.
Brandt’s measure also allows the commission to issue two permits rather than one for hunting mountain sheep in an auction that is open to Nebraska residents and nonresidents. The number of additional permits may not exceed the number of those awarded to residents in an initial random drawing.
Additionally, the bill increases the maximum cost for an aquatic invasive species stamp for nonresident motorboat owners from $15 to $30.
LB36 also allows a Nebraska resident or nonresident who is the partner, officer, shareholder or beneficiary designated as the qualifying landowner by a partnership, corporation or trust to qualify for a limited permit to hunt elk.
The amended provisions of LB590, introduced by Columbus Sen. Mike Moser, authorize the state Department of Transportation to establish a mitigation bank or in-lieu-fee program to offset the environmental effects of transportation projects, including impacts to threatened or endangered species.
The measure requires any state agency or other entity that owns a mitigation bank acquired to restore, enhance, preserve or create habitat or wetlands to pay a sum in lieu of ad valorem taxes lost by the county.
The provisions of LB595, sponsored by Sen. Jason Prokop of Lincoln, create the Research Excellence Cash Fund. It will support research-based investments in data, data collection and ongoing research critical to the state’s economy, including the Nebraska Mesonet system, a statewide network of weather monitoring stations.
The fund, administered by the University of Nebraska, will consist of money from gifts, grants or bequests as well as transfers authorized by the Legislature.
Other measures
The committee advanced a bill intended to modernize the licensing and regulation of professional geologists working in Nebraska.
LB38, sponsored by North Platte Sen. Mike Jacobson and passed 48-0, updates administrative practices and terms in the Geologists Regulation Act.
Among other changes, the bill:
• reduces the minimum number of years of geologic work experience required for licensure from five to four;
• allows individuals who practice any combination of certain geology-related activities for at least 15 years to apply for licensure; and
• requires that one member of the state Board of Geologists is a professional geologist who also is a faculty member of a geology or related geosciences department of a Nebraska college or university.
The committee also advanced a measure aimed at safeguarding electric infrastructure near sensitive military installations in Nebraska.
Electric suppliers must provide written notice to the Nebraska Power Review Board before beginning construction of or acquiring certain electric generation facilities or transmission lines located within a 10-mile radius of a military installation. Previously, the notice certified that the infrastructure contains no materials, electronics or other components manufactured by a foreign adversary as determined by federal regulations.
LB43, introduced by DeKay, ensures that the requirement applies only to “electronic-related” equipment and components in electric infrastructure located near Offutt Air Force Base and ballistic missile silos in western Nebraska.
The bill requires an electric supplier, in consultation with its vendors, to submit a one-time written notice to the board certifying that the applicable facilities are continually in compliance with the bill’s requirements. A supplier must submit further notice any time a facility no longer is in compliance.
Finally, the measure allows a supplier to use the otherwise prohibited equipment or components if the board preapproves their use under certain conditions.
Similar requirements apply to owners of privately developed renewable energy generation facilities.
Lawmakers voted 48-0 to pass LB43. The bill took effect immediately.
LB247, also sponsored by DeKay, increases a fee on landfill operators from $1.25 to $2.34 per ton of solid waste, six cubic yards of uncompacted solid waste or three cubic yards of compacted solid waste.
The bill directs 65% of the fees to the Integrated Solid Waste Management Cash Fund, with the remainder going to the Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Fund.
Under the bill, the solid waste fund — which is used to cover the costs of responding to spills or other environmental emergencies — also may be used to provide cost share, operation and maintenance for remediation of federal superfund sites.
In addition to the fee increase, LB247 repeals a provision allowing the Legislature to direct transfers from the Petroleum Release Remedial Action Cash Fund to the Superfund Cost Share Cash Fund.
The bill passed on a vote of 44-2 and took effect immediately.
The committee took no action on a proposed constitutional amendment under which Nebraskans would have the right to a “clean and healthy environment,” including pure water, clean air and a safe climate.
If approved by the Legislature, LR22CA, introduced by Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would place the question on the November 2026 general election ballot.
The amendment would require the state and each of its political subdivisions to serve as trustee of Nebraska’s natural resources and conserve, protect and maintain those resources for the benefit of all.
