1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 445C.090, a regulated person is presumed not to be liable for an administrative or civil penalty for a violation of an environmental requirement if:

(a) The regulated person conducted an environmental audit pursuant to a written agreement with the appropriate regulatory agency and the agreement prescribed the:

(1) Scope, methods and schedule for conducting the audit; and

(2) Manner in which a violation of an environmental requirement must be reported to the regulatory agency, including, but not limited to, the number of days after the discovery of a violation that the regulated person must report the violation to the regulatory agency;

(b) The regulated person voluntarily disclosed the results of the environmental audit to the appropriate regulatory agency in accordance with the requirements of the written agreement;

(c) The regulated person or regulated facility has not been issued a citation for a violation of the environmental requirement in the immediately preceding 3 years;

(d) The regulated person entered into an enforceable agreement with the appropriate regulatory agency to:

(1) Comply, as soon as practicable after the violation, with the environmental requirement;

(2) Remedy any damage or other harm caused by the violation; and

(3) Take action to prevent a recurrence of the violation; and

(e) The environmental requirement that was violated is not a requirement for which the regulated person or regulatory facility was specifically required to comply pursuant to a judicial or administrative order or consent agreement.

2. A written agreement that prescribes the scope, methods and schedule for conducting an environmental audit may be reasonably modified if the regulated person and the regulatory agency specifically agree to the modification.

3. If a federal statute or regulation provides for the imposition of a penalty for a violation of an environmental requirement, the voluntary disclosure is, to the extent permitted under the statute or regulation, a mitigating factor in determining the amount of the penalty for the violation.

4. The presumption against administrative or civil liability does not limit the authority of a regulatory agency to order a regulated person to comply with an environmental requirement whose violation it discovered because the regulated person voluntarily disclosed the results of an environmental audit.

(Added to NRS by 1997, 1076)