Interstate Allocation of the Platte River

27 pages. Contains references

Community Options for Wellhead Protection Areas

The Wellhead Protection Area Act (WHPA Act) was adopted in 1998. The WHPA Act authorizes public water suppliers (primarily cities and villages) to designate wellhead protection areas (WHPAs) to protect community water supplies from pollution. Under the Nebraska Safe Drinking Water Quality Act, the quality of water provided by public water supply systems is regulated by the Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services. If a community’s water violates drinking water standards, the community can operate only under NDHHS administrative order until the violations are corrected. Nitrate is Nebraska’s most widespread groundwater contaminant. If a community’s water exceeds the 10 parts per million (ppm) nitrate drinking water standard, a community may use a WHPA program as a long-term solution to nitrate contamination, avoiding costly replacement of existing wells or developing advanced water treatment systems to remove nitrates from drinking water. The WHPA can be used so long as nitrates are less than 15 ppm and the community provides bottled water to infants and pregnant women. This newsletter examines the wellhead protection area program, and evaluates different community legal authorities to protect the community’s drinking water supplies for first and second class cities and villages

Cooperative & Nebraska “Blue Sky” Statutes

Cooperative fever is sweeping Nebraska. Agricultural producers are looking for ways to add value to what they produce, often through forming “new generation” cooperatives or by forming limited liability companies (LLCs). New generation cooperatives differ from traditional cooperatives in that new generation cooperatives typically (1) have closed membership and (2) process goods produced by co-op members. New generation cooperatives are more like citrus and other fruit cooperatives that have existed in other parts of the country. The Nebraska Unicameral is providing financial assistance to assist developing these kinds of value-added efforts through LB1348, the “Agricultural Opportunities and Value-Added Partnerships Act.” LB1348 was enacted in 2000 and is administered by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. For questions regarding LB1348 grants, call the NDA at (800) 422-6692

Nebraska & Surrounding States\u27 Agricultural Property Taxes as a Percentage of State Net Farm Income Compared to the US Average

For the period 1950-2017, Nebraska property taxes on agricultural property as a percentage of net farm income were 146% of the US agricultural property taxes as a percentage of US net farm income

Regulating Tributary Wells in the Republican River Basin

On December 16, 2002 Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado settled the Republican River Compact lawsuit. The settlement allowed each state to use the same amount of water as was originally established in the 1943 compact. However, the settlement requires Nebraska to treat “tributary” wells, i.e. wells the pumping of which affects the river’s flow, as part of Nebraska’s compact water use. Further, regulation of these tributary wells will be required in dry years to insure that Kansas receives the water to which it is entitled. It is important to note that the settlement does not use the term “tributary wells.” Instead the settlement refers to “alluvial” wells and “table land” wells. Alluvial wells are very close to the river or located generally within the river’s floodplain. Table land wells are essentially wells further away from the stream. I find it convenient to refer to both groups of wells as tributary wells. Computer modeling will ultimately identify tributary wells; but wells located within the areas subject to the ban on new well drilling are likely to be tributary wells

Supreme Court Declares Greenhouse Gas an Air Pollutant

On April 2, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2 Massachusetts v. EPA ruled 5-4 that carbon dioxide (CO ) was an air pollutant under the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA). The court’s decision means that the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to reconsider its decision not to regulate carbon monoxide (CO) as an air pollutant when establishing auto tailpipe emission requirements. The court’s decision is an important victory for those seeking a more active United States policy on regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat global warming. This newsletter examines the United States role in global warming, the Massachusetts decision, and the decision’s impact on United States GHG regulation policies

Ground Water Mining Law and Policy

This 1982 University of Colorado Law Review article surveys western ground water management policies, reviews western state legislation for dealing with ground water problems in critical areas, and discusses ground water depletion policy choices

Well Interference and Ground Water Mining: The Legal Framework

16 pages

2019 Nebraska Property Tax School Funding Issues

Nebraska agricultural property taxes are among the highest in the United States. Over the last three years, Nebraska farmers and ranchers have paid nearly 31 percent of their net farm income as property taxes (47 percent in 2017). When state and federal taxes are factored in, this represents an effective tax rate of more than 50 percent (over 60 percent in 2017). While no one particularly enjoys paying property taxes (or any other tax), property taxes are especially burdensome for Nebraska farmers and ranchers. The proposed 2020 constitutional amendment to provide property tax relief would require dramatic state spending cuts, equally dramatic state sales and income tax increases, or both. This newsletter provides an introduction to the role of property taxes in financing state and local government in Nebraska as well as K-12 education. We then examine some of the major property tax relief proposals and how they might impact taxing and spending in Nebraska