Nebraska nurseries and pesticide registrants would pay listed fees

Nebraska would set fees for nursery licenses, plant inspections, and plant shipping certificates. Nursery licenses would cost $140 for the first acre and $39 per additional acre. Covered inspections would cost $39 an hour plus $0.70 a mile. Later annual license fee adjustments would use the same percentage across categories and stay within listed caps and program budget limits. Inspection charges would count partial hours and driving time, plus mileage. The 25% monthly charge for selling without a license has no stated total cap. Annual license fee adjustments would apply beginning January 1, 2028.

Businesses would pay the Department of Agriculture for each pesticide they register or renew in Nebraska. The fee would cover each pesticide submitted for registration or renewal. The Department of Agriculture could adjust the fee through rules, but it could not exceed $250 per pesticide. Each fee would send $50 to the Noxious Weed Cash Fund, $50 to the Buffer Strip Incentive Fund, and $55 to the Natural Resources Water Quality Fund. The rest would go to the Pesticide Administrative Cash Fund. This provision would take effect when the proposal was passed and approved according to law.

The State Treasurer would move the remaining Nebraska Potato Development Fund balance to the Plant Protection and Plant Pest Cash Fund. The transfer would cover any money remaining in the Nebraska Potato Development Fund. The proposed closing date was July 1, 2026, with the transfer to follow as soon as the state could carry it out.

The Department of Agriculture could distribute or dispose of its remaining Weeds of the Great Plains books and inserts. This authority would cover books and supplemental inserts already held by the Department of Agriculture. Money from selling the remaining publications would go to the Noxious Weed Cash Fund. The State Treasurer would transfer all money in the Weed Book Cash Fund by January 1, 2027.