Nevada Senate unanimously passes Lake Tahoe vessel-speed and pipeline-penalty bills; several measures sent to finance

The Nevada Senate on Thursday approved two measures on final passage and moved several other bills to finance committees for further review.

Senate Bill 106 passed by voice vote after floor remarks, with the secretary recording 21 in favor and 0 against. Senator Ellison said the bill “makes it a crime punishable as a misdemeanor to operate or to permit to be operated any watercraft vessel or speeds more than 5 nautical miles per hour within 600 feet of the shoreline at Lake Tahoe,” and that the measure updates a cross-reference to the Tahoe regional planning agency code. The measure was declared passed and ordered to the Assembly.

In a separate floor action, Senate Bill 321 likewise passed with a recorded vote of 21 in favor and 0 against. Senator Winn said the bill “aligns state civil penalties for violations of natural gas pipeline safety regulations adopted by the public utilities commission of Nevada with penalties set forth at the federal level, which adjust annually for inflation,” and noted the bill “eliminates provisions allowing penalties to be deducted from state payments owed to violators.” The bill was declared passed and ordered to the Assembly.

Several other bills were moved for additional fiscal review. Senator Winn moved to re-refer Senate Bill 263 to the Committee on Finance “as that has a fiscal impact”; the motion carried. Senator Winn also moved to re-refer Senate Bill 344 to the Committee on Finance; that motion carried. Senate Bill 370 was ordered to the general file. On the floor, these re-referrals and file movements were presented as procedural steps so committees can consider fiscal analyses before final passage votes.

The floor also approved a motion to accredit certain people as press; that motion was called, voiced and carried. Earlier in the session, multiple committee reports were read into the record and the Fiscal and Physical Analysis divisions issued notices of exemption for a list of measures under Joint Standing Rule 14.6.

Votes at a glance

- Senate Bill 106 — Passed (ordered to Assembly). Sponsor/intro: Senate Committee on Natural Resources. Floor explanation by Senator Ellison. Recorded vote: 21 yes, 0 no. Key provision: misdemeanor for operating a vessel at more than 5 nautical miles per hour within 600 feet of the shoreline at Lake Tahoe; updates cross-reference to Tahoe Regional Planning Agency code.

- Senate Bill 321 — Passed (ordered to Assembly). Introduced by Senator Wynne. Floor remarks by Senator Winn. Recorded vote: 21 yes, 0 no. Key provisions: aligns Nevada civil penalties for natural gas pipeline safety violations with federal penalty levels adjusted for inflation; removes a provision allowing penalties to be offset by deductions from state payments owed to violators.

Other floor actions

- Senate Bill 263 — Re-referred to Committee on Finance on motion of Senator Winn (motion carried). Reason stated on floor: fiscal impact.

- Senate Bill 344 — Re-referred to Committee on Finance on motion of Senator Winn (motion carried). Reason stated on floor: fiscal impact.

- Senate Bill 370 — Ordered to general file (no final passage vote recorded on floor).

- Motion to accredit certain individuals as press — Motion carried.

What this means next

Bills re-referred to the Committee on Finance will receive committee-level fiscal review before further floor action. Bills that passed on final reading were ordered to the Assembly for consideration there. The floor record shows unanimous recorded votes on the two passed measures and largely procedural floor activity for other items during this legislative day.