481A.151  Restitution for pollution causing injury to wild animals.
  1.  A person who is liable for polluting a water of this state in violation of state law, including this chapter, shall also be liable to pay restitution to the department for injury caused to a wild animal by the pollution. The amount of the restitution shall also include the department’s administrative costs for investigating the incident. The administration of this section shall not result in a duplication of damages collected by the department under section 455B.392, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (3).
  2.  The commission shall adopt rules providing for procedures for investigations and the administrative assessment of restitution amounts. The rules shall establish an opportunity to appeal a departmental action including by a contested case proceeding under chapter 17A. A final administrative decision assessing an amount of restitution may be enforced by the attorney general at the request of the director.
  3.  Rules adopted by the commission shall provide for methods used to determine the extent of an injury and the monetary values for the loss of injured wild animals based on species.
  a.  The rules shall provide for methods used to count dead fish and to calculate restitution values. The rules may incorporate methods and values published by the American fisheries society. To every extent practicable, the values shall be based on the estimates of lost recreational angler opportunities where applicable. As an alternative method of valuation, the rules may provide that for fish species that are protected by catch limits, possession limits, size limits, or closed seasons applicable to anglers, liquidated damages apply. The amount of the liquidated damages shall not exceed fifteen dollars per fish. For fish species that are classified by the commission as endangered or threatened, the rules may establish liquidated damages not to exceed one thousand dollars per fish.
  b.  The rules shall provide guidelines for estimating the extent of loss of a species that is affected by a pollution incident but which would not be practical to count in sample areas. The rules may establish liquidated damage amounts for species whose replacement cost is difficult to determine.
  4.  Moneys collected by the department in restitution shall be deposited into the state fish and game protection fund. The moneys shall be used exclusively to support restoration or improvement of fisheries, including but not limited to aquatic habitat improvement projects as provided in rules adopted by the commission. However, moneys collected from restitution paid for investigative costs shall be used as determined by the director.
2002 Acts, ch 1137, §58, 71
Referred to in §481A.130