§ 25-21,255.Terms, defined.

Not every internal review of environmental compliance qualifies for protection under the sections that follow, and section 25-21,255 draws the line. An “environmental audit” has to be a document, dated and labeled as a confidential environmental audit, prepared under a specific written directive to review compliance with one or more environmental requirements. That definition covers any report, finding, communication, or opinion — or a draft of one — related to and produced by a voluntary self-evaluation done in good faith. Skip the labeling or the written directive, and the document falls outside the definition.

“Environmental requirement” reaches broadly across Nebraska’s environmental statutes: the Environmental Protection Act, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, the Nebraska Chemigation Act, the Pesticide Act, and the Petroleum Products and Hazardous Substances Storage and Handling Act, along with federal law and any rule, regulation, permit, order, agreement, or court order issued under any of them. It also includes a local government’s ordinance or other legally binding requirement adopted under state or federal authority relating to environmental protection.

“Person” is defined expansively — individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, associations, public or private corporations, trustees, receivers, assignees, agents, municipalities, other governmental subdivisions, public agencies, and other legal entities, along with their officers or governing bodies. And “voluntary self-evaluation” means a self-initiated assessment, audit, or review — not one an environmental requirement already demands — performed by an employee assigned that task or by a consultant engaged for it, to determine whether the person is complying with environmental requirements. A review a permit or regulation already required is not voluntary, no matter how it is labeled.