(2) The department may adopt, promulgate, and enforce such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the supervision and control of manufactured and refined food for animals to prevent deleterious substances being present in human foods of animal origin and the manufacture, importation, sale, and storage of any biological material including semen, remedy, or curative agent for use on or in any animal that may be capable of causing or spreading disease, and as far as practicable such rules and regulations approved by the United States Department of Agriculture shall be adopted. All of the powers and duties of the department with reference to the protection of the health of livestock shall be exercised by and through the Bureau of Animal Industry.

(2) Shall conduct surveillance to monitor program disease control and eradication programs;

(3) Shall conduct surveillance to detect and monitor nonprogram diseases which are, or have the potential of, causing a serious health threat to livestock. The department shall determine and employ the most efficient and practical means to conduct surveillance for livestock diseases at such places as in livestock herds, at slaughter establishments, at livestock concentration points, and at other places where livestock are assembled. When the diseases are nonprogram diseases, surveillance shall be done when in concurrence with the owner of the premises where the surveillance is to be conducted, except that if the State Veterinarian determines, in consultation and agreement with the respective livestock health committee described in subdivision (4) of this section, that the diseases may pose a serious threat to the livestock industry, the State Veterinarian may order surveillance to be conducted at any place where livestock are assembled. If an agreement between the State Veterinarian and the respective livestock health committee cannot be reached, the final decision shall be made by the director;

(4) Shall encourage involvement from livestock producers by forming livestock health committees to provide ways for producers to assist the department in developing policy regarding livestock disease issues. Membership of such committees shall be selected by the respective livestock groups. Additional appointments may be made by the director. The purpose of the committees is to advise and recommend, to the department, when a disease or diseases should be monitored by surveillance and what diseases should be considered for proposed legislation for a disease control eradication program;

(5) Shall provide voluntary livestock certification programs as provided in sections 54- 797 to 54-7,103;

(6) Shall assist public health agencies, diagnostic laboratories, and researchers in conducting epidemiological studies of diseases known to be, or suspected of being, transmitted from livestock to humans;

(7) Shall cooperate and contract with persons or local, state, and national organizations, public or private, and enter into agreements with other state or federal agencies to allow such agencies' personnel to work in Nebraska and to allow the department's personnel to work in other states or with federal agencies under a cooperative work program; and

(8) Shall encourage the use of private accredited veterinarians whenever feasible in carrying out the provisions of sections 54-701 to 54-753.05 and 54-797 to 54-7,103.

(2) Animal means all vertebrate members of the animal kingdom except humans or wild animals at large;

(3) Bureau of Animal Industry means the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture of the State of Nebraska and includes the State Veterinarian, deputy state veterinarian, veterinary field officers, livestock inspectors, investigators, and other employees of the bureau;

(4) Dangerous disease means a disease transmissible to and among livestock which has the potential for rapid spread, serious economic impact or serious threat to livestock health, and is of major importance in the trade of livestock and livestock products;

(5) Department means the Department of Agriculture of the State of Nebraska;

(6) Director means the Director of Agriculture of the State of Nebraska or his or her designee;

(7) Domesticated cervine animal means any elk, deer, or other member of the family cervidae legally obtained from a facility which has a license, permit, or registration authorizing domesticated cervine animals which has been issued by the state where the facility is located and such animal is raised in a confined area;

(8) Exotic animal means any animal which is not commonly sold through licensed livestock auction markets pursuant to the Livestock Auction Market Act. Such animals shall include, but not be limited to, miniature cattle, miniature horses, miniature donkeys, Barbary sheep, Dall's sheep, alpacas, llamas, pot-bellied pigs, and small mammals, with the exception of cats of the Felis domesticus species and dogs of the Canis familiaris species. The term also includes birds and poultry. The term does not include beef and dairy cattle, calves, swine, bison, sheep sold for wool or food, goats sold for dairy, food, or fiber, and domesticated cervine animals;

(9) Exotic animal auction or swap meet means any event or location as defined in rules and regulations of the department, other than a livestock auction market as defined in section 54-1158, where (a) an exotic animal is purchased, sold, traded, bartered, given away, or otherwise transferred, (b) an offer to purchase an exotic animal is made, or (c) an exotic animal is offered to be sold, traded, bartered, given away, or otherwise transferred;

(10) Exotic animal auction or swap meet organizer means a person in charge, as identified by rule and regulation of the department, of organizing an exotic animal auction or swap meet event, and may include any person who: (a) Arranges events for third parties to have private sales or trades of exotic animals; (b) organizes or coordinates exotic animal auctions or swap meets; (c) leases out areas for exotic animal auctions or swap meets; or (d) provides or coordinates other similar arrangements involving exotic animals;

(11) Exposed means being part of a herd which contains or has contained an animal infected with a disease agent which affects livestock or having had a reasonable opportunity to come in contact with an infective disease agent which affects livestock;

(12) Herd means any group of livestock maintained on common ground for any purpose or two or more groups of livestock under common ownership or supervision geographically separated but which have an interchange of livestock without regard to health status;

(13) Livestock means cattle, swine, sheep, horses, mules, goats, domesticated cervine animals, ratite birds, and poultry;

(14) Poultry means domesticated birds that serve as a source of eggs or meat and includes, but is not limited to, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese;

(15) Program disease means a livestock disease for which specific legislation exists for disease control or eradication;

(16) Quarantine means restriction of (a) movement imposed by the department on an animal, group of animals, or herd of animals because of infection with, or exposure to, a disease agent which affects livestock and (b) use of equipment, facilities, land, buildings, and enclosures which are used or have been used by animals infected with, or suspected of being infected with, a disease agent which affects livestock;

(17) Ratite bird means any ostrich, emu, rhea, kiwi, or cassowary;

(18) Sale means a sale, lease, loan, trade, barter, or gift;

(19) Surveillance means the collection and testing of livestock blood, tissue, hair, body fluids, discharges, excrements, or other samples done in a herd or randomly selected livestock to determine the presence or incidence of disease in the state or area of the state; and

(20) Veterinarian means an individual who is a graduate of an accredited college of veterinary medicine.

(a) Is authorized by the person who provides the information; or

(b) Is necessary for purposes of disease surveillance or to carry out epidemiological investigations related to incidences of animal disease.

(3) Any person who violates this section shall be subject to prosecution and penalty for official misconduct pursuant to section 28-924.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the department from discussing, reporting, or otherwise disclosing the progress or results of disease surveillance activities or epidemiological investigations related to incidences of animal disease.

(2) The department and any officer, agent, employee, or appointee of the department shall have the right to enter upon the premises of any person who has, or is suspected of having, any animal thereon, including any premises where the carcass or carcasses of dead livestock may be found or where a facility for the disposal or storage of dead livestock is located, for the purpose of making any and all inspections, examinations, tests, and treatments of such animal, to inspect livestock carcass disposal practices, and to declare, carry out, and enforce any and all quarantines.

(3) The department, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Health and Human Services, may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations reflecting best management practices for the burial of carcasses of dead livestock.

(4) The Department of Agriculture shall further adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to promptly and efficiently enforce and effectuate the general purpose and provisions of such sections.

(2) Livestock carcasses up to six hundred pounds may be incorporated into a composting facility on the premises where the livestock died and shall remain in such compost facility until completely composted before spreading on land. Any person incorporating livestock carcasses into a composting facility shall follow the operating procedures as set forth in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Volume 210, No. 8. Not less than one copy of such journal, or portion thereof, shall be filed for use and examination by the public in the offices of the Clerk of the Legislature and the Secretary of State. The Department of Agriculture shall regulate the composting of livestock carcasses and shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing the same, which rules and regulations may incorporate or may modify the operating procedures set forth in this subsection.

(3) An animal carcass or carcass part may be transported by the owner or the owner's agent to a veterinary clinic or veterinary diagnostic laboratory for purposes of performing diagnostic procedures.

(4) Carcasses disposed of in compliance with this section or section 54-744.01 are exempt from the requirements for disposal of solid waste under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act.

(a) The project is designed and conducted by one or more research faculty of the University of Nebraska;

(b) The project does not duplicate other research or demonstration projects;

(c) The project sponsors submit annual reports on the project and a final report at the conclusion of the project;

(d) The project employs adequate safeguards against disease transmission or environmental contamination; and

(e) The project meets any other conditions deemed prudent by the director.

(3) Only the carcasses of livestock that have died upon the animal feeding operation premises where a research or demonstration facility for innovative livestock disposal methods is located may be disposed of at such facility. Carcasses from other locations shall not be transported to such facility for disposal.

(4) A facility registered under this section is exempt from the requirements for disposal of solid waste under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act.