(a) Any costs incurred and payable from the fund by the administrator pursuant to this article shall constitute a claim and lien upon the real property owned by a responsible party which is subject to, or affected by, a response action. A lien established by this subdivision shall have all of the following properties:

(1) The lien shall not exceed the increase in fair market value of the site attributable to the response action at the time of a subsequent sale or other disposition of the site.

(2) The lien shall attach regardless of whether the responsible party property owner is solvent.

(3) The lien shall arise at the time costs to the fund are first incurred by the administrator.

(4) The lien shall be subject to the notice and hearing procedures that due process of the law requires.

(b) Neither the administrator of the fund nor the fund shall be considered a responsible party for a hazardous substance release site because a claim and lien is imposed pursuant to this section.

(c) The lien imposed by this section shall have the force and effect of, and the priority of, a judgment lien upon its recordation in the county in which the property subject to the lien is located. The lien shall contain the legal description of the property, the assessor’s parcel number, and the name of the owner of record, as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll. The lien shall also contain a legal description of the property that is the site of the hazardous substance release, the assessor’s parcel number for that property, and the name of the owner of record, as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll, of that property.

(d) All funds recovered pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the fund.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 23, Sec. 2. Effective May 26, 1999. See operational conditions in Section 25390.9.)