§508C-9 Duration; amendment by court action. (a) An environmental covenant shall be considered perpetual unless it is:

(1) By its terms limited to a specific duration or terminated by the occurrence of a specific event;

(2) Terminated by consent pursuant to section 508C-10;

(3) Terminated pursuant to subsection (b);

(4) Terminated by foreclosure of an interest that has priority over the environmental covenant; or

(5) Terminated or modified in an eminent domain proceeding; provided that:

(A) The agency that signed the covenant is a party to the proceeding;

(B) All persons identified in section 508C-10(a) and (b) are given notice of the pendency of the proceeding; and

(C) The court determines, after hearing, that the termination or modification will not adversely affect human health or the environment.

(b) If the agency that signed an environmental covenant determines that the intended benefits of the covenant can no longer be realized, [an] environmental court, under the doctrine of changed circumstances, in an action in which all persons identified in section 508C-10(a) and (b) have been given notice, may terminate the covenant or reduce its burden on the real property subject to the covenant. The agency's determination or its failure to make a determination upon request is subject to review pursuant to chapter 91.

(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (a) and (b), an environmental covenant shall not be extinguished, limited, or impaired through issuance of a tax deed, foreclosure of a tax lien, or application of the doctrines of adverse possession, prescription, abandonment, waiver, lack of enforcement, or acquiescence, or a similar doctrine. [L 2006, c 279, pt of §2; am L 2014, c 218, §8]

Note

The amendment made to the section heading and subsection (a) by L 2014, c 218, §8 is not included in this section.