39-7207. COVENANT NOT TO SUE. (1) If the department determines that a person has successfully completed a voluntary remediation work plan approved under this chapter, the department shall certify that the work plan has been successfully implemented or satisfied by issuing the person a certificate of completion. The issuance of a certificate of completion under this section is a final agency action for purposes of this chapter.

(2) A person who receives a certificate of completion under this section shall record a copy of the certificate of completion with the deed for the site on which the remediation took place.

(3) If the department determines that the person has not successfully implemented a voluntary remediation work plan approved under this chapter, the department shall notify the person of this determination under this chapter.

(4) If the department issues a certificate of completion to a person under this chapter, the department, upon request, shall also negotiate and provide the person a covenant not to sue for any claim for environmental remediation under state law resulting from or based upon the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance or petroleum that is the subject of the approved voluntary remediation work plan successfully implemented under this chapter. The covenant not to sue shall extend to any current or future owner or operator of the site or portion thereof who did not cause, aggravate, or contribute to the release or threatened release.

(5) A covenant not to sue issued under this section shall not apply to claims for a condition or the extent of a condition that:

(a) Was present on the site involved in an approved and implemented voluntary remediation work plan; and

(b) Was not known to the department at the time the department issued the certificate of completion under this chapter.

(6) Except as provided under federal law or agreed to by a federal governmental entity, a covenant not to sue issued under this section shall not release a person from liability to the federal government for claims based on federal law.

(7) During the implementation of an approved voluntary remediation work plan, the department shall not bring an action, including an administrative or judicial action for any liability for remediation relating to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance or petroleum that is the subject of the voluntary remediation work plan, against a person who entered into a voluntary remediation agreement and who is implementing the voluntary remediation work plan in accordance with such agreement implementing the voluntary remediation work plan.

History:

[39-7207, added 1996, ch. 252, sec. 1, p. 799.]