35-11-1801. Definition of innocent owner.

(a) "Innocent owner" means a person who did not cause or contribute to the source of contamination and who is one (1) of the following:

(i) An owner of real property that has become contaminated as a result of a release or migration of contaminants from a source not located on or at the real property;

(ii) An owner of real property who can show with respect to the property that the owner has no liability for contamination under section 107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a), because the owner can show a defense as provided in section 107(b) of that act (42 U.S.C. 9607(b));

(iii) An owner of real property who at the time of becoming the owner of the property did not know or should not have reasonably known about the presence of contamination on the property;

(iv) A lender or fiduciary who owns or holds a security interest in land, unless the lender or fiduciary participated in the management of a site at the time that the owner or operator thereof caused a release or migration of contaminants;

(v) A unit of state or local government which acquired ownership or control through bankruptcy, tax delinquency, abandonment or other circumstances in which the government acquires title by virtue of its function as sovereign, unless the state or local government contributed to the contamination;

(vi) A bona fide prospective purchaser; or

(vii) A surface owner if the source of the contamination was a pipeline running under or across the land of the surface owner and the surface owner was not involved in the installation, operation or maintenance of the pipeline.

(b) No person who owns or operates lands or facilities subject to permitting or corrective action requirements of the hazardous waste rules and regulations promulgated under W.S. 35-11-503(d) shall be considered an innocent owner, nor shall any hazardous waste generator who may be subject to corrective action requirements of such rules and regulations be considered an innocent owner.