00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 334                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to the liability of a person or the state for the release of certain                                   
02 pesticides during application on a utility pole."                                                                       
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1. AS 09.65 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
05 Sec. 09.65.243. Liability of persons and the state for the application of                                             
06 pesticides on a utility pole. Notwithstanding AS 46.03.822(a), neither the state nor a                                
07 person is subject to liability under AS 46.03.822 for costs or damages, as defined in                                   
08 AS 46.03.822(m), for the release of a pesticide registered under 7 U.S.C. 136a                                          
09       (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) if                                                          
10                 (1)  the release resulted from the application of the pesticide on a wood                               
11       utility pole during the installation, use, or removal of the utility pole; and                                    
12                 (2)  the use of the utility pole is or was intended to provide a utility                                
13       service in the state.                                                                                             
14    * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.822(a) is amended to read:                                                                      

01 (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law and subject only to the                                         
02 defenses set out in (b) of this section, the exception set out in (i) of this section, the                              
03 exceptions [EXCEPTION] set out in AS 09.65.240 and 09.65.243, and the limitation                                
04 on liability provided under AS 46.03.825, the following persons are strictly liable,                                    
05 jointly and severally, for damages, for the costs of response, containment, removal, or                                 
06 remedial action incurred by the state, a municipality, or a village, and for the                                        
07 additional costs of a function or service, including administrative expenses for the                                    
08 incremental costs of providing the function or service, that are incurred by the state, a                               
09 municipality, or a village, and the costs of projects or activities that are delayed or lost                            
10 because of the efforts of the state, the municipality, or the village, resulting from an                                
11 unpermitted release of a hazardous substance or, with respect to response costs, the                                    
12       substantial threat of an unpermitted release of a hazardous substance:                                            
13 (1)  the owner of, and the person having control over, the hazardous                                                    
14 substance at the time of the release or threatened release; this paragraph does not apply                               
15       to a consumer product in consumer use;                                                                            
16 (2)  the owner and the operator of a vessel or facility, from which there                                               
17 is a release, or a threatened release that causes the incurrence of response costs, of a                                
18       hazardous substance;                                                                                              
19 (3)  any person who at the time of disposal of any hazardous substance                                                  
20 owned or operated any facility or vessel at which the hazardous substances were                                         
21 disposed of, from which there is a release, or a threatened release that causes the                                     
22       incurrence of response costs, of a hazardous substance;                                                           
23 (4)  any person who by contract, agreement, or otherwise arranged for                                                   
24 disposal or treatment, or arranged with a transporter for transport for disposal or                                     
25 treatment, of hazardous substances owned or possessed by the person, other than                                         
26 domestic sewage, or by any other party or entity, at any facility or vessel owned or                                    
27 operated by another party or entity and containing hazardous substances, from which                                     
28 there is a release, or a threatened release that causes the incurrence of response costs,                               
29       of a hazardous substance;                                                                                         
30 (5)  any person who accepts or accepted any hazardous substances,                                                       
31 other than refined oil, for transport to disposal or treatment facilities, vessels or sites                             

01       selected by the person, from which there is a release, or a threatened release that                               
02       causes the incurrence of response costs, of a hazardous substance.