00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 110(JUD)                                                                                       
01 "An Act relating to liability for the release of hazardous substances; and                                              
02 providing for an effective date."                                                                                       
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04    * Section 1.  AS 46.03.822 is amended by adding new subsections to read:                                           
05  (l)  A unit of state or local government that acquired ownership or control of                                        
06 a vessel or facility through bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, tax                                  
07 delinquency proceeding, abandonment, escheat, the exercise of eminent domain                                            
08 authority by purchase or condemnation, or circumstances in which the governmental                                       
09 unit involuntarily acquired title by virtue of its function as a sovereign is not liable as                             
10 an owner or operator under this section unless the governmental unit has caused or                                      
11 contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance at or from the                                
12 facility or vessel, in which case, the governmental unit is subject to liability under this                             
13 section in the same manner and to the same extent, both procedurally and                                                
14 substantively, as any nongovernmental entity.  For purposes of this subsection, "caused                                 
01 or contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance"                                           
02   (1)  does not include the failure to prevent the passive leaching at or                                              
03 from a facility or vessel of a hazardous substance in the air, land, or water that had                                  
04 first been released to the environment by a person other than the governmental unit                                     
05 that acquired the facility or vessel;                                                                                   
06   (2)  does not include the exercise or failure to exercise regulatory or                                              
07 enforcement authority;                                                                                                  
08   (3)  after the ownership or control of the facility or vessel has been                                               
09 acquired by the governmental unit, includes                                                                             
10   (A)  the spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emptying, injecting,                                                  
11 escaping, or dumping of a hazardous substance from barrels, tanks, containers,                                          
12 or other closed receptacles; or                                                                                         
13   (B)  the abandonment or discarding of barrels, tanks, containers,                                                   
14 or other closed receptacles containing a hazardous substance.                                                           
15  (m)  For purposes of determining liability in an action to recover damages or                                         
16 costs under this section, a release shall be considered to have occurred when a                                         
17 hazardous substance is first introduced into the environment.  A party, other than the                                  
18 party responsible for the initial release, who has acted responsibly upon discovering                                   
19 contamination in accordance with (b)(2) of this section may not be held liable for the                                  
20 spread or migration of the hazardous substance except by an act of intentional                                          
21 misconduct or gross negligence.                                                                                         
22    * Sec. 2.  AS 46.03.826(9) is amended to read:                                                                     
23   (9)  "release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting,                                              
24 emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the                                    
25 environment, including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other                                  
26 closed receptacles containing any hazardous substance, but excluding                                                    
27   (A)  any release that results in exposure to persons solely within                                                  
28 a workplace, with respect to a claim that those persons may assert against the                                          
29 persons' employer; [AND]                                                                                                
30   (B)  emissions from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle,                                                          
31 rolling stock, aircraft, or vessel;  and                                                                               
01   (C)  an act of nature occurring after the release of a                                                              
02 hazardous substance into the environment;                                                                              
03    * Sec. 3.  APPLICABILITY.  AS 46.03.822(l), as added in sec. 1 of this Act, applies to a                           
04 vessel or facility acquired by a governmental entity on or after the effective date of this Act.                        
05 For purposes of this section, when foreclosure by a municipality is involved, the property is                           
06 acquired on the date it is deeded to the municipality under AS 29.45.450.                                               
07    * Sec. 4.  This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).