00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 110(RLS) am                                                                                    
01 "An Act relating to liability for the release of hazardous substances involving                                         
02 certain property acquired by a governmental entity; relating to making a                                                
03 determination as to when a hazardous substance release has occurred; relating                                           
04 to liability of a party other than the party responsible for the initial release                                        
05 of a hazardous substance; and providing for an effective date."                                                         
06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
07    * Section. 1.  AS 46.03.822(d) is amended to read:                                                                 
08  (d)  To establish that a person had no reason to know that the hazardous                                              
09 substance was disposed of on, in, or at the facility, as provided in (c)(1)  and (m)  of                              
10 this section, the person must have undertaken, at the time of  voluntary  acquisition, all                            
11 reasonable inquiries into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent                                    
12 with good commercial or customary practice in an effort to minimize liability.  For                                     
13 purposes of this subsection a court shall take into account all relevant facts, including                               
14   (1)  any specialized knowledge or experience the person has;                                                         
01   (2)  the relationship of the purchase price to the value of the property                                             
02 if it were uncontaminated;                                                                                              
03   (3)  commonly known or reasonably ascertainable information about the                                                
04 property;                                                                                                               
05   (4)  the obviousness of the presence or likely presence of contamination                                             
06 at the property; and                                                                                                    
07   (5)  the ability to detect contamination by appropriate inspection.                                                  
08    * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.822 is amended by adding new subsections to read:                                               
09  (l)  A unit of state or local government that acquired ownership or control of                                        
10 a vessel or facility through bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, tax                                  
11 delinquency proceeding, abandonment, escheat, the exercise of eminent domain                                            
12 authority by purchase or condemnation, or circumstances in which the governmental                                       
13 unit involuntarily acquired title by virtue of its function as a sovereign is not liable as                             
14 an owner or operator under this section unless the governmental unit has caused or                                      
15 contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance at or from the                                
16 facility or vessel, in which case, the governmental unit is subject to liability under this                             
17 section in the same manner and to the same extent, both procedurally and                                                
18 substantively, as any nongovernmental entity.  For purposes of this subsection, "caused                                 
19 or contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance"                                           
20   (1)  does not include the failure to prevent the passive leaching at or                                              
21 from a facility or vessel of a hazardous substance in the air, land, or water that had                                  
22 first been released to the environment by a person other than the governmental unit                                     
23 that acquired the facility or vessel;                                                                                   
24   (2)  does not include the exercise or failure to exercise regulatory or                                              
25 enforcement authority;                                                                                                  
26   (3)  after the ownership or control of the facility or vessel has been                                               
27 acquired by the governmental unit, includes                                                                             
28   (A)  the spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emptying, injecting,                                                  
29 escaping, or dumping of a hazardous substance from barrels, tanks, containers,                                          
30 or other closed receptacles; or                                                                                         
31   (B)  the abandonment or discarding of barrels, tanks, containers,                                                   
01 or other closed receptacles containing a hazardous substance.                                                           
02  (m)  For purposes of determining liability in an action to recover damages or                                         
03 costs under this section, a release shall be considered to have occurred when a                                         
04 hazardous substance is first introduced into the environment.  A party, other than the                                  
05 party responsible for the initial release, who had no reason to know that a hazardous                                   
06 substance was disposed of on, in, or at the facility and who has acted responsibly upon                                 
07 discovering contamination in accordance with (b)(2) of this section may not be held                                     
08 liable for the spread or migration of the hazardous substance except by an act of                                       
09 intentional misconduct or gross negligence.                                                                             
10    * Sec. 3.  APPLICABILITY.  AS 46.03.822(l), as added in sec. 2 of this Act, applies to a                           
11 vessel or facility acquired by a governmental entity on or after the effective date of this Act.                        
12 For purposes of this section, when foreclosure by a municipality is involved, the property is                           
13 acquired on the date it is deeded to the municipality under AS 29.45.450.                                               
14    * Sec. 4.  This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).