81-15,124.05 Remedial action plan; certificate of completion; form; effect.
81-15,124.05. Remedial action plan; certificate of completion; form; effect.(1) If a remedial action plan submitted by a responsible person as defined in section 66-1514 is approved or deemed to be approved by the Department of Environmental Quality pursuant to subdivision (2) of section 81-15,124 and has been carried out, the department may issue to the responsible person a certificate of completion stating that no further remedial action needs to be taken at the site relating to any contamination for which remedial action has already been taken in accordance with the approved remedial action plan. The department shall condition the certificate of completion upon compliance with any monitoring, institutional, or technological controls that may be necessary and which were relied upon by the responsible person to demonstrate compliance with the remedial action plan. Any certificate of completion issued pursuant to this section shall be in a form which can be filed for record in the real estate records of the county in which the remedial action took place. The responsible person shall file the certificate of completion and notify the department within ten days after issuance as to the date and location of the real estate filing. If the department issues a certificate of completion to a responsible person under this section, a covenant not to sue shall arise by operation of law subject to subsection (2) of this section. The covenant not to sue releases the responsible person from liability to the state and from liability to perform additional environmental assessment, remedial activity, or response action with regard to the release of a petroleum product for which the responsible person has complied with the requirements of this subsection. The covenant not to sue shall be voided if the responsible person fails to conduct additional remedial action as required under subsection (2) of this section, if a certificate of completion is revoked by the department under subsection (3) of this section, or if the responsible person fails to comply with the monitoring, institutional, or technological controls, if any, upon which the certificate of completion is conditioned.(2) A certificate of completion issued by the department under subsection (1) of this section shall require the responsible person to conduct additional remedial action in the event that any monitoring conducted at or near the real property or other circumstances indicate that (a) contamination is reoccurring, (b) additional contamination is present for which remedial action was not taken according to the remedial action plan, or (c) contamination from the site presents a threat to human health or the environment and was not addressed in the remedial action plan.(3) A certificate of completion shall be revoked if the department demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that any approval provided under this section was obtained by fraud or material misrepresentation, knowing failure to disclose material information, or false certification to the department. The department shall file a copy of the notice of revocation of any certificate of completion in the real estate records of the county in which the remedial action took place within ten days after such revocation.(4) If a responsible person transfers property to an affiliate in order for that affiliate to obtain a benefit to which the transferor would not otherwise be eligible under this section or to avoid an obligation under this section, the affiliate shall be subject to the same obligations and obtain the same level of benefits as those available to the transferor under this section.(5)(a) A covenant not to sue arising under subsection (1) of this section, unless voided pursuant to such subsection, shall bar suit against any person who acquires title to property to which a certificate of completion applies for all claims of the state or any other person in connection with petroleum products which were the subject of an approved remedial action plan and (b) a person who purchased a site before May 31, 2001, is released, upon the issuance of a certificate of completion under this section or upon the issuance of a no further action letter on or after May 31, 2001, pursuant to section 81-15,186, from all liability to the state for cleanup of contamination that was released at the site covered by the certificate of completion or the no further action letter before the purchase date, except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, for releases or consequences that the person contributed to or caused, for failure by such person to comply with the monitoring, institutional, or technological controls, if any, upon which the certificate of completion is conditioned, or in the event the certificate of completion is revoked by the department under subsection (3) of this section.(6) Any person entitled to the protections of the covenant not to sue or eligible to be released from liability pursuant to the issuance of a certificate of completion or a no further action letter under subsection (5) of this section who is ordered by the department to take remedial action shall be eligible for reimbursement as a responsible person pursuant to section 66-1525 and shall not be required to pay the first cost or percent of the remaining cost as provided in subsection (1) of section 66-1523 unless such person contributed to or caused the release or failed to comply with the monitoring, institutional, or technological controls, if any, imposed under subsection (1) of this section. SourceLaws 2001, LB 461, § 13.