§ 130A-310.37. Construction of Part.
§ 130A‑310.37. Construction of Part.
(a) This Part is notintended and shall not be construed to:
(1) Affect the abilityof local governments to regulate land use under Article 19 of Chapter 160A ofthe General Statutes and Article 18 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes.The use of the identified brownfields property and any land‑userestrictions in the brownfields agreement shall be consistent with local land‑usecontrols adopted under those statutes.
(2) Amend, modify,repeal, or otherwise alter any provision of any remedial program or otherprovision of this Chapter, Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, or any otherprovision of law relating to civil and criminal penalties or enforcementactions and remedies available to the Department, except as may be provided ina brownfields agreement.
(3) Prevent or impedethe immediate response of the Department or responsible party to an emergencythat involves an imminent or actual release of a regulated substance thatthreatens public health or the environment.
(4) Relieve a personreceiving liability protection under this Part from any liability forcontamination later caused by that person on a brownfields property.
(5) Affect the right ofany person to seek any relief available against any party to the brownfieldsagreement who may have liability with respect to the brownfields property,except that this Part does limit the relief available against any party to abrownfields agreement with respect to remediation of the brownfields propertyto the remediation required under the brownfields agreement.
(6) Affect the right ofany person who may have liability with respect to the brownfields property toseek contribution from any other person who may have liability with respect tothe brownfields property and who neither received nor has liability protectionunder this Part.
(7) Prevent the Statefrom enforcing specific numerical remediation standards, monitoring, orcompliance requirements specifically required to be enforced by the federalgovernment as a condition to receive program authorization, delegation,primacy, or federal funds.
(8) Create a defenseagainst the imposition of criminal and civil fines or penalties oradministrative penalties otherwise authorized by law and imposed as the resultof the illegal disposal of waste or for the pollution of the land, air, orwaters of this State on a brownfields property.
(9) Relieve a person ofany liability for failure to exercise due diligence and reasonable care inperforming an environmental assessment or transaction screen.
(b) Notwithstanding theprovisions of the Tort Claims Act, G.S. 143‑291 through G.S. 143‑300.1or any other provision of law waiving the sovereign immunity of the State ofNorth Carolina, the State, its agencies, officers, employees, and agents shallbe absolutely immune from any liability in any proceeding for any injury orclaim arising from negotiating, entering, monitoring, or enforcing abrownfields agreement or a Notice of Brownfields Property under this Part orany other action implementing this Part.
(c) The Departmentshall not enter into a brownfields agreement for a site listed on the NationalPriorities List pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 9605. (1997‑357, s. 2; 1997‑392, s. 4.5; 2006‑71,s. 6.)