(a) Scope of lender liability.--A lender who engages in activities involved in the routine practices of commercial lending, including, but not limited to, the providing of financial services, holding of security interests, workout practices, foreclosure or the recovery of funds from the sale of property shall not be liable under the environmental acts or common law equivalents to the Department of Environmental Resources¹ or to any other person by virtue of the fact that the lender engages in such commercial lending practice unless:

(b) Limitation of lender liability.--Liability pursuant to this act shall be limited to the cost for a response action which may be directly attributable to the lender's activities as specified in subsection (a). Liability shall arise only if the lender's actions were the proximate and efficient cause of the release or violation. Ownership or control of the property after foreclosure shall not by itself trigger liability. No lender shall be liable for any response action if such response action arises solely from a release of regulated substances which occurred prior to or commences before and continues after foreclosure, provided, however, that the lender shall be responsible for that portion of the response action which is directly attributed to the lender's exacerbation of a release. A release of regulated substances discovered in the course of conducting environmental due diligence shall be presumed to be a prior or continuing release on the property.