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§ 6020.701. Responsible person

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 35 P.S. Health and Safety

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 35 P.S. Health and Safety (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 29C. Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 7. Liability and Settlement Procedures
35 P.S. § 6020.701
§ 6020.701. Responsible person
Currentness
(a) General rule.--Except for releases of hazardous substances expressly and specifically approved under a valid Federal or State permit, a person shall be responsible for a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance from a site when any of the following apply:
(1) The person owns or operates the site:
(i) when a hazardous substance is placed or comes to be located in or on a site;
(ii) when a hazardous substance is located in or on the site, but before it is released; or
(iii) during the time of the release or threatened release.
(2) The person generates, owns or possesses a hazardous substance and arranges by contract, agreement or otherwise for the disposal, treatment or transport for disposal or treatment of the hazardous substance.
(3) The person accepts hazardous substances for transport to disposal or treatment facilities, incineration vessels or sites selected by such person from which there is a release or a threatened release of a hazardous substance which causes the incurrence of response costs.
(b) Exceptions.--
(1) An owner of real property is not responsible for the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance from a site in or on the property when the owner demonstrates to the department that all of the following are true:
(i) The real property on which the site concerned is located was acquired by the owner after the disposal or placement of a hazardous substance on, in or at the site.
(ii) The owner has exercised due care with respect to the hazardous substances concerned, taking into consideration the characteristics of such hazardous substances, in light of all relevant facts and circumstances.
(iii) The owner took precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions of any third party and the consequences that could foreseeably result from such acts or omissions.
(iv) The owner obtained actual knowledge of the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance at the site when the owner owned the real property, and the owner did not subsequently transfer ownership of the property to another person without disclosing such knowledge.
(v) The owner has not, by act or omission, caused or contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance which is the subject of the response action relating to the site.
(vi) The owner meets one of these requirements:
(A) At the time the owner acquired the site, the owner did not know, and had no reason to know, that a hazardous substance which is the subject of the release or threatened release was disposed of on, in or at the site. For purposes of this subparagraph, the owner must have undertaken, at the time of acquisition, all appropriate inquiries into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good commercial or customary practice in an effort to minimize liability. The department shall take into account specialized knowledge or experience on the part of the owner, the relationship of the purchase price to the value of the property if uncontaminated, commonly known or reasonably ascertainable information about the property, the obviousness of the presence or likely presence of contamination at the property and the ability to detect the contamination by appropriate inspection.
(B) The owner is a government entity which acquired the site by escheat, through any other involuntary transfer or acquisition or through the exercise of eminent domain authority by purchase or condemnation.
(C) The owner acquired the site by inheritance or bequest.
(D) The owner is a financial institution or an affiliate of a financial institution or a corporate instrumentality of the Federal Government which acquired the site by foreclosure or by acceptance of a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
(vii) The only basis of liability for the landowner is ownership of the land.
(2) Liability under subsection (a) shall not apply to an owner of real property if the real property is exclusively used as single- or multi-family housing of four units or less or for private noncommercial recreational purposes, and the owner did not place the hazardous substance on the property, or the owner did not know and had no reason to know that a hazardous substance which is the subject of the release or threatened release was disposed on, in or at the site.
(3) Liability under subsection (a) shall not apply to persons who generate household hazardous waste as defined in section 1512 of the act of July 28, 1988 (P.L. 556, No. 101),1 known as the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act.
(4) Except for activities of the owner or operator unrelated to the recovery or processing of methane, subsection (a) does not apply to a person who owns or operates equipment for the recovery or processing, including recirculation of condensate, of methane unless the release or threatened release is caused by the negligent activities of the person. If the release or threatened release is caused by the negligent activities of a person who owns or operates equipment for the recovery or processing, including recirculation of condensate, of methane, the person's responsibility shall be limited to costs and damages caused by the person's negligent activities.
(5) A person who generates scrap materials that are transferred to a facility owned or operated by another person for the purpose of reclamation or reuse of the metallic content thereof through melting, smelting or refining shall not be considered to have arranged for the disposal, treatment or transport for disposal or treatment at that facility of a hazardous substance present in the scrap materials, provided that the generator demonstrates that all of the following are true:
(i) The scrap materials consisted of:
(A) obsolete metallic items, such as automobiles or appliances;
(B) new solid metallic by-products, such as trimmings, turnings, cuttings or punchings;
(C) prepared grades of scrap metal produced in accordance with recognized industry specifications by processing obsolete items or metallic by-products through shredding, cutting, compressing or other mechanical means; or
(D) intact, nonleaking spent lead-acid storage batteries.
(ii) The generator did not introduce the hazardous substance into the scrap materials.
(iii) The generator handled and transported the scrap materials in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.
(iv) The generator transferred the scrap materials for valuable consideration.
(v) If the generator selected the facility, the generator reasonably believed that the facility was then in substantial compliance with all applicable laws and regulations pertaining to receipt, management and reclamation or reuse of the scrap materials.
(c) Employees.--When a person who is responsible for a release or threatened release under subsection (a) is an employee who is acting in the scope of employment:
(1) The employee is subject to liability under this section only when the employee's conduct with respect to the hazardous substance was negligent under circumstances in which the employee knew that the substance was hazardous and that the employee's conduct could result in serious harm.
(2) The employer shall be considered a person responsible for the release or threatened release and is subject to liability under this section regardless of the degree of care exercised by the employee.

Credits

1988, Oct. 18, P.L. 756, No. 108, § 701, effective in 60 days.

Footnotes

1
53 P.S. § 4000.1512 (repealed); see now, 35 P.S. § 6029.203.
35 P.S. § 6020.701, PA ST 35 P.S. § 6020.701
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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