Home Table of Contents

§ 6020.706. Covenants not to sue

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. § 6020.706
§ 6020.706. Covenants not to sue
Currentness
(a) General rule.--To encourage the voluntary and timely cooperation of responsible parties in the cleanup of certain hazardous waste sites, the department may provide a responsible person with a covenant not to sue concerning liability to the Commonwealth under this act, including future liability, resulting from a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance addressed by a remedial action where:
(1) The covenant not to sue is in the public interest.
(2) The covenant not to sue would expedite response action.
(3) The responsible person is in full compliance with any consent decree under the Solid Waste Management Act1 or this act for response to the release or threatened release concerned.
(4) The response action has been approved by the department.
(b) Special covenants.--The department may provide a person with a covenant not to sue with respect to future liability to the Commonwealth under this act for a future release or threatened release of hazardous substances from such site for the portion of remedial action which involves the treatment of hazardous substances so as to destroy, eliminate or permanently immobilize the hazardous constituents of such substances, so that, in the judgment of the department, the substances no longer present a current or currently foreseeable future significant risk to public health and welfare or the environment, no by-product of the treatment or destruction process presents any significant hazard to public health and welfare or the environment; and a person provided such covenant not to sue shall not be liable to the Commonwealth under this act with respect to such a release or threatened release at a future time.
(c) Effective date of covenants not to sue.--A covenant not to sue concerning future liability to the Commonwealth shall not take effect until the department certifies that remedial action has been completed in accordance with the requirements of this act and any consent decree entered into between the department and the responsible person at the site that is the subject of such covenant.
(d) Factors.--In assessing the appropriateness of a covenant not to sue under subsection (a) and any condition to be included in a covenant not to sue under subsection (a) or (b), the department shall consider whether the covenant or condition is in the public interest on the basis of such factors as the following:
(1) The effectiveness and reliability of the remedy, in light of the other alternative remedies considered for the site concerned.
(2) The nature of the risks remaining at the site.
(3) The extent to which performance standards are included in the order or decree.
(4) The extent to which the technology used in the response action is demonstrated to be effective.
(5) Whether the fund or other sources of funding would be available for any additional remedial actions that might eventually be necessary at the site.
(6) Whether the remedial action will be carried out, in whole or in significant part, by the responsible parties themselves.
(e) Satisfactory performance.--Any covenant not to sue under this section shall be subject to the satisfactory performance by such party of its obligations under the agreement concerned.
(f) Additional condition for future liability.--
(1) A covenant not to sue concerning future liability to the Commonwealth may include an exception to the covenant that allows the department to sue such person concerning future liability resulting from the release or threatened release that is the subject of the covenant where such liability arises out of conditions which are unknown at the time the department certifies under subsection (c) that remedial action has been completed at the site concerned.
(2) The department may include any provisions allowing future enforcement action under section 5012 that the department determines to be necessary and appropriate to assure compliance with the terms and conditions of the agreement containing the covenant.

Credits

1988, Oct. 18, P.L. 756, No. 108, § 706, effective in 60 days.

Footnotes

1
35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq.
2
35 P.S. § 6020.501.
35 P.S. § 6020.706, PA ST 35 P.S. § 6020.706
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
End of Document