§ 455H.304 — Limitation of liability

Iowa § 455H.304

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title XI: NATURAL RESOURCES
• Ch. 455H: LAND RECYCLING AND REMEDIATION STANDARDS

Text

1. As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise:
a. “Environmental claim” means a civil action for damages for environmental harm and
includes a civil action under this chapter for recovery of the costs of conducting a response
action, but does not include a civil action for damages for a breach of contract or another
agreement between persons or for a breach of a warranty that exists pursuant to the Code or
common law of this state.
b. “Environmental harm” means injury, death, loss, or threatened loss to a person or
property caused by exposure to or the release of a hazardous substance.
2. Except as may be required in accordance with obligations incurred pursuant to
participation in the land recycling program established in this chapter, all of the following,
or any officer or employee thereof, are relieved of any further liability for any environmental
claim resulting from the presence of hazardous substances at, or the release of hazardous
substances from, an enrolled site where a response action is being or has been conducted
under this chapter, unless an action or omission of the person, state agency, political
subdivision, or public utility, or an officer or employee thereof, constitutes willful or wanton
misconduct or intentionally tortious conduct:
a. A contractor working for another person in conducting any response action under this
chapter.
b. A state agency or political subdivision that is conducting a voluntary response action
or a maintenance activity on lands, easements, or rights-of-way owned, leased, or otherwise
held by the state agency or political subdivision.
c. A state agency when an officer or employee of the state agency provides technical
assistance to a participant undertaking a response action under this chapter or rules adopted
pursuant to this chapter, or to a contractor, officer, or employee of the agency, in connection
with the response action.
d. A public utility, as defined in section 476.1, which is performing work in any of the
following:
(1) An easement or right-of-way of a public utility across an affected area where a
response action is being or has been conducted and where the public utility is constructing
or has main or distribution lines above or below the surface of the ground for purposes of
maintaining the easement or right-of-way for construction, repair, or replacement of any of
the following:
(a) Main or distribution lines above or below the surface of the ground.
(b) Poles,towers,foundations,orotherstructuressupportingorsustaininganysuchlines.
(c) Appurtenances to poles, towers, foundations, or other structures supporting or
sustaining any such lines.
§455H.304, LAND RECYCLING AND REMEDIATION STANDARDS 12
(2) An affected area where a response action is being conducted that is necessary
to establish or maintain utility service to the property, including, without limitation, the
construction, repair, or replacement of any of the following:
(a) Main or distribution lines above or below the surface of the ground.
(b) Poles,towers,foundations,orotherstructuressupportingorsustaininganysuchlines.
(c) Appurtenances to poles, towers, foundations, or other structures supporting or
sustaining any such lines.
3. This section does not create, and shall not be construed to create, a new cause of
action against or substantive legal right against a person, state agency, political subdivision,
or public utility, or an officer or employee thereof.
4. This section does not affect, and shall not be construed as affecting, any immunities
from civil liability or defenses established by another section of the Code or available at
common law, to which a person, state agency, political subdivision, or public utility, or officer
or employee thereof, may be entitled under circumstances not covered by this section.