§ 23.1-04-17 — Limited liability for subsequent owners of property

North Dakota § 23.1-04-17

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 23.1: Environmental Quality
• Ch. 23.1-04: Hazardous Waste Management

Text

1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as expressly provided by
federal law, a person that acquires property is not liable for any existing hazardous
waste or substance on the property if:
a. The person acquired the property after the disposal or placement of the
hazardous waste or substance on, in, or at the property, and at the time the
person acquired the property that person did not know and had no reason to
know any hazardous waste or substance was disposed of on, in, or at the
property;
b. The person is a governmental entity that acquired the property by escheat, by tax
sale, foreclosure, or through any other involuntary transfer or acquisition, or
through the exercise of eminent domain authority by purchase or condemnation;
or
c. The person acquired the property by inheritance or bequest and that person did
not know and had no reason to know that any hazardous waste or substance was
disposed of on, in, or at the property.
2. To establish the person had no reason to know, the person must have undertaken, at
the time of acquisition, all appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and uses of
the property consistent with good commercial or customary practice in an effort to
minimize liability. For purposes of this requirement, a court shall take into account any
specialized knowledge or experience on the part of the person, the relationship of the
purchase price to the value of the property as 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.
3. A person that has acquired real property may establish a rebuttable presumption that
the person has made all appropriate inquiry if the person establishes that, immediately
before or at the time of acquisition, the person performed an investigation of the
property, conducted by an environmental professional, to determine or discover the
obviousness of the presence or likely presence of a release or threatened release of
hazardous waste or substances on the property.
4. The presumption does not arise unless the person has maintained a compilation of the
information reviewed in the course of the investigation.
5. This section does not diminish the liability of any previous owner or operator of the
property which would otherwise be liable under this chapter, and nothing in this section
affects the liability under this chapter of a person that, by any act or omission, caused
or contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous waste or substance
the subject of the action relating to the property.
6. As used in this section, environmental professional means an individual, or entity
managed or controlled by an individual, who, through academic training, occupational
experience, and reputation, such as engineers, environmental consultants, and
attorneys, can objectively conduct one or more aspects of an environmental
investigation.