§ 507-B:9 — Pollutant Liability Standard

I. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the liability of any governmental unit or public employee for any personal injury, bodily injury, or property damage caused by or resulting from pollutant incidents including, but not limited to, per and polyfluorochemical contamination, shall only be based upon a showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the acts or omissions of the governmental unit were unreasonable. The acts or omissions of a governmental unit or public employee shall be conclusively presumed to be reasonable if they are in accord with the generally prevailing state of the art, scientific knowledge, and technology available to the governmental unit at the time the acts or omissions were undertaken or made by the governmental unit or public employee.
II. If the fault of the governmental unit or public employee arising from a pollutant incident is 50 percent or greater, liability shall be joint and several. Otherwise, governmental units or public employees shall be liable only to the extent that their acts or omissions contributed to the causation of the personal injury, bodily injury, or property damage.
III. The doctrines of strict liability or absolute liability shall not be the basis of liability of a governmental unit or public employee for any personal injury, bodily injury, or property damage caused by pollutant incidents.

Legislative History

1986, 227:10, eff. June 6, 1986. 2020, 30:8, eff. July 23, 2020.