Michigan Laws 324.20134 – Consent order; settlement
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(1) The department and the attorney general may enter into a consent order with a person who is liable under section 20126 or any group of persons who are liable under section 20126 to perform a response activity if the department and the attorney general determine that the persons who are liable under section 20126 will properly implement the response activity and that the consent order is in the public interest, will expedite effective response activity, and will minimize litigation. The consent order may, as determined appropriate by the department and the attorney general, provide for implementation by a person or any group of persons who are liable under section 20126 of any portion of response activity at the facility. A decision of the attorney general not to enter into a consent order under this part is not subject to judicial review.
(2) Whenever practical and in the public interest, as determined by the department, the department and the attorney general shall as promptly as possible reach a final settlement with a person in an administrative or civil action under this part if this settlement involves only a minor portion of the response costs at the facility concerned and, in the judgment of the department and the attorney general, the conditions in either of the following are met:
Terms Used In Michigan Laws 324.20134
- Attorney general: means the department of the attorney general. See Michigan Laws 324.20101
- Department: means the director or his or her designee to whom the director delegates a power or duty by written instrument. See Michigan Laws 324.20101
- Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any hazardous substance into or on any land or water so that the hazardous substance or any constituent of the hazardous substance may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any groundwater or surface water. See Michigan Laws 324.20101
- Facility: means any area, place, parcel or parcels of property, or portion of a parcel of property where a hazardous substance in excess of the concentrations that satisfy the cleanup criteria for unrestricted residential use has been released, deposited, disposed of, or otherwise comes to be located. See Michigan Laws 324.20101
- Hazardous substance: means 1 or more of the following, but does not include fruit, vegetable, or field crop residuals or processing by-products, or aquatic plants, that are applied to the land for an agricultural use or for use as an animal feed, if the use is consistent with generally accepted agricultural management practices at the time of the application or stamp sands:
(i) Any substance that the department demonstrates, on a case by case basis, poses an unacceptable risk to the public health, safety, or welfare, or the environment, considering the fate of the material, dose-response, toxicity, or adverse impact on natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.20101Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants. Owner: means a person who owns a facility. See Michigan Laws 324.20101 Person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 324.301 Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land. Release: includes , but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing of a hazardous substance into the environment, or the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing a hazardous substance. See Michigan Laws 324.20101 Response activity: means evaluation, interim response activity, remedial action, demolition, providing an alternative water supply, or the taking of other actions necessary to protect the public health, safety, or welfare, or the environment or the natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.20101 Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims. this part: includes "rules promulgated under this part". See Michigan Laws 324.20101 threat of release: means any circumstance that may reasonably be anticipated to cause a release. See Michigan Laws 324.20101
(a) Both of the following are minimal in comparison to other hazardous substances at the facility:
(i) The amount of the hazardous substances contributed by that person to the facility.
(ii) The toxic or other hazardous effects of the substances contributed by that person to the facility.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (3), the person meets all of the following conditions:
(i) The person is the owner of the real property on or in which the facility is located.
(ii) The person did not conduct or permit the generation, transportation, storage, treatment, or disposal of any hazardous substance at the facility.
(iii) The person did not contribute to the release or threat of release of a hazardous substance at the facility through any action or omission.
(3) A settlement shall not be made under subsection (2)(b) if the person purchased the real property with actual or constructive knowledge that the property was used for the generation, transportation, storage, treatment, or disposal of a hazardous substance.
(4) A settlement under subsection (2) may be set aside if information obtained after the settlement indicates that the person settling does not meet the conditions set forth in subsection (2)(a) or (b).