Arizona Laws 49-287.02. Responsible party search
A. If the director determines that a remedial investigation at a site or portion of the site may be necessary and the director determines that cost recovery may be appropriate, the department shall conduct an investigation to identify any person who may be liable under this article. The department shall use its best efforts to identify all persons who may be liable under this article for the release or threatened release at the site or portion of the site.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 49-287.02
- Department: means the department of environmental quality. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Director: means the director of environmental quality or the director's designee. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Facility: means any land, building, installation, structure, equipment, device, conveyance, area, source, activity or practice. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- Fund: means the water quality assurance revolving fund established by section 49-282. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- Hazardous substance: means :
(a) Any substance designated pursuant to sections 311(b)(2)(A) and 307(a) of the clean water act. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Person: means an individual, employee, officer, managing body, trust, firm, joint stock company, consortium, public or private corporation, including a government corporation, partnership, association or state, a political subdivision of this state, a commission, the United States government or any federal facility, interstate body or other entity. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Release: means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing into the environment but excludes:
(a) Any release that results in exposure to persons solely within a workplace, with respect to a claim that such persons may assert against the employer of such persons. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- 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.
- Site: means the geographical areal extent of contamination. See Arizona Laws 49-281
B. During the investigation, any person may provide the director with information regarding the identification and potential liability of any person or regarding any facility within the site from which a release of a hazardous substance may have occurred. If the director receives sufficient information, the director shall investigate the facts relating to the person’s potential liability, including its share of liability under this article, without regard to the financial ability of the person. If the director receives sufficient information regarding a release of a hazardous substance from a facility within the site to indicate that it has contributed to contaminants of concern at the site or portion of the site being investigated pursuant to this section, the director shall investigate the release of the hazardous substance and the potential liability of persons under this article. If the director declines to investigate a person or facility, the director shall notify the person who provided the information of the director’s decision not to investigate.
C. If the director declines to investigate a person or facility, any person who conducts an investigation and provides the results of the investigation to the director shall receive a credit for the reasonable and necessary cost of the investigation as an offset against any liability to the fund or to the state under this article if the investigation results in a settlement or a finding by the director, the allocator or the court that this additional identified person is liable under this article with respect to the site or portion of the site being investigated pursuant to this section.