Title HSC — California Health & Safety Code

(a) (1) Until June 30, 2021, except as provided in subdivision (b), a monetary obligation to the department pursuant to this part or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 shall be subject to interest from the date of the demand at an interest rate of 7 percen…

The entry of judgment against any party to the action shall not be deemed to bar any future action by the state account against any person who is later discovered to be potentially liable for costs and expenditures paid by the state account.

The standard of liability for costs recoverable pursuant to this part is strict liability.

(a) A person who has incurred response or corrective action costs in accordance with this part, Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20, or the federal act may seek contribution or indemnity from any person who is liable pursuant to this part. (b) An action to …

Notwithstanding any provision of Section 78165, any costs incurred and payable from the Hazardous Substance Account, the Hazardous Waste Control Account, or the Site Remediation Account prior to July 1, 2006, to implement this part, shall be recoverable from the liable person pur…

Notwithstanding Section 78850, the Governor, or the authorized representative of the state, shall act on behalf of the public as trustee of the natural resources to recover costs expended pursuant to Section 79450.

The department shall recover any funds expended pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 79070 to the maximum possible extent pursuant to Section 79650.

The state account shall be a party in any action for recovery of costs or expenditures under this part incurred from the state account.

(a) In the event a district attorney, county counsel, or a city attorney has brought an action for civil or criminal penalties pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 against a person for the violation of any provision of that chapter, or any rule, …

Upon motion and sufficient showing by any party, the court shall join to the action any person who may be liable for costs or expenditures of the type recoverable under this part.

An action may be commenced under Section 79650 or 79685 at any time prior to expiration of the applicable limitations period provided for by this article.

(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) and subdivision (b), an action under Section 79650 for the recovery of costs incurred by the department or a regional board in carrying out or overseeing a response or corrective action pursuant to this part or Chapter 6.5 (commencing w…

An action under Section 79685 for costs incurred by the department for the purposes specified in Section 79450 shall be commenced within three years after certification by the department of the completion of the activities authorized under Section 79450.

(a) (1) In an action described in Section 79730 or 79735 for recovery of response or corrective action costs, oversight costs, or damages, where the court has entered a judgment for past costs or damages, the court shall also enter an order reserving jurisdiction over the case an…

This article does not apply to a cost recovery action brought by a regional board under the Water Code.

(a) Except as provided in Section 79765, a party found liable for costs recoverable under this part who establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that only a portion of those costs are attributable to that party’s actions shall be required to pay only for that portion. (b) E…

Notwithstanding this part, a response action contractor who is found liable for any costs recoverable under this part and who establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that only a portion of those costs are attributable to the response action contractor’s actions shall be re…

For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply: (a) “Owner” means either (1) the owner of property who occupies a single-family residence or one-half of a duplex constructed on the property, or (2) the owner of common areas within a residential common interest deve…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, this article governs liability pursuant to this part for an owner of property.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, an owner of property that is the site of a hazardous substance release is presumed to have no liability pursuant to this part for either of the following: (1) A hazardous substance release that has occurred on the property. (2…

An action for recovery of costs or expenditures incurred from the state account pursuant to this part in response to a hazardous substance release may not be brought against an owner of property unless the department first certifies that, in the opinion of the department, one of …

In an action brought against an owner of property to recover costs or expenditures incurred from the state account pursuant to this part in response to a hazardous substance release, the presumption established in Section 79790 may be rebutted if it is established by a prepondera…

For the purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meaning: (a) “Easement” means a conservation easement, as defined in Section 815.1 of the Civil Code. (b) “Environmental assessment” means an investigation of real property, conducted by an independent quali…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, this article governs liability pursuant to this part for an owner of property. (b) This article is applicable only to property that is acquired by the owner on or after January 1, 1995.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, if an environmental assessment of property discovers no evidence of the presence or likely presence of a release or a threat of a release of a hazardous substance, and a hazardous substance release is subsequently discovered o…

An action for recovery of costs or expenditures incurred from the state account pursuant to this part in response to a hazardous substance release shall not be brought against an owner of property unless the department first certifies that, as found by the department, one of the …

For purposes of this article, “household hazardous waste collection program” means a program or facility, specified in Section 25218.1, in which hazardous wastes from households and very small quantity generators are collected and ultimately transferred to an authorized hazardous…

A public agency operating a household hazardous waste collection program or a person operating a household hazardous waste collection program under a written agreement with a public agency, or, for material received from the public as used oil, a person operating a certified used…

Except as provided in Section 79845, this article does not affect or modify the obligations or liabilities of a person imposed pursuant to state or federal law.

Except as provided in Article 10 (commencing with Section 79875), no indemnification, hold harmless, conveyance, or similar agreement shall be effective to transfer any liability for cost or expenditures recoverable under this part. This section shall not bar any agreement to ins…

The repeal of Section 25364.6, pursuant to Chapter 1226 of the Statutes of 1998, shall not affect any indemnity provided pursuant to that section for any cause of action brought because of any act or omission that occurred before the repeal of that section.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply: (a) “Affiliate” means any entity that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, the responsible party owner. For purposes of this su…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except as provided in Sections 79885 and 79890, the director may release from liability under this part or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20, and from liability for any claims of the state for recovery of respon…

A release from liability shall not be granted pursuant to Section 79880 unless all of the following conditions are met: (a) A responsible party owner has entered into a stipulated settlement of an order issued by the department pursuant to Section 25187, 78870, or 79055 to perfor…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, a release from liability granted pursuant to Section 79880 shall not extend to any of the following: (a) (1) Any person who was a responsible party for a hazardous substance release existing at the site before the release from …

Any release from liability granted by the director pursuant to this article shall contain the following provision: “If, for any reason, the responsible party does not complete the removal or remedial action, this release does not extend to any subsequent actions or activities per…

The site may be subdivided to create subdivided parcels of land, pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7 of the Government Code), in order to facilitate removal or remedial action at the site, secure financing for removal or reme…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the costs incurred by a state agency to take a hazardous substance response action at the BKK Landfills Site in the City of West Covina shall be deemed to be a contribution towards any potential liability for response costs…

(a) The department shall, if it determines that it is practicable and in the public interest, propose a final administrative or judicial expedited settlement with potentially responsible parties if the settlement involves only a minor portion of the response costs at a site and, …

(a) (1) Any costs or damages incurred by the department or regional board pursuant to this part constitute a claim and lien upon the real property owned by the responsible party that is subject to, or affected by, the removal and remedial action. (2) The lien provided by this art…

The lien imposed by this article shall have the force and effect of, and the priority of, a judgment lien upon its recordation in the county in which the property subject to the lien is located.

(a) The lien shall contain the legal description of the real property, the assessor’s parcel number, and the name of the owner of record, as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll. (b) The lien shall also contain a legal description of the property that is the site of the …

The department shall not be considered a responsible party for a hazardous substance release site because a claim and lien is imposed pursuant to this article.

All funds recovered pursuant to this article shall be deposited in the state account.