Senate Bill 528 Summary

• Establishes comprehensive liability and cleanup procedures for underground storage tank (UST) system releases, with retroactive application to releases occurring before and after January 19, 1989.

• Creates risk-based corrective action framework using tier I, II, and III evaluations and screening levels (RBSLs) to determine cleanup standards, with department having 90 days to audit final assessment and closure reports or reports are automatically approved.

• Imposes strict liability on UST owners and operators for contamination, with limited exemptions for government entities, utility easement holders, innocent purchasers who conducted baseline environmental assessments, and persons not responsible for releases.

• Limits liability to $50,000,000 in natural resource damages plus corrective action costs, except when release resulted from willful misconduct, gross negligence, or knowing violation of safety standards.

• Requires property owners to disclose contamination status and land use restrictions to transferees; establishes institutional controls through notices of corrective action and restrictive covenants; and grants department authority to record liens on contaminated property for unpaid corrective action costs.