§ 143-215.94V.  Standards for petroleum underground storage tank cleanup.

(a) Legislative findings and intent.

(1) The General Assembly finds that:

a. The goals of the underground storage tank program are to protect human health and the environment. Maintaining the solvency of the Commercial Fund and the Noncommercial Fund is essential to these goals.

b. The sites at which discharges or releases from underground storage tanks occur vary greatly in terms of complexity, soil types, hydrogeology, other physical and chemical characteristics, current and potential future uses of groundwater, and the degree of risk that each site may pose to human health and the environment.

c. Risk-based corrective action is a process that recognizes this diversity and utilizes an approach where assessment and remediation activities are specifically tailored to the conditions and risks of a specific site.

d. Risk-based corrective action gives the State flexibility in requiring different levels of cleanup based on scientific analysis of different site characteristics, and allowing no action or no further action at sites that pose little risk to human health or the environment.

e. A risk-based approach to the cleanup of environmental damage can adequately protect human health and the environment while preventing excessive or unproductive cleanup efforts, thereby assuring that limited resources are directed toward those sites that pose the greatest risk to human health and the environment.

(2) The General Assembly intends:

a. To direct the Commission to adopt rules that will provide for risk-based assessment and cleanup of discharges and releases from petroleum underground storage tanks. These rules are intended to combine groundwater standards that protect current and potential future uses of groundwater with risk-based analysis to determine the appropriate cleanup levels and actions.

b. That these rules apply to all discharges or releases that are reported on or after the date the rules become effective in order to ascertain whether cleanup is necessary, and if so, the appropriate level of cleanup.

c. That these rules may be applied to any discharge or release that has been reported at the time the rules become effective at the discretion of the Commission.

d. That these rules and decisions of the Commission and the Department in implementing these rules facilitate the completion of more cleanups in a shorter period of time.

e. That neither the Commercial Fund nor the Noncommercial Fund be used to clean up sites where the Commission has determined that a discharge or release poses a degree of risk to human health or the environment that is no greater than the acceptable level of risk established by the Commission.

f. Repealed by Session Laws 1998-161, s. 11(c), effective retroactively to January 1, 1998.

g. That the Commercial Fund and the Noncommercial Fund be used to perform the most cost-effective cleanup that addresses imminent threats to human health and the environment.

(b) The Commission shall adopt rules to establish a risk-based approach for the assessment, prioritization, and cleanup of discharges and releases from petroleum underground storage tanks. The rules shall address, at a minimum, the circumstances where site-specific information should be considered, criteria for determining acceptable cleanup levels, and the acceptable level or range of levels of risk to human health and the environment. Rules that use the distance between a source area of a confirmed discharge or release to a water supply well or a private drinking water well, as those terms are defined under G.S. 87-85, shall include a determination whether a nearby well is likely to be affected by the discharge or release as a factor in determining levels of risk.

(c) The Commission may require an owner or operator or a landowner eligible for payment or reimbursement under subsections (b), (b1), (c), and (c1) of G.S. 143-215.94E to provide information necessary to determine the degree of risk to human health and the environment that is posed by a discharge or release from a petroleum underground storage and to identify the most cost-effective cleanup that addresses imminent threats to human health and the environment.

(d) If the Commission concludes that a discharge or release poses a degree of risk to human health or the environment that is no greater than the acceptable level of risk established by the Commission, the Commission shall notify an owner, operator, or landowner who provides the information required by subsection (c) of this section that no cleanup, further cleanup, or further action will be required unless the Commission later determines that the discharge or release poses an unacceptable level of risk or a potentially unacceptable level of risk to human health or the environment. If the Commission concludes that a discharge or release poses a degree of risk to human health or the environment that requires further cleanup, the Commission shall notify the owner, operator, or landowner who provides the information required by subsection (c) of this section of the cleanup method approved by the Commission as the most cost-effective cleanup method for the site. This section shall not be construed to prohibit an owner, operator, or landowner from selecting a cleanup method other than the cost-effective cleanup method approved by the Commission so long as the Commission determines that the alternative cleanup method will address imminent threats to human health and the environment.

(e) If the Commission concludes under subsection (d) of this section that no cleanup, no further cleanup, or no further action will be required, the Department shall not pay or reimburse any costs otherwise payable or reimbursable under this Article from either the Commercial or Noncommercial Fund, other than reasonable and necessary to conduct the risk assessment required by this section, unless:

(1) Cleanup is ordered or damages are awarded in a finally adjudicated judgment in an action against the owner or landowner. To be eligible for reimbursement of damages arising from a third-party claim for bodily injury or property damage awarded in a finally adjudicated judgment, however, an owner or operator shall (i) notify the Department of any such claim; (ii) provide the Department with all pleadings and other related documents if a lawsuit has been filed; and (iii) provide the Department copies of any medical reports, statements, investigative reports, or certifications from licensed professionals necessary to determine that a claim for bodily injury or property damage is reasonable and necessary. Reimbursement of claims for damages arising from a third-party claim for bodily injury or property damage awarded in a finally adjudicated judgment shall be subject to the limitations set forth in G.S. 143-215.94B(b)(5) and G.S. 143-215.94D(b1)(2), as applicable, and any other provision governing third-party claims set forth in this Article.

(2) Cleanup is required or damages are agreed to in a consent judgment approved by the Department prior to its entry by the court.

(3) Cleanup is required or damages are agreed to in a settlement agreement approved by the Department prior to its execution by the parties.

(4) The payment or reimbursement is for costs that were incurred prior to or as a result of notification of a determination by the Commission that no cleanup, no further cleanup, or no action is required.

(5) The payment or reimbursement is for costs that were incurred as a result of a later determination by the Commission that the discharge or release poses a threat or potential threat to human health or the environment as provided in subsection (d) of this section.

(e1) If the Commission concludes under subsection (d) of this section that further cleanup is required and notifies the owner, operator, or landowner of the cleanup method approved by the Commission as the most cost-effective cleanup method for the site, the Department shall not pay or reimburse any costs otherwise payable or reimbursable under this Article from either the Commercial Fund or Noncommercial Fund, other than those costs that are reasonable and necessary to conduct the risk assessment and to implement the cost-effective cleanup method approved by the Commission. If the owner, operator, or landowner selects a cleanup method other than the one identified by the Commission as the most cost-effective cleanup, the Department shall not pay or reimburse for costs in excess of the cost of implementing the approved cost-effective cleanup.

(f) This section shall not be construed to limit the authority of the Commission to require investigation, initial response, and abatement of a discharge or release pending a determination by the Commission under subsection (d) of this section as to whether cleanup, further cleanup, or further action will be required.

(g) Subsections (c) through (e1) of this section apply only to assessments and cleanups in progress or begun on or after 2 January 1998.

(h) If a discharge or release of petroleum from an underground storage tank results in contamination in soil or groundwater that becomes commingled with contamination that is the result of a discharge or release of petroleum from a source of contamination other than an underground storage tank, the cleanup of petroleum may proceed under rules adopted pursuant to this section. The Department shall not pay or reimburse any costs associated with the assessment or remediation of that portion of contamination that results from a release or discharge of petroleum from a source other than an underground storage tank from either the Commercial Fund or the Noncommercial Fund. (1995, c. 377, s. 1; 1998-161, s. 11(c); 2003-352, s. 9; 2011-394, s. 11.5; 2015-263, s. 20(a).)