A. Any one of the following persons may bring an action in superior court against a person who caused or contributed to the release of a regulated substance from an underground storage tank to require that person to reimburse one of the following persons for the reasonable costs of corrective actions taken in response to the release:

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 49-1019

  • Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Corrective actions: means those actions that are prescribed pursuant to section 49-1005. See Arizona Laws 49-1001
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Operator: means a person in control of, or having responsibility for, the day-to-day operation of an underground storage tank. See Arizona Laws 49-1001
  • Person: means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation, joint venture, partnership, association, consortium, state, municipality, interstate body, commission, political subdivision of a state and the United States government. See Arizona Laws 49-1001
  • Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Regulated substance: means :

    (a) Petroleum. See Arizona Laws 49-1001

  • Release: means a spill, leak, emission, discharge, escape, leach or disposal of a regulated substance from an underground storage tank into groundwater, surface water or soils. See Arizona Laws 49-1001
  • Tank: means a stationary device constructed of wood, concrete, steel, plastic or other nonearthen materials and used to contain regulated substances. See Arizona Laws 49-1001
  • Underground storage tank: means a tank or combination of tanks and underground pipes and impact valves connected to tanks being used or having been used to contain regulated substances and which has at least ten percent of the total volume of the tank and underground portions of pipes connected to the tank underground. See Arizona Laws 49-1001

1. An owner or operator of an underground storage tank or any other person who takes a corrective action pursuant to section 49-1005.

2. An owner or operator of an underground storage tank or any other person from whom costs are recovered by this state pursuant to this chapter.

B. The person seeking reimbursement has the burden of demonstrating that the corrective action costs incurred were reasonable.

C. This article does not affect or modify the obligations or liability of a person, by reason of subrogation or otherwise, under any other provision of common law, federal law or the laws of this state, for damages, injury or loss resulting from a release of a regulated substance or for the costs of a corrective action, except that a person who receives compensation for the costs of a corrective action pursuant to this article is precluded from recovering compensation for the same corrective action costs pursuant to any other federal law or the laws of this state. A person who receives compensation for corrective action costs pursuant to federal law or the laws of this state is precluded from receiving compensation for the same corrective action costs as provided in this article.

D. Liability under this section shall be equitably allocated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with section 49-1017, subsection D. Any party authorized to bring an action pursuant to subsection A of this section and any party against whom an action is brought may have liability allocated through mediation in accordance with section 49-1017, subsection D or through the informal appeal process in accordance with section 49-1091.

E. The department may take corrective action for a release and recover direct costs pursuant to section 49-1017 in proportion to the allocation made pursuant to subsection D of this section if an owner or an operator does not perform all necessary corrective actions and there is no other person to perform corrective actions pursuant to section 49-1016, subsection C.

 

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