A. Notwithstanding any other statute, monies from the water quality assurance revolving fund may be used for all reasonable costs incurred in remedial actions taken in response to a release or threat of a release of a hazardous substance or pollutant that presents an emergency to the public health or the environment. Within ten days of the date that the first remedial action costs are incurred, the director shall make a written determination that an emergency exists or that an emergency existed at the time the remedial action costs were incurred. A remedial action funded as an emergency response shall be completed within one year of the director’s written determination that an emergency exists.

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 49-282.02

  • Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Environment: means WOTUS, any other surface waters, groundwater, drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata or ambient air, within or bordering on this state. See Arizona Laws 49-201
  • 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

  • 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
  • Pollutant: means fluids, contaminants, toxic wastes, toxic pollutants, dredged spoil, solid waste, substances and chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, petroleum products, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and mining, industrial, municipal and agricultural wastes or any other liquid, solid, gaseous or hazardous substances. 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

  • Remedial actions: means those actions that are reasonable, necessary, cost-effective and technically feasible in the event of the release or threat of release of hazardous substances into the environment, such actions as may be necessary to investigate, monitor, assess and evaluate such release or threat of release, actions of remediation, removal or disposal of hazardous substances or taking such other actions as may be necessary to prevent, minimize or mitigate damage to the public health or welfare or to the environment that may otherwise result from a release or threat of release of a hazardous substance. See Arizona Laws 49-281
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.

B. Any reasonable, necessary and cost-effective remedial action costs incurred by the director pursuant to this section in response to a release or a threat of a release of a hazardous substance that presents an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or the environment may be recovered in a civil action brought by the attorney general against any responsible party as prescribed by section 49-285, subsection A. This subsection does not preclude the department from initiating actions under other provisions of state or federal law. With respect to any reasonable, necessary and cost-effective remedial action costs incurred by the director pursuant to this section in responding to a release or a threat of a release of a pollutant, the attorney general may recover those costs in a civil action against a person only to the extent otherwise permitted by statute or the common law and not pursuant to this article.

C. For purposes of this section:

1. "Imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or the environment" means, for purposes of cost recovery, an immediate and significant risk of harm to the public health or the environment as a result of a release of a hazardous substance.

2. "Remedial actions" means those actions necessary to prevent, minimize or mitigate significant damage to public health or the environment that may result from a release or a threat of release, based on an evaluation of the factors prescribed in 40 C.F.R. § 300.415(b)(2) as amended as of January 1, 1992. Remedial actions include those actions consistent with appropriate removal action prescribed by 40 C.F.R. § 300.415(d) as amended as of January 1, 1992.

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