§342L-53  Cost recovery.  (a)  Whenever costs have been incurred by the department in the undertaking of a response action or enforcement action with respect to the release of petroleum from an underground storage tank or tank system, the owner or operator of the tank or tank system shall be liable to the federal government or the department for these costs.  The liability under this subsection shall be construed to be the standard of liability that obtains under § 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-53

  • Department: means the department of health. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1
  • Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
  • Operator: means any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of the underground storage tank. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1
  • Owner: means :

         (1)  In the case of a particular underground storage tank or tank system in use or brought into use on or after November 8, 1984, any person who owns an underground storage tank or tank system; and

         (2)  In the case of a particular underground storage tank or tank system in use before November 8, 1984, but no longer in use after that date, any person who owned such a tank or tank system immediately before the discontinuation of its use. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1

  • Party: means each person or agency named as a party or properly entitled to be a party in any court or agency proceeding. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1
  • Person: means an individual, trust, estate, firm, joint stock company, corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, commission, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, the State or a county, the United States government, federal agency, interstate body, or any other legal entity. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1
  • Petroleum: means petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof which is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1
  • Provider of financial assurance: means a person that provides evidence of financial responsibility for one or more underground storage tanks or tank systems. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1
  • Release: includes , but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing from an underground storage tank or tank system. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1
  • tank: means any one or combination of tanks (including pipes connected thereto) used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which (including the volume of the underground pipes connected thereto) is ten per cent or more beneath the surface of the ground. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1
  • tank system: means an underground storage tank, connected underground piping, underground ancillary equipment, and containment system, if any. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 342L-1

     (b)  In seeking cost recovery, the department may consider the amount of financial responsibility required to be maintained pursuant to § 342L-36 and the factors considered in establishing the amount of financial responsibility pursuant to § 342L-36.

     (c)  No indemnification, hold harmless, or similar agreement or conveyance shall be effective to transfer from the owner or operator of any underground storage tank or tank system or from any person who may be liable for a release or threat of release under this section, to any other person, the liability imposed under this section.  Nothing in this subsection shall bar any agreement to insure, hold harmless, or indemnify a party to such an agreement for any liability under this section.  Nothing in this chapter shall bar a cause of action that an owner or operator or any other person subject to liability under this section, or a provider of financial assurance, has or would have, by reason of subrogation or otherwise against any person.

     (d)  Moneys collected by the department as part of the cost recovery efforts pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the leaking underground storage tank fund established in § 342L-51.