Montana Code 75-10-744. Eligibility — statute of limitations
75-10-744. Eligibility — statute of limitations. (1) Except for a facility that is listed on the national priorities list pursuant to the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. § 9601, et seq., a facility listed on the priority list established pursuant to 75-10-702 is eligible for the allocation process under 75-10-742 through 75-10-751.
Terms Used In Montana Code 75-10-744
- 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.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Department: means the department of environmental quality provided for in 2-15-3501. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Facility: means :
(i)any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, or aircraft; or
(ii)any site or area where a hazardous or deleterious substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, placed, or otherwise come to be located. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Fund: means the environmental quality protection fund established in 75-10-704. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Orphan share: means the percentage share of remedial action costs for a facility that is attributable, under the procedures in 75-10-742 through 75-10-751, to identified but bankrupt or defunct persons who are not an affiliate of any viable person, unless affiliated by stock ownership. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Orphan share fund: means the fund for the orphan share account established in 75-10-743. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Person: means an individual, trust, firm, joint-stock company, joint venture, consortium, commercial entity, partnership, association, corporation, commission, state or state agency, political subdivision of the state, interstate body, or the federal government, including a federal agency. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- Remedial action: includes all notification, investigation, administration, monitoring, cleanup, restoration, mitigation, abatement, removal, replacement, acquisition, enforcement, legal action, health studies, feasibility studies, and other actions necessary or appropriate to respond to a release or threatened release. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(2)Only liability for remedial action costs is eligible for allocation and reimbursement from the orphan share fund. Allocation of liability and reimbursement of costs for natural resource damages is not permitted under 75-10-742 through 75-10-751.
(3)Remedial action costs incurred prior to the date of the potentially liable person‘s written petition to the department as provided in 75-10-745 are not eligible for reimbursement from the orphan share fund.
(4)Only one allocation will be allowed for each facility unless:
(a)the department determines that an additional allocation is appropriate due to:
(i)the existence of more than one discrete unit of contamination at the facility;
(ii)the discovery of new releases after remedial actions at the facility are complete; or
(iii)other factors the department determines appropriate.
(b)all the liable or potentially liable persons under 75-10-715 agree in writing that an orphan share does not exist for the proposed allocation and either of the conditions in subsection (4)(a)(i) or (4)(a)(ii) is met.
(5)A liable or potentially liable person under 75-10-715 may not file a cost recovery or contribution action against any person participating in the allocation process provided for in 75-10-742 through 75-10-751 until the allocation process is complete. The statute of limitations on the filing of cost recovery or contribution actions is tolled from the first date of a petition for allocation on a facility until 30 days after the submittal of the allocation report provided for in 75-10-750, or until 30 days following the expiration of the time period for appeal or the final decision on appeal.