Montana Code 76-7-213. Liability
76-7-213. Liability. (1) The creation and approval of an environmental control easement do not waive or release any statutory liability or other obligation of a person for hazardous wastes or substances at an environmental control site. A federal public entity or public body may enforce any applicable law or obligation without regard to any allocation of liability in an easement instrument and without regard to exhaustion of remedies against any party to an easement instrument.
Terms Used In Montana Code 76-7-213
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- easement: means an easement created under this chapter that burdens an environmental control site, that runs with the land, and that is binding on the owner and subsequent owners, lessees, and other users of the land. See Montana Code 76-7-103
- Federal public entity: means the United States of America, the United States environmental protection agency, or any other federal government agency or authority and its successors or assigns. See Montana Code 76-7-103
- Hazardous wastes or substances: means those hazardous or toxic substances, wastes, materials, pollutants, or contaminants that are subject to regulation by federal, state, or local environmental protection laws or that are defined pursuant to 75-10-403, 75-10-602, and 75-10-702. See Montana Code 76-7-103
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Public body: means the state, counties, cities, towns, and other municipalities. See Montana Code 76-7-103
- site: means any site, including the surface and subsurface of the land and the surface and subsurface resources in, upon, or under the land, including, without limitation, minerals and water that may contain hazardous wastes or substances or that may require remediation, reclamation, or restoration pursuant to federal, state, or local law or regulation. See Montana Code 76-7-103
(2)An owner of a site to which the environmental control easement applies and any lessee or licensee of the land are liable for any violation of the provisions of the easement and are liable for abating the violation and for all damages, costs, and attorney fees arising from or attributable to the violation.
(3)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the holder or other named beneficiary of an environmental control easement or other person enforcing the easement is not liable for hazardous wastes or substances at the environmental control site or for the release of a hazardous or deleterious substance from a facility at the site based upon its ownership of the easement or based upon its maintenance, monitoring, enforcement, or other actions with respect to the easement.