63H-1-209.  Immunity from contaminated property claims.

(1)  As used in this section:

Terms Used In Utah Code 63H-1-209

  • Allegation: something that someone says happened.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Project area: means the land, including military land, whether consisting of a single contiguous area or multiple noncontiguous areas, described in a project area plan or draft project area plan, where the development project set forth in the project area plan or draft project area plan takes place or is proposed to take place. See Utah Code 63H-1-102
  • Property: includes both real and personal property. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • real property: includes :Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
(a)  “Agency” means the same as that term is defined in Section 57-25-102.

(b)  “Claim” means an action, suit, claim, demand, allegation, or cause of action, whether grounded in law or equity, made in a court of competent jurisdiction, mediation, arbitration, before a regulatory body, or in another dispute resolution forum.

(c)  “Contaminated property” means real property in a project area that is:

(i)  affected by historical contamination; and

(ii)  owned by a governmental entity.

(d)  “Environmental covenant” means the same as that term is defined in Section 57-25-102.

(e)  “Governmental entity” means the same as that term is defined in Section 63G-7-102.

(f)  “Hazardous materials” means the same as that term is defined in Section 19-6-302.

(g)  “Hazardous substances” means the same as that term is defined in Section 19-6-302.

(h)  “Historical contamination” means the placement, disposal, or release of hazardous materials or hazardous substances onto, into, under, or in a way that affects real property, and which placement, disposal, or release of hazardous materials or hazardous substances occurred prior to ownership of the real property by a governmental entity.

(i)  “Ownership,” “own,” “owned,” “owns,” or “acquires” means to have an ownership or other established interest in real property, including holding title to, leasing, operating on, or maintaining real property.

(2)  In addition to the liability protection provided by Subsections 63G-7-201(4)(l) and 63G-7-201(4)(s)(iii) and the other provisions of Title 63G, Chapter 7, Governmental Immunity Act of Utah, the protections of Subsection (3) apply to a governmental entity that owns or approves the use of contaminated property.

(3) 

(a)  Ownership of contaminated property by a governmental entity, or a governmental entity’s approval of the use of contaminated property does not subject a governmental entity, its agents, or its officers or employees to any liability for or related to a claim arising from, proximately caused by, or related to historical contamination.

(b)  No governmental entity waives immunity from suit or liability by this section.

(c)  A claim made against a governmental entity, its agents, or its officers or employees in violation of this section shall subject the claimant to the payment of double the attorney fees and costs incurred by the governmental entity related to the claim.

(d)  This Subsection (3) does not limit or alter:

(i)  claims against or the liability of the party that placed, disposed of, or released the hazardous materials or hazardous substances onto, into, under, or in a way that affects contaminated property; or

(ii)  a workers’ compensation claim made by an employee of an entity that works on contaminated property or conducts work related to contaminated property.

(4)  If a governmental entity that owns contaminated property develops the contaminated property for public or governmental purposes, including recreation, government offices, parking, or related uses, then Subsection (3) extends to that governmental entity, regardless of whether the governmental entity had a role in approving use of the contaminated property, if the governmental entity:

(a)  obtains a certificate of completion from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality following participation in the voluntary cleanup program, as set forth in Section 19-8-111; or

(b)  complies with the terms of an environmental covenant signed by an agency and properly recorded in the county records against the property.

Enacted by Chapter 12, 2023 General Session

  Previous section
Next section  
 Part 2 Contents