West Virginia Code 22-22-5 – Brownfield application; remediation process; brownfield remediation; eligibility; application; remediation loan; and obtaining information from director
(a) For brownfield property, any environmental remediation undertaken pursuant to this article, by a development authority or any person who did not cause or contribute to the contamination on the property shall comply with the appropriate standards established by the director pursuant to this article and rules promulgated hereunder. After conferring with the director, the person may apply to the director for a site assessment loan under section six of this article. A site assessment must be conducted to establish existing contamination of the site. An application for brownfield remediation must be submitted along with the application fee. The procedures established for voluntary remediation set forth in section four must be followed. The director shall establish a reasonable application fee.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22-22-5
- Brownfield: means any industrial or commercial property which is abandoned or not being actively used by the owner as of the effective date of this article, but shall not include any site subject to a unilateral enforcement order under §. See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
- contamination: means any man made or man induced alteration of the chemical, physical or biological integrity of soils, sediments, air and surface water or groundwater resulting from activities regulated under this article, in excess of applicable standards in this chapter, including any hazardous substance, petroleum, or natural gas. See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
- Development authority: means any authority as defined in article twelve, chapter . See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
- Director: means the director of the Division of Environmental Protection or such other person to whom the director has delegated authority or duties pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
- Person: means any public or private corporation, institution, association, firm or company organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or country. See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
- Property: means any parcel of real property, and any improvements thereof. See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
- Remediation: means to cleanup, mitigate, correct, abate, minimize, eliminate, control and contain or prevent a release of a contaminant into the environment in order to protect the present or future public health, safety, welfare, or the environment, including preliminary actions to study or assess the release. See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
- Site: means any property or portion thereof which contains or may contain contaminants and is eligible for remediation as provided under this article. See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
- Voluntary remediation: means a series of measures that may be self-initiated by a person to identify and address potential sources of contamination of property and to establish that the property complies with applicable remediation standards. See West Virginia Code 22-22-2
(b) Brownfield sites being remediated by persons who did not cause or contribute to the contamination of the site are eligible for consideration for remediation loans established under article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code.
(c) Persons undertaking brownfield remediation, who did not cause or contribute to the contamination of the brownfield site, may obtain all information relating to contamination at the site in the possession of the director prior to engaging in a site assessment.