1999 Wisconsin Act 9

9,2607 Section 2607. 292.21 (1) (c) 1. g. of the statutes is created to read:

292.21 (1) (c) 1. g. The lender agrees to allow the department, any authorized representatives of the department, any party that possessed or controlled the hazardous substance or caused the discharge of the hazardous substance and any consultant or contractor of such a party to enter the real property to take action to respond to the discharge.

9,2608 Section 2608. 292.21 (1) (c) 1. h. of the statutes is created to read:

292.21 (1) (c) 1. h. The lender agrees to avoid any interference with action undertaken to respond to the discharge and to avoid actions that worsen the discharge.

9,2609 Section 2609. 292.21 (1) (c) 1. i. of the statutes is created to read:

292.21 (1) (c) 1. i. The lender agrees to any other condition that the department determines is reasonable and necessary to ensure that the department or other person described in subd. 1. g. can adequately respond to the discharge.

9,2610 Section 2610. 292.24 of the statutes is created to read:

292.24 Responsibility of local governmental units; hazardous waste. (1) Definition. In this section, "local governmental unit" has the meaning given in s. 292.11 (9) (e) 1.

(2) Exemption from liability. Except as provided in sub. (3), a local governmental unit is exempt from ss. 291.25 (1) to (5), 291.29 and 291.37, and rules promulgated under those provisions, with respect to the existence of a hazardous waste discharge on property acquired in a way or for a purpose described in s. 292.11 (9) (e) 1m., if all of the following occur at any time before or after the date of acquisition:

(a) An environmental investigation of the property is conducted that is approved by the department and that identifies any hazardous waste discharges that occurred on the property.

(b) The hazardous waste discharges identified by the investigation under par. (a) are cleaned up by restoring the environment to the extent practicable with respect to the discharges and minimizing the harmful effects from the discharges in accordance with rules promulgated by the department and any contract entered into under those rules.

(c) The local governmental unit obtains an approval from the department stating that the property has been satisfactorily restored to the extent practicable with respect to the hazardous waste discharges and that the harmful effects from the discharges have been minimized.

(d) The local governmental unit maintains and monitors the property as required under rules promulgated by the department and any contract entered into under those rules.

(e) The local governmental unit does not engage in activities that are inconsistent with the maintenance of the property.

(f) The local governmental unit has not obtained the certification under par. (c) by fraud or misrepresentation, by the knowing failure to disclose material information or under circumstances in which the local governmental unit knew or should have known about more discharges of hazardous waste than were revealed by the investigation conducted under par. (a).

(g) The local governmental unit did not cause the discharge of any hazardous waste identified on the property.

(3) Applicability. Subsection (2) does not apply to any of the following:

(a) A hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal facility that first begins operation after the date on which the local governmental unit acquired the property.

(b) A licensed hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal facility operated on the property before the date on which the local governmental unit acquired the property and that is operated after the date on which the local governmental unit acquired the property.

(c) Any hazardous waste disposal facility that has been issued a license under s. 144.441 (2), 1995 stats., or s. 289.41 (1m), or rules promulgated under those sections, for a period of long-term care following closure of the facility.

9,2611 Section 2611. 292.25 of the statutes is created to read:

292.25 Report on impact of exemptions from liability. (1) The department shall biennially determine all of the following:

(a) The number of sites for which a person is seeking to qualify for an exemption under s. 292.15.

(b) The number of sites for which a certificate of completion was issued under s. 292.15.

(c) The number of sites for which a certificate of completion was issued under s. 292.15 at which it is discovered that the cleanup failed or at which additional hazardous substances are found after the certificate of completion was issued.

(d) The number of sites described in par. (b) at which the department has determined that it is necessary to conduct remedial action using moneys from the environmental fund and the estimated costs of performing that remedial action.

(e) The number of sites for which a claim was made against an insurance policy required under s. 292.15.

(2) No later than September 15 of each even-numbered year, the department shall submit a report describing its determinations under sub. (1) to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2), to the governor and to the department of administration.

(3) The department may require a person to provide information necessary for the department to make the determinations under sub. (1).

9,2611d Section 2611d. 292.255 of the statutes is created to read:

292.255 Report on brownfield efforts. On or before June 30 annually, the department of natural resources, the department of administration, the department of commerce , the department of revenue and the department of transportation shall submit a report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3) and to the joint committee on finance evaluating the effectiveness of this state's efforts to remedy the contamination of, and to redevelop, brownfields, as defined in s. 560.60 (1v).

9,2612 Section 2612. 292.33 of the statutes is created to read:

292.33 Local government cost recovery cause of action. (1) Definition. In this section "local governmental unit" has the meaning given in s. 292.11 (9) (e) 1.

(2) Cause of action. Except as provided in sub. (6), a local governmental unit may recover costs as provided in sub. (4) from a responsible person described in sub. (3) if the costs are incurred in connection with a property acquired as provided in s. 292.11 (9) (e) 1m. on which a hazardous substance has been discharged.

(3) Responsible persons. (a) Except as provided in par. (b), a local governmental unit may recover costs in an action under this section from any of the following:

1. A person who, at the time that the local governmental unit acquired the property, possessed or controlled the hazardous substance that was discharged on the property.

2. A person who caused the discharge of the hazardous substance on the property.

(b) A local governmental unit may not recover costs in an action under sub. (2) from a person listed in par. (a) if any of the following applies:

1. The person is exempt from liability under s. 292.11 (9) (e), 292.13, 292.15, 292.16, 292.19 or 292.21 with respect to the discharge that is the subject of the action.

2. The person has entered into a consent order under this chapter or ch. 289 or 291 or an agreement under s. 292.11 (7) (d) or 292.31 (8) (h) with respect to the discharge that is the subject of the action and the person is in compliance with the consent order or agreement.

3. The person is exempt from liability under s. 292.35 (9) (e) with respect to the discharge that is the subject of the action.

4. The discharge that was caused by the person and that is the subject of the action was in compliance with a permit, license, approval, special order, waiver or variance issued under ch. 283 or 285 or under corresponding federal statutes or regulations.

(4) Recoverable costs. (a) Except as provided in par. (b), in an action under this section a local governmental unit may recover the reasonable and necessary costs that it incurs for all of the following:

1. Investigating environmental contamination on the property and planning remedial activities described in subd. 2.

2. Conducting remedial activities to restore the property for its intended future use.

3. Administering the activities under subds. 1. and 2. and bringing the action under this section, including costs, disbursements and engineering fees but excluding attorney fees.

(b) The costs determined under par. (a) shall be reduced by the fair market value of the property after completion of the activities under par. (a) 2.

(c) Recoverable costs under this subsection may not be reduced by the amount of any state or federal moneys received by the local governmental unit for any of the activities under par. (a).

(d) 1. In an action under this section, the liability of a responsible person described in sub. (3) (a) 2. is limited to the amount that bears the same proportion to the total costs under par. (a), adjusted as provided in par. (b), as the amount of the environmental pollution on the property from the discharge caused by the responsible person bears to all of the environmental pollution on the property from discharges of hazardous substances.

2. In an action under this section, the liability of a responsible person described in sub. (3) (a) 1. is limited to the amount of the total costs under par. (a), adjusted as provided in par. (b), that the local governmental unit is unable to recover from responsible parties described in sub. (3) (a) 2. less the amount that the local governmental unit is unable to recover because of the exemptions in sub. (3) (b) 3. and 4.

(5) Repaying state assistance. If a local governmental unit that recovers costs under this section received money from this state, other than under s. 292.11 (7) or 292.31 (1), (3) or (7), for any of the activities under sub. (4) (a), the local governmental unit shall reimburse to the state an amount that bears the same proportion to the total amount recovered under this section as the amount received from the state, other than under s. 292.11 (7) or 292.31 (1), (3) or (7), bears to the total costs under sub. (4) (a) adjusted as provided in sub. (4) (b).

(6) Exception. A local governmental unit may not recover costs under this section for remedial activities conducted on a property or portion of a property with respect to a discharge after the department of natural resources, the department of commerce or the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection has indicated that no further remedial activities are necessary on the property or portion of the property with respect to the discharge.

(7) Limitation of action. An action under this section shall be commenced within 6 years after the date that the local governmental unit completes the activities under sub. (4) (a) 2. or be barred.

9,2613 Section 2613. 292.57 of the statutes is created to read:

292.57 Database of properties on which groundwater standards are exceeded. (1) In this section, "groundwater standard" means an enforcement standard, as defined in s. 160.01 (2), or a preventive action limit, as defined in s. 160.01 (6).

(2) (a) The department may promulgate a rule specifying a fee for placing information concerning a property on which a groundwater standard is exceeded into a database.

(b) Any moneys collected under this subsection shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.370 (2) (mi).

9,2614 Section 2614. 292.65 (1) (d) 9. of the statutes is created to read:

292.65 (1) (d) 9. A formal wear rental firm.

9,2614e Section 2614e. 292.65 (1) (ek) of the statutes is created to read:

292.65 (1) (ek) "Formal wear" includes tuxedos, suits and dresses, but does not include costumes, table linens and household fabrics.

9,2614g Section 2614g. 292.65 (1) (em) of the statutes is created to read:

292.65 (1) (em) "Formal wear rental firm" means a facility that rents formal wear to the general public and dry cleans only the formal wear that it rents to the general public.

9,2615 Section 2615. 292.65 (1) (h) 3. of the statutes is created to read:

292.65 (1) (h) 3. A person who operated a dry cleaning facility that ceased operating before October 14, 1997.

9,2616 Section 2616. 292.65 (1) (i) 1. of the statutes is renumbered 292.65 (1) (i) 1. (intro.) and amended to read:

292.65 (1) (i) 1. (intro.) A person who owns, or has possession or control of, a dry cleaning facility, or and who receives or received direct or indirect consideration from the operation of a dry cleaning facility regardless of whether the dry cleaning facility remains in operation and regardless of whether the person owns or receives consideration at the time that environmental pollution occurs., any of the following:

9,2617 Section 2617. 292.65 (1) (i) 1. a. of the statutes is created to read:

292.65 (1) (i) 1. a. A dry cleaning facility that is licensed under s. 77.9961 (2).

9,2618 Section 2618. 292.65 (1) (i) 1. b. of the statutes is created to read:

292.65 (1) (i) 1. b. A dry cleaning facility that has ceased operation but that, if it ceased operation on or after October 14, 1997, was licensed under s. 77.9961 (2) before it ceased operation.

9,2619 Section 2619. 292.65 (1) (i) 3. of the statutes is created to read:

292.65 (1) (i) 3. A person who owns the property on which one of the following is located:

a. A dry cleaning facility that is licensed under s. 77.9961 (2).

b. A dry cleaning facility that has ceased operation but that was licensed under s. 77.9961 (2) before it ceased operation.

9,2620 Section 2620. 292.65 (1) (L) of the statutes is amended to read:

292.65 (1) (L) "Service provider" means a consultant, testing laboratory, monitoring well installer, soil boring contractor, other contractor, lender or any other person who provides a product or service for which an application for reimbursement has been or will be filed under this section, or a subcontractor of such a person.

9,2621 Section 2621. 292.65 (3) (am) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

292.65 (3) (am) 2. The department shall pay an award for immediate action activities. For the purposes of this subdivision, removal of contaminated soils and recovery of free dry cleaning solvent are not considered immediate action activities.

9,2622 Section 2622. 292.65 (3) (am) 3. of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

292.65 (3) (am) 3. After paying awards for immediate action activities, the department shall do the following with the remaining funds available for awards under this section:

a. In the program year that begins on July 1, 1999, provide 75% to pay awards for eligible costs incurred before October 14, 1997, and provide 25% to pay awards for eligible costs incurred on or after October 14, 1997.

b. In the program year that begins on July 1, 2000, provide 50% to pay awards for eligible costs incurred before October 14, 1997, and provide 50% to pay awards for eligible costs incurred on or after October 14, 1997.

c. In the program year that begins on July 1, 2001, and every program year thereafter, provide at least 70% as awards to pay eligible costs incurred on or after October 14, 1997.

9,2627 Section 2627. 292.65 (4) (m) of the statutes is created to read:

292.65 (4) (m) Notification of insurance claims and receipt of proceeds. An owner or operator shall notify the department of any insurance claim made to cover eligible costs, the status of the claim, and, if the owner or operator has received any insurance proceeds arising from the claim, the amount of the proceeds.

9,2629 Section 2629. 292.65 (6) of the statutes is repealed.

9,2631 Section 2631. 292.65 (7) (a) 16. of the statutes is repealed.

9,2632 Section 2632. 292.65 (7) (b) of the statutes is repealed.