Article 5 - Enforcement and Cost Recovery

California Health and Safety Code — §§ 80080-80090

Sections (3)

Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 257, Sec. 2. (AB 2293) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 4 of Stats. 2022, Ch. 257. Conditionally operative pursuant to Sec. 80100.

Any costs paid from the fund pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (d) of Section 80025 shall be recoverable by the Attorney General, at the request of the administrator of the fund, from any liable person who has not entered into, or is not in compliance with, a written cleanup agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 80040 that provides for the completion of all response actions necessary at the site under the oversight and at the direction of the department or the regional board.

Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 257, Sec. 2. (AB 2293) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 4 of Stats. 2022, Ch. 257. Conditionally operative pursuant to Sec. 80100.

Any potentially responsible party who withholds information required to be submitted under this section or Section 80080, or who submits false information, is subject to a civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each piece of information withheld or for each piece of false information submitted.

Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 257, Sec. 2. (AB 2293) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 4 of Stats. 2022, Ch. 257. Conditionally operative pursuant to Sec. 80100.

(a)Any costs incurred and payable from the fund by the administrator pursuant to this chapter shall constitute a claim and lien upon the real property owned by a responsible party that is subject to, or affected by, a response action. A lien established by this subdivision shall have all of the following properties:
(1)The lien shall not exceed the increase in fair market value of the site attributable to the response action at the time of a subsequent sale or other disposition of the site.
(2)The lien shall attach regardless of whether the responsible party property owner is solvent.
(3)The lien shall

arise at the time costs to the fund are first incurred by the administrator.

(4)The lien shall be subject to the notice and hearing procedures that due process of the law requires.
(b)Neither the administrator of the fund nor the fund shall be considered a responsible party for a hazardous substance release site because a claim and lien is imposed pursuant to this section.
(c)(1) The lien imposed by this section shall have the force and effect of, and the priority of, a judgment lien upon its recordation in the county in which the property subject to the lien is located.
(2)The lien shall contain the legal description of the property, the assessor’s parcel number, and the name of the owner of record, as shown on the latest

equalized assessment roll. The lien shall also contain a legal description of the property that is the site of the hazardous substance release, the assessor’s parcel number for that property, and the name of the owner of record, as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll, of that property.

(d)All funds recovered pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the fund.