New Jersey § 58:11-63

§ 58:11-63.

The provisions of any law, or rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto to the contrary

notwithstanding, whenever a public or private entity receives an order pursuant to

section 3 of P.L.1981, c. 347 ( C.58:11-61 ) to acquire a small water company, small sewer company, or both, the designated acquiring

public or private entity shall not be deemed the discharger or responsible party for

a discharge of a hazardous substance that occurred prior to the acquisition and is

attributed to the facilities being acquired, and shall not be liable for any required

cleanup and removal costs or damages resulting from any such discharge of a hazardous

substance. As a condition of, and at the time of the acquisition, the designated acquiring

public or private entity shall conduct a preliminary assessment and a site investigation

of the facilities to be acquired to ascertain the presence and the levels of any hazardous

substance. Neither the designated acquiring public or private entity, the service users of

the small water company or small sewer company being acquired, or the users of the

designated acquiring public or private entity's services shall have any liability

for cleanup and removal costs relating to any hazardous discharge identified by the

site investigation conducted pursuant to this section as being a pre-acquisition hazardous

discharge, provided that the designated acquiring public or private entity shall exercise

reasonable care in addressing any environmental contamination at the facilities upon

acquisition. The exemption from liability granted to an acquiring public or private entity pursuant

to this section shall not apply to the designated acquiring public or private entity's

liability, pursuant to any law or rule or regulation, for arranging for the off-site

disposal or treatment of a hazardous substance or for transporting and disposing of

a hazardous substance at an off-site facility selected by the designated acquiring

public or private entity. Nothing in this section shall prohibit or limit the right of the Department of Environmental

Protection to undertake a cleanup of the property or to obtain a lien on the property

for the cost of a cleanup pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1976, c. 141 ( C.58:10-23.11f ). Any recovery of cleanup and removal costs from an acquiring public or private entity

pursuant to a lien obtained by the Department of Environmental Protection shall be

limited to the actual financial benefit realized by the designated acquiring public

or private entity solely due to a cleanup or removal action. Recovery by the Department of Environmental Protection shall be conditioned upon

the department providing a detailed financial analysis to the designated acquiring

public or private entity demonstrating that the actual financial gain realized by

the designated acquiring public or private entity is due solely to the cleanup or

removal action. The acquiring entity shall have 30 days to notify the department, in writing, of

any dispute relating to the financial analysis or the department's determination of

actual financial gain. The Department of Environmental Protection shall negotiate, for a period not to

exceed 30 days, with the designated acquiring public or private entity to resolve

any dispute relating to the financial analysis or the department's determination of

actual financial gain identified by the designated acquiring public or private entity

prior to imposition of a lien. The department may waive any lien or recovery if warranted by the circumstances. As used in this section “small water company” and “small sewer company” shall have

the same meaning as in section 1 of P.L.1981, c. 347 (C .58:11-59).