No provision of this act is intended, nor shall be construed, to affect in any way any rights or interest (whether public or private):
(a) now vested or accrued, in whole or in part, the validity of which might be sustained or preserved by reference to any provisions of law repealed by this act;
(b) derived from, or which might be sustained or preserved in reliance upon, action heretofore taken pursuant to or within the scope of any provisions of law repealed by this act.
(Section Laws of 1979, Chapter 259 § 5)