(a) A certificate of completion shall include: (1) A finding that the enrollee has successfully completed the local brownfield cleanup program; (2) A statement that, subject to the provisions of this section and except as provided in the remedial action work plan, site management plan, declaration of covenants and restrictions, or certificate or completion, the City shall not take or require any further investigatory or remedial action against the site and the enrollee, his or her successors, and his or her assigns, regarding the contamination addressed at the site; and (3) A recommendation that no other governmental entity take or require any investigatory or remedial action against the site and the enrollee, his or her successors, and his or her assigns, regarding the contamination addressed at the site. The Commissioner shall seek to enter into agreements with Federal and/or State agencies and other entities that formally recognize cleanups for which a city certificate of completion has been issued, and that stipulate that the Federal and/or State agency or other entity does intend or anticipate taking further actions requiring additional cleanup and investigation for contamination that an enrollee has appropriately addressed under the local brownfield cleanup program, subject to such terms and conditions as may be required by the Federal and/or State agency or other entity. Nothing in this section shall in any way be interpreted as a binding legal commitment or obligation on behalf of the Commissioner to enter in such an agreement with the Federal and/or State agency or other entity for any site enrolled in the local brownfield cleanup program, nor in any way restrict the Commissioner's discretion in negotiating the terms and conditions of such an agreement with the Federal and/or State agency or other entity.
(b) The City nonetheless shall reserve all of its rights concerning any further investigation and/or remediation the Commissioner deems necessary due to:
(1) Environmental contamination at, on, under, or emanating from the local brownfield site if, in light of such conditions, the site is no longer protective of public health or the environment; or
(2) Noncompliance with the terms of the local brownfield cleanup agreement, the remedial action work plan, the site management plan, declaration of covenants and restrictions, or the certificate of completion; or
(3) Fraud committed by the applicant in the application for or by the enrollee during participation in the local brownfield cleanup program; or
(4) A written finding by the Commissioner that a change in an environmental standard, factor, or criterion upon which the remedial action work plan was based, renders the local brownfield site remedial program implemented at the site no longer protective of public health or the environment; or
(5) A change in the local brownfield site's use subsequent to the office's issuance of the certificate of completion unless additional remediation is undertaken as determined by the Commissioner, which shall meet the standard for protection of public health and the environment that applies under this chapter.
(c) The certificate of completion provided pursuant to this section shall run with the land, extending to the enrollee's successors or assigns through acquisition of title to the local brownfield site and to a person who develops or otherwise occupies the local brownfield site; provided, however, that such persons act with due care and in good faith to adhere to the requirements of the local brownfield cleanup agreement, remedial action work plan, site management plan, declaration of covenants and restrictions, and certificate of completion. The certificate of completion does not extend, and cannot be transferred, to a person who is responsible for the disposal or the discharge of contaminants on the local brownfield site according to applicable principles of statutory or common law liability as of the effective date of the certificate of completion issued pursuant to this chapter, unless that person was party to the local brownfield cleanup agreement for the local brownfield site.
(d) The provisions of this section shall not affect an action or a claim, including a statutory or common law claim for contribution or indemnification, that an enrollee has or may have against a third party.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the liability of any person with respect to any costs, damages, or investigative or remedial activities that are not included in the local brownfield cleanup agreement, or remedial action work plan for the local brownfield site.
(Ord. 9912-2014. Passed 5-7-14.)