                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VOLUNTARY REMEDIATION PROGRAM (§ 10.1-1232)

A. The Virginia Waste Management Board shall promulgate regulations to allow
persons who own, operate, have a security interest in or enter into a contract
for the purchase of contaminated property to voluntarily remediate releases of
hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, solid wastes, or petroleum. The
regulations shall apply where remediation has not clearly been mandated by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Department or a court
pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability
Act (42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq.), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (42
U.S.C. § 6901 et seq.), the Virginia Waste Management Act (§ 10.1-1400 et
seq.), the State Water Control Law (§ 62.1-44.2 et seq.), or other applicable
statutory or common law or where jurisdiction of those statutes has been waived.
The regulations shall provide for the following:

   1. The establishment of methodologies to determine site-specific risk-based
   remediation standards, which shall be no more stringent than applicable or
   appropriate relevant federal standards for soil, groundwater and sediments,
   taking into consideration scientific information regarding the following: (i)
   protection of public health and the environment, (ii) the future industrial,
   commercial, residential, or other use of the property to be remediated and of
   surrounding properties, (iii) reasonably available and effective remediation
   technology and analytical quantitation technology, (iv) the availability of
   institutional or engineering controls that are protective of human health or
   the environment, and (v) natural background levels for hazardous constituents;

   2. The establishment of procedures that minimize the delay and expense of the
   remediation, to be followed by a person volunteering to remediate a release
   and by the Department in processing submissions and overseeing remediation;

   3. The issuance of certifications of satisfactory completion of remediation,
   based on then-present conditions and available information, where voluntary
   cleanup achieves applicable cleanup standards or where the Department
   determines that no further action is required;

   4. Procedures to waive or expedite issuance of any permits required to
   initiate and complete a voluntary cleanup consistent with applicable federal
   law; and

   5. Registration fees to be collected from persons conducting voluntary
   remediation to defray the actual reasonable costs of the voluntary remediation
   program expended at the site.

B. Persons conducting voluntary remediations pursuant to an agreement with the
Department entered into prior to the promulgation of those regulations may elect
to complete the cleanup in accordance with such an agreement or the regulations.

C. Certification of satisfactory completion of remediation shall constitute
immunity to an enforcement action under the Virginia Waste Management Act
(&#xA7; 10.1-1400 et seq.), the State Water Control Law (&#xA7; 62.1-44.2 et
seq.), Chapter 13 (&#xA7; 10.1-1300 et seq.) of this title, or any other
applicable law.

D. At the request of a person who owns, operates, holds a security interest in
or contracts for the purchase of property from which the contamination to be
voluntarily remediated originates, the Department is authorized to seek
temporary access to private and public property not owned by such person
conducting the voluntary remediation as may be reasonably necessary for such
person to conduct the voluntary remediation. Such request shall include a
demonstration that the person requesting access has used reasonable effort to
obtain access by agreement with the property owner. Such access, if granted,
shall be granted for only the minimum amount of time necessary to complete the
remediation and shall be exercised in a manner that minimizes the disruption of
ongoing activities and compensates for actual damages. The person requesting
access shall reimburse the Commonwealth for reasonable, actual and necessary
expenses incurred in seeking or obtaining access. Denial of access to the
Department by a property owner creates a rebuttable presumption that such owner
waives all rights, claims and causes of action against the person volunteering
to perform remediation for costs, losses or damages related to the contamination
as to claims for costs, losses or damages arising after the date of such denial
of access to the Department. A property owner who has denied access to the
Department may rebut the presumption by showing that he had good cause for the
denial or that the person requesting that the Department obtain access acted in
bad faith.

HISTORY: 2002, c. 378; 2014, c. 366.