2006 Minnesota Statutes

115B.05 LIABILITY FOR ECONOMIC LOSS, DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY AND
DISEASE; LIMITATIONS AND DEFENSES.
    Subdivision 1. Liability. Except as otherwise provided in subdivisions 2 to 10, and
notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law, any person who is responsible for the release
of a hazardous substance from a facility is strictly liable for the following damages which result
from the release or to which the release significantly contributes:
(1) all damages for actual economic loss including:
(i) any injury to, destruction of, or loss of any real or personal property, including relocation
costs;
(ii) any loss of use of real or personal property;
(iii) any loss of past or future income or profits resulting from injury to, destruction of, or
loss of real or personal property without regard to the ownership of the property; and
(2) all damages for death, personal injury, or disease including:
(i) any medical expenses, rehabilitation costs or burial expenses;
(ii) any loss of past or future income, or loss of earning capacity; and
(iii) damages for pain and suffering, including physical impairment.
    Subd. 2. Liability for pollutant or contaminant excluded. There is no liability under this
section for damages which result from the release of a pollutant or contaminant.
    Subd. 3. Certain employee claims not covered. Except for a third party who is subject to
liability under section 176.061, subdivision 5, there is no liability under this section for the death,
personal injury or disease of an employee which is compensable under chapter 176 as an injury or
disease arising out of and in the course of employment.
    Subd. 4. Liability limitations. The liability of a political subdivision under this section is
subject to the limits imposed under section 466.04, subdivision 1.
    Subd. 5. Transportation of household refuse. A person who accepts only household refuse
for transport to a treatment or disposal facility is not liable under this section for the release or
threatened release of any hazardous substance unless that person knew or reasonably should have
known that the hazardous substance was present in the refuse. For the purpose of this subdivision,
household refuse means garbage, trash, or septic tank sanitary wastes generated by single or
multiple residences, hotels, motels, restaurants and other similar facilities.
    Subd. 6. Defense for intervening acts. It is a defense to liability under this section that the
release or threatened release was caused solely by:
(1) an act of God;
(2) an act of war;
(3) an act of vandalism or sabotage; or
(4) an act or omission of a third party or the plaintiff.
"Third party" for the purposes of clause (4) does not include an employee or agent of the
defendant, or a person in the chain of responsibility for the generation, transportation, storage,
treatment, or disposal of the hazardous substance.
The defenses provided in clauses (3) and (4) apply only if the defendant establishes that the
defendant exercised due care with respect to the hazardous substance concerned, taking into
consideration the characteristics of the hazardous substance in light of all relevant facts and
circumstances which the defendant knew or should have known, and that the defendant took
precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions and the consequences that could foreseeably
result from those acts or omissions.
    Subd. 7. Intervening acts of public agencies. When the agency or the federal Environmental
Protection Agency assumes control over any release or threatened release of a hazardous
substance by taking removal actions at the site of the release, the persons responsible for the
release are not liable under sections 115B.01 to 115B.15 for any subsequent release of the
hazardous substance from another facility to which it has been removed.
    Subd. 8. Releases subject to certain permits or standards; federal postclosure fund. It is
a defense to liability under this section that:
(1) the release or threatened release was from a hazardous waste facility as defined under
section 115A.03, for which a permit had been issued pursuant to section 116.07 or pursuant to
subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, United States Code, title 42, section 6921 et seq., the
hazardous substance was specifically identified in the permit, and the release was within the limits
allowed in the permit for release of that substance;
(2) the hazardous substance released was specifically identified in a federal or state permit
and the release is within the limits allowed in the permit;
(3) the release resulted from circumstances identified and reviewed and made a part of the
public record of a federal or state agency with respect to a permit issued or modified under federal
or state law, and the release conformed with the permit;
(4) the release was any part of an emission or discharge into the air or water and the emission
or discharge was subject to a federal or state permit and was in compliance with control rules or
regulations adopted pursuant to state or federal law;
(5) the release was the introduction of any hazardous substance into a publicly owned
treatment works and the substance was specified in, and is in compliance with, applicable
pretreatment standards specified for that substance under state and federal law; or
(6) liability has been assumed by the federal postclosure liability fund under United States
Code, title 42, section 9607(k).
    Subd. 9. Rendering assistance in response actions. It is a defense to liability under this
section that the damages resulted from acts taken or omitted in preparation for, or in the course
of rendering care, assistance, or advice to the commissioner or agency pursuant to section
115B.17 or in accordance with the national hazardous substance response plan pursuant to the
Federal Superfund Act, under United States Code, title 42, section 9605, or at the direction of
an on-scene coordinator appointed under that plan, with respect to any release or threatened
release of a hazardous substance.
    Subd. 10. Burden of proof for defenses. Any person claiming a defense provided in
subdivisions 6 to 9 has the burden to prove all elements of the defense by a preponderance of the
evidence.
History: 1983 c 121 s 5; 1Sp1985 c 8 s 1; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 186 s 15