(1) Except as preempted by federal law, no person or entity shall be deemed to be an owner or operator of real or personal property who, without participating in the management of the subject real or personal property, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security or lienhold interest in the subject real or personal property or in the property in which the subject real or personal property is located.
No lender-owner or representative shall, by virtue of becoming the owner of real orpersonal property, be liable for any third-party liability arising from contamination or pollution emanating from said property prior to the date that title vests in the lender-owner or representative.
No lender-owner or representative shall, by virtue of becoming the owner of real orpersonal property, be liable for any third-party liability arising from contamination or pollution emanating from said property during the period of ownership so long as, and to the extent that, it does not knowingly or recklessly cause new contamination or pollution or does not knowingly or recklessly allow others to cause new contamination or pollution if lender-owner has caused an environmental professional to conduct a visual inspection of the property and a record search of the recorded chain of title documents regarding the real property for the prior fifty years to determine the presence and condition of hazardous waste or substances, obvious contamination, or pollution and, if found by the enforcing agency to be in noncompliance with federal or state laws, takes steps to assure compliance with applicable laws. This subsection (3) shall apply to the lender-owner as long as it makes reasonable efforts to resell the property.
This section shall not affect any liability expressly created under federal or statehealth or environmental statutes, regulations, permits, or orders.
Source: L. 90: Entire part added, p. 865, § 2, effective July 1.