130A-20.01. Action for the recovery of costs of hazardous materials emergency medical response.
A person who causes the release of a hazardous material that results in the activation of one or more State Medical Assistance Teams (SMATs) or the Epidemiology Section of the Division of Public Health of the Department of Health and Human Services shall be liable for all reasonable costs incurred by each team or the Epidemiology Section that responds to or mitigates the incident. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall invoice the person liable for the hazardous materials release and, in the event of nonpayment, may institute an action to recover those costs in the superior court of the county in which the release occurred.