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Alaska Statutes.

Title 46. Water, Air, Energy, and Environmental Conservation

Chapter 3. Environmental Conservation

Section 825. Oil Spill Response Action Contractors.

previous: Section 824. Damages.
next: Section 826. Definitions For AS 46.03.822

AS 46.03.825. Oil Spill Response Action Contractors.

(a) A response action contractor who responds to a release or threatened release of oil is not civilly liable for removal costs or damages that result from an act or omission in the course of providing care, assistance, or advice

(1) consistent with a contingency plan

(A) approved under AS 46.04.030 or 46.04.055 if the response action contractor is listed in the contingency plan; or

(B) prepared under AS 46.04.200 , 46.04.210, or 33 U.S.C. 1321(d) if the response action contractor is not listed in the contingency plan; or

(2) as otherwise directed by the federal or state on-scene coordinator.

(b) The limitation on liability contained in (a) of this section does not apply to

(1) an action for personal injury or death; or

(2) a response action contractor who

(A) would otherwise have been liable for the release or threatened release under AS 46.03.822 ;

(B) acts with gross negligence or intentional misconduct; or

(C) has agreed in writing to be listed as a primary response action contractor, who is listed as a primary response action contractor in a contingency plan approved under AS 46.04.030 or 46.04.055, and who fails to respond to a release or threatened release of oil that the primary response action contractor was required to respond to under its contract with the applicable contingency plan holder; this subparagraph does not apply to a primary response action contractor if the failure to respond to a release or threatened release of oil results from a prior and ongoing response under another contingency plan approved under AS 46.04.030 or 46.04.055 in which the primary response action contractor has the primary duty to respond and a significant portion of the response action contractor's oil spill cleanup equipment listed in the contingency plan approved under AS 46.04.030 or 46.04.055 is in use.

(c) If the liability of an oil spill response action contractor is not limited under (a) of this section or if the provisions of (a) of this section do not apply because of (b) of this section, the oil spill response action contractor is not civilly liable for injuries, costs, damages, expenses, or other liability that results from the response action contractor's act or omission with respect to a release or threatened release of oil unless the act or omission of the oil spill response action contractor is negligent, grossly negligent, or constitutes intentional misconduct. This subsection does not apply to an oil spill response action contractor who would have been liable for the initial release or threatened release of oil under AS 46.03.822 even if that contractor had not carried out a response action.

(d) The defense provided in AS 46.03.822 (b)(1)(B) is not available to a potentially liable person with respect to costs or damages caused by an act or omission of a response action contractor.

(e) Except as provided in (d) of this section, this section does not affect the liability under this chapter or under any other state law of a person other than a response action contractor.

(f) Nothing in this section is intended to amend AS 46.04.030 ( l ) or 46.04.055, or to create a cleanup or performance standard that must be met by a holder of a contingency plan or by a primary response action contractor.

(g) In this section,

(1) "consistent" means in substantial compliance with a contingency plan;

(2) "primary response action contractor" has the meaning given in AS 46.04.035;

(3) "response action" means an action taken to respond to a release or threatened release of oil, including mitigation, clean up, marine salvage, incident management team services, response plan facilitator services, or removal of a release or threatened release of oil.