Section 23.1-04-17 - Limited liability for subsequent owners of property1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as expressly provided by federal law, a person that acquires property is not liable for any existing hazardous waste or substance on the property if: a. The person acquired the property after the disposal or placement of the hazardous waste or substance on, in, or at the property, and at the time the person acquired the property that person did not know and had no reason to know any hazardous waste or substance was disposed of on, in, or at the property;b. The person is a governmental entity that acquired the property by escheat, by tax sale, foreclosure, or through any other involuntary transfer or acquisition, or through the exercise of eminent domain authority by purchase or condemnation; orc. The person acquired the property by inheritance or bequest and that person did not know and had no reason to know that any hazardous waste or substance was disposed of on, in, or at the property.2. To establish the person had no reason to know, the person must have undertaken, at the time of acquisition, all appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good commercial or customary practice in an effort to minimize liability. For purposes of this requirement, a court shall take into account any specialized knowledge or experience on the part of the person, the relationship of the purchase price to the value of the property as uncontaminated, commonly known or reasonably ascertainable information about the property, the obviousness of the presence or likely presence of contamination at the property, and the ability to detect the contamination by appropriate inspection.3. A person that has acquired real property may establish a rebuttable presumption that the person has made all appropriate inquiry if the person establishes that, immediately before or at the time of acquisition, the person performed an investigation of the property, conducted by an environmental professional, to determine or discover the obviousness of the presence or likely presence of a release or threatened release of hazardous waste or substances on the property.4. The presumption does not arise unless the person has maintained a compilation of the information reviewed in the course of the investigation.5. This section does not diminish the liability of any previous owner or operator of the property which would otherwise be liable under this chapter, and nothing in this section affects the liability under this chapter of a person that, by any act or omission, caused or contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous waste or substance the subject of the action relating to the property.6. As used in this section, environmental professional means an individual, or entity managed or controlled by an individual, who, through academic training, occupational experience, and reputation, such as engineers, environmental consultants, and attorneys, can objectively conduct one or more aspects of an environmental investigation.Added by S.L. 2017, ch. 199 (SB 2327),§ 19, eff. 4/29/2019.