Legal Alert | Owners of contaminated sites, beware!

In the next year, amendment to the act on contaminated sites introduces strict financial liability of owners of contaminated sites. The amendment shall come into force on 1 June 2022.

The Current Law

Under the current legislation, a person, who caused the environmental damage (the originator), is responsible for the environmental damage. The originator is obliged to pay all costs related to the remedy of the environmental damage. However, what if the originator is unknown and the land has been acquired by a person who could not have known about the damage and has not continued with the activity that caused it? Under the current law, such a person shall not be responsible for the environmental damage. However, this is to change after the amendment.

Under the New Legislation, the Following will Apply:

In case the state carries out the remedy of the environmental damage:

• the owner will be financially responsible for the remedy, regardless of the fact that they knew about it and have not continued with the activity that caused it,

• the owner can avoid the immediate financial obligation by entering into a pledge agreement over the land with the state, and in such a case, the amendment does not clearly address the subsequent recovery of the financial compensation for the remedy,

• the amendment does not address the question whose responsibility is given priority in case the originator is known.

If you are affected by this change of law, we would be pleased to advise you.