
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC9661]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
  CHAPTER 103--COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND 
                                LIABILITY
 
                SUBCHAPTER III--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 9661. Love Canal property acquisition


(a) Acquisition of property in Emergency Declaration Area

    The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
(hereinafter referred to as the ``Administrator'') may make grants not 
to exceed $2,500,000 to the State of New York (or to any duly 
constituted public agency or authority thereof) for purposes of 
acquisition of private property in the Love Canal Emergency Declaration 
Area. Such acquisition shall include (but shall not be limited to) all 
private property within the Emergency Declaration Area, including non-
owner occupied residential properties, commercial, industrial, public, 
religious, non-profit, and vacant properties.

(b) Procedures for acquisition

    No property shall be acquired pursuant to this section unless the 
property owner voluntarily agrees to such acquisition. Compensation for 
any property acquired pursuant to this section shall be based upon the 
fair market value of the property as it existed prior to the emergency 
declaration. Valuation procedures for property acquired with funds 
provided under this section shall be in accordance with those set forth 
in the agreement entered into between the New York State Disaster 
Preparedness Commission and the Love Canal Revitalization Agency on 
October 9, 1980.

(c) State ownership

    The Administrator shall not provide any funds under this section for 
the acquisition of any properties pursuant to this section unless a 
public agency or authority of the State of New York first enters into a 
cooperative agreement with the Administrator providing assurances deemed 
adequate by the Administrator that the State or an agency created under 
the laws of the State shall take title to the properties to be so 
acquired.

(d) Maintenance of property

    The Administrator shall enter into a cooperative agreement with an 
appropriate public agency or authority of the State of New York under 
which the Administrator shall maintain or arrange for the maintenance of 
all properties within the Emergency Declaration Area that have been 
acquired by any public agency or authority of the State. Ninety (90) 
percent of the costs of such maintenance shall be paid by the 
Administrator. The remaining portion of such costs shall be paid by the 
State (unless a credit is available under section 9604(c) of this 
title). The Administrator is authorized, in his discretion, to provide 
technical assistance to any public agency or authority of the State of 
New York in order to implement the recommendations of the habitability 
and land-use study in order to put the land within the Emergency 
Declaration Area to its best use.

(e) Habitability and land use study

    The Administrator shall conduct or cause to be conducted a 
habitability and land-use study. The study shall--
        (1) assess the risks associated with inhabiting of the Love 
    Canal Emergency Declaration Area;
        (2) compare the level of hazardous waste contamination in that 
    Area to that present in other comparable communities; and
        (3) assess the potential uses of the land within the Emergency 
    Declaration Area, including but not limited to residential, 
    industrial, commercial and recreational, and the risks associated 
    with such potential uses.

The Administrator shall publish the findings of such study and shall 
work with the State of New York to develop recommendations based upon 
the results of such study.

(f) Funding

    For purposes of section 9611 of this title [and 9631(c) \1\ of this 
title], the expenditures authorized by this section shall be treated as 
a cost specified in section 9611(c) of this title.
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    \1\ See References in Text note below.
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(g) Response

    The provisions of this section shall not affect the implementation 
of other response actions within the Emergency Declaration Area that the 
Administrator has determined (before October 17, 1986) to be necessary 
to protect the public health or welfare or the environment.

(h) Definitions

    For purposes of this section:

                   (1) Emergency Declaration Area

        The terms ``Emergency Declaration Area'' and ``Love Canal 
    Emergency Declaration Area'' mean the Emergency Declaration Area as 
    defined in section 950, paragraph (2) of the General Municipal Law 
    of the State of New York, Chapter 259, Laws of 1980, as in effect on 
    October 17, 1986.

                        (2) Private property

        As used in subsection (a) of this section, the term ``private 
    property'' means all property which is not owned by a department, 
    agency, or instrumentality of--
            (A) the United States, or
            (B) the State of New York (or any public agency or authority 
        thereof).

(Pub. L. 96-510, title III, Sec. 312, as added Pub. L. 99-499, title II, 
Sec. 213(b), Oct. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 1727.)

                       References in Text

    Section 9631 of this title, referred to in subsec. (f), was repealed 
by Pub. L. 99-499, title V, Sec. 517(c)(1), Oct. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 
1774.


         Love Canal Property Acquisition; Congressional Findings

    Section 213(a) of Pub. L. 99-499 provided that:
    ``(1) The area known as Love Canal located in the city of Niagara 
Falls and the town of Wheatfield, New York, was the first toxic waste 
site to receive national attention. As a result of that attention 
Congress investigated the problems associated with toxic waste sites and 
enacted CERCLA [Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.)] to deal with these 
problems.
    ``(2) Because Love Canal came to the Nation's attention prior to the 
passage of CERCLA and because the fund under CERCLA was not available to 
compensate for all of the hardships endured by the citizens in the area, 
Congress has determined that special provisions are required. These 
provisions do not affect the lawfulness, implementation, or selection of 
any other response actions at Love Canal or at any other facilities.''


            Coordination of Titles I to IV of Pub. L. 99-499

    Any provision of titles I to IV of Pub. L. 99-499, imposing any tax, 
premium, or fee; establishing any trust fund; or authorizing 
expenditures from any trust fund, to have no force or effect, see 
section 531 of Pub. L. 99-499, set out as a note under section 1 of 
Title 26, Internal Revenue Code.
