Identifying responsible parties

The department shall undertake reasonable efforts to identify responsible parties for subject properties, including examining property records, reviewing historical spill information and other documents, conducting site investigations and sampling, and requesting information from relevant persons. A person that acquires property may show that they made "all appropriate inquiries into the previous ownership" under North Dakota Century Code section 23.1-10-08 by providing documentation that they followed the process for assessing the environmental conditions of a property presented in the United States environmental protection agency's All Appropriate Inquiries Final Rule, 40 C.F.R. Part 312, or ASTM International's Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process (E 1527-13).