Reimbursement

1. The department shall reimburse reasonable and necessary environmental consultant, contractor, and excavation expenses in consultation with the department's division assigned to the cleanup. 2. No payments for reimbursement may be made from the fund unless a completed claim application form has been received and approved by the PTRCF program. 3. Eligible expenses for corrective action include the following: a. Labor. b. Testing. c. Use of machinery. d. Materials and supplies. e. Professional services. f. Remediation, monitoring, or cleanup expenses incurred with the oversight and direction of the department's division assigned to the cleanup. g. Any other expenses the department and the board deem to be reasonable and necessary to remedy cleanup of the release. h. Consultant fees if authorized by the department's division assigned to the cleanup. 4. The following are not eligible expenses: a. The cost of replacement, repair, and maintenance of affected tanks, associated piping, or system. b. Pumping out of any product, including water, from any tanks which need to be removed. c. The cost of upgrading existing affected tanks, associated piping, or system. d. The loss of income, profits, or petroleum product. e. Decreases in property value. f. Attorney's fees. g. Costs associated with preparing, filing, and prosecuting an application for reimbursement or assistance under this chapter. h. The costs of making improvements to the facility beyond those required for corrective action, including replacing concrete, asphalt, equipment, or buildings. i. Any cleanup costs resulting from negligence or misconduct on the part of the owner or operator. j. Consultant marked-up costs. k. Costs in excess of those considered reasonable by the fund. l. Fines or penalties imposed by order of federal, state, or local government. m. Finance charges, interest charges, or late payment charges. 5. To determine what expenses are reasonable and necessary, the owner or operator shall bid the excavation and consultant work. The owner or operator is required to obtain a minimum of three bids. The bid that meets the cost effectiveness, technical, and environmental requirements of the department will be deemed by the PTRCF program to be the reasonable cost for that project. The bid must be submitted according to the fund's excavation and consultant worksheets. Additional work over and above the original bid will be reimbursed according to unit costs on the original bid. 6. The PTRCF program may provide partial payments before the final determination of the amount of the loss, if it is determined the cleanup is proceeding according to the department- approved workplan of the department's division assigned to the site assessment. The payment may be made to the owner, operator, or that person's assigned representative if the appropriate assignment form is submitted to the PTRCF program with appropriate documentation verifying the work has been completed by the assignee. 7. All claims for payment are subject to the availability of funds in the petroleum tank release compensation fund and must be submitted no later than one year after the work has been completed to be eligible. 8. Before payment for any loss, the owner, operator, or landowner shall subrogate to the PTRCF program all rights, claims, and interest which the owner, operator, or landowner has or may have against any party, person, property, corporation, or other entity liable for the subject loss, and shall authorize the fund to sue, compromise, or settle in the name of the owner, operator, or landowner or otherwise, all such claims. The subrogation agreement required by this section must be prescribed and produced by the PTRCF program. 9. Reimbursement will be considered when the owner, operator, or landowner has submitted complete excavation or consultant worksheets along with legible copies of all invoices and a description of the work performed. 10. The owner, operator, or landowner shall submit, before any payment, evidence the amounts shown on the invoices for which the payment is requested were either paid in full by the owner, operator, or landowner or, if the owner, operator, or landowner has assigned the right to receive payment from the fund, that a contractor hired has expended time and materials for which payment must be made. This must include documentation the work has been completed by the assignee. 11. Before payment, the department must be satisfied the corrective action taken has met all state and federal regulations and the corrective action has satisfied public health, welfare, and environmental concerns.