Section 24-906. Certificate of Completion

(a)  A  certificate of completion shall include (1) a finding that the
  enrollee  has  successfully  completed  the  local  brownfield   cleanup
  program, (2) a statement that, subject to the provisions of this section
  and except as provided in the remedial action work plan, site management
  plan,  declaration  of  covenants  and  restrictions,  or certificate of
  completion, the city shall not take or require any further investigatory
  or remedial action against  the  site  and  the  enrollee,  his  or  her
  successors,   and  his  or  her  assigns,  regarding  the  contamination
  addressed  at  the  site,  and  (3)  a  recommendation  that  no   other
  governmental entity take or require any investigatory or remedial action
  against the site and the enrollee, his or her successors, and his or her
  assigns, regarding the contamination addressed at the site. The director
  shall  seek  to enter into agreements with federal and/or state agencies
  and other entities that formally recognize cleanups  for  which  a  city
  certificate  of  completion has been issued, and that stipulate that the
  federal  and/or  state  agency  or  other  entity  does  not  intend  or
  anticipate  taking  further  actions  requiring  additional  cleanup and
  investigation for  contamination  that  an  enrollee  has  appropriately
  addressed  under  the  local brownfield cleanup program, subject to such
  terms and conditions as may be required  by  the  federal  and/or  state
  agency  or  other  entity.  Nothing  in this section shall in any way be
  interpreted as a binding legal commitment or obligation on behalf of the
  director to enter into such an agreement with the federal  and/or  state
  agency  or  other  entity  for any site enrolled in the local brownfield
  cleanup program, nor in any way restrict the  director's  discretion  in
  negotiating  the  terms  and  conditions  of  such an agreement with the
  federal and/or state agency or other entity.
    (b)(1) The city nonetheless shall reserve all of its rights concerning
  any further investigation and/or remediation the office deems  necessary
  due to:
    (i)  environmental  contamination at, on, under, or emanating from the
  local brownfield site if, in light of such conditions, the  site  is  no
  longer protective of public health or the environment; or
    (ii)  non-compliance  with  the  terms of the local brownfield cleanup
  agreement, the remedial action work  plan,  the  site  management  plan,
  declaration  of  covenants  and  restrictions,  or  the  certificate  of
  completion; or
    (iii) fraud committed by the applicant in the application  for  or  by
  the  enrollee  during  participation  in  the  local  brownfield cleanup
  program; or
    (iv) a written finding by the office that a change in an environmental
  standard, factor, or criterion upon which the remedial action work  plan
  was   based,   renders   the  local  brownfield  site  remedial  program
  implemented at the site no longer protective of  public  health  or  the
  environment; or
    (v)  a  change  in  the  local brownfield site's use subsequent to the
  office's issuance of the certificate  of  completion  unless  additional
  remediation  is undertaken as determined by the office, which shall meet
  the standard for protection of public health and  the  environment  that
  applies under this chapter.
    (2)  In  the  case  of a volunteer, subparagraph v of paragraph one of
  this subdivision shall not apply if the property has been remediated for
  unrestricted use as provided in section  27-1415  of  the  environmental
  conservation law.
    (c)  The  certificate  of completion provided pursuant to this section
  shall run with the land,  extending  to  the  enrollee's  successors  or
  assigns through acquisition of title to the local brownfield site and to

  a  person  who develops or otherwise occupies the local brownfield site;
  provided, however, that such persons act with due care and in good faith
  to adhere to the requirements of the local brownfield cleanup agreement,
  remedial   action  work  plan,  site  management  plan,  declaration  of
  covenants  and  restrictions,  and  certificate   of   completion.   The
  certificate of completion does not extend, and cannot be transferred, to
  a  person  who  is  responsible  for  the  disposal  or the discharge of
  contaminants on  the  local  brownfield  site  according  to  applicable
  principles of statutory or common law liability as of the effective date
  of  the  certification  of  completion  issued pursuant to this chapter,
  unless that person was party to the local brownfield  cleanup  agreement
  for the local brownfield site.
    (d)  The  provisions  of  this section shall not affect an action or a
  claim, including a statutory or common law  claim  for  contribution  or
  indemnification, that an enrollee has or may have against a third party.
    (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the liability
  of  any  person  with respect to any costs, damages, or investigative or
  remedial activities that  are  not  included  in  the  local  brownfield
  cleanup agreement, or remedial action work plan for the local brownfield
  site.