Opinion ID: 2116186
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Force Majeure Provision.

Text: ASPI attempts to uphold the district court ruling on the ground that the evidence as a matter of law does not support a finding that the Board is excused by the force majeure provision. The Board on the other hand argues the evidence supports a finding that the actions of the legislature and the IDNR were beyond the control of the Board and for that reason the Board is excused as a matter of law by the force majeure provision. The district court did not reach the issue. It just assumed for the purposes of its ruling that the IDNR's actions prevented the Board from supplying ASPI with the required annual tonnage of contaminated soil required by the Agreement. For reasons that follow, we think there are genuine issues of material fact on this issue, precluding summary judgment. We therefore reject the positions of both parties. The Board's motion for summary judgment is supported by an affidavit of David L. Wornson, a staff attorney for the IDNR since 1991. His specific responsibility is to serve as legal counsel to the Underground Storage Tank Section of the IDNR. In his affidavit, Wornson set out the following facts concerning the legislature's and the IDNR's changes to the underground storage tank regulatory scheme. In response to legislation passed in the spring of 1991, the IDNR adopted administrative rules applicable to corrective action at petroleumcontaminated underground storage tank sites. These rules took effect in February 1992. The 1991 legislation required the IDNR to establish a risk classification system that classified sites as high risk, low risk, and no action required. The legislation mandated that free product (pure gasoline) was to be removed or contained on site, high risk sites were required to comply with corrective action standards, and low risk sites were to be monitored. See Iowa Code § 455B.474(1)(f)(3), (4), and (5) (1995). In applying its rules initially and at the time the Agreement was signed, the IDNR required high risk sites to actively remediate contaminants in soils and groundwater. By the fall of 1993, after the Agreement was signed, the IDNR adopted a policy of allowing high risk sites to be monitored for a period of time in lieu of active remediation. Additionally, under the policy, the IDNR would not approve excavation of contaminated soils until after completion of a comprehensive site assessment, approval of a risk classification, and approval of a corrective action response. Because of the shift in policy that allowed monitoring of high risk sites, there was a corresponding reduction of conditions under which active remediation would be required. Consequently, sites that were formerly required to implement active remediation of contaminated soils were nearly eliminated. By 1995, the IDNR approved very few proposals for soil excavation as a corrective action. In the spring of 1995, the legislature enacted legislation requiring the IDNR to adopt new corrective action rules. See 1995 Iowa Acts ch. 215, § 30. The legislation prohibited the IDNR from requiring responsible parties to undertake corrective action (including site assessment, monitoring and remediation) until the IDNR adopted new rules. The prohibition did not apply in cases where corrective action was necessary to protect public health and safety or the environment. 1995 Iowa Acts, ch. 215, § 30. Responding to this legislation, the IDNR adopted a policy that gave a responsible party the option of proceeding with site assessment or corrective action under preexisting rules or of simply waiting until the adoption of new rules. This policy effectively placed a moratorium on all corrective action, including soil excavations until August 1996, when the new rules were adopted. There were, however, a few sites that were required to take corrective action because these sites met the criteria of danger to public health, safety, and the environment. Based on these facts, a factfinder could reasonably conclude that the legislature and the IDNR enacted changes to the underground storage tank regulatory scheme that put it beyond the reasonable control of the Board to provide the annual tonnage of contaminated soil required under the Agreement. In reaching this conclusion, we are mindful that the IDNRnot the Boardhas the statutory authority to decide when the remediation can begin on a site. See Iowa Code § 455G.20 (Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, the department of natural resources shall have final approval for a determination as to when remediation shall begin on a site.). On the other hand, the Board has not furnished figures detailing how many sites were classified as high risk to be monitored as an alternative to remediation of soil in fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Nor has the Board furnished figures detailing how many sites were approved for or required to implement active remediation of soil in fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Thus, we cannot say as a matter of law that the force majeure provision relieved the Board of its obligation to supply all of the minimum tonnage called for by the Agreement.