Section 25395.84 Of Article 3. Liability From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.82. >> Article 3.
25395.84
. (a) A court of competent jurisdiction may award
reasonable attorneys' fees and experts' fees to a person who
initiates a claim under an applicable law for contribution for, or
recovery of, response costs incurred for a response action, or for
any other response costs incurred at a site, if the person meets all
of the following criteria:
(1) The person is a bona fide purchaser, an innocent landowner, a
contiguous property owner, or a bona fide ground tenant, as defined
in subdivision (b) of Section 25395.102, and qualifies for immunity
pursuant to this chapter.
(2) The person is a prevailing party.
(3) On or before 20 calendar days prior to the date of the trial
on issues relating to the response costs at issue, the person serves
on the defendant both of the following:
(A) If a response plan has been approved for that site pursuant to
Article 6 (commencing with Section 25395.90) or Article 7
(commencing with Section 25395.102), as applicable, a copy of the
approved response plan.
(B) A written demand for compensation setting forth the specific
sum demanded from the defendant, including a statement of the
reasoning supporting the demand. The amount of written demand shall
include all response costs sought from the defendant at issue,
including all interest, but shall not include litigation expenses,
attorneys' fees, and experts' fees. The amount of the demand may
include any alleged consequential damages.
(b) ln determining whether to award reasonable attorneys' fees and
experts' fees pursuant to this section, a court shall consider the
relationship of the amount of the written demand described in
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) to the total sum
of the response costs and, if appropriate and included in the
demand, the consequential damages in the written demand, to the final
determination of the costs and damages by the trier of fact.
(c) A court may award reasonable attorneys' fees and experts' fees
to an agency that is the prevailing party in an action arising out
of this chapter.