RSA 485-H:6 · Contingent Reimbursement

485-H:6 Contingent Reimbursement. –

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I.

Except as provided in paragraph I-a, following the reimbursement of the department of justice for legal expenses related to relevant litigation; the transfer of funds to the revenue stabilization reserve account pursuant to RSA 7:6-e; the redemption of bonds issued or debt incurred pursuant to RSA 6:13-e, III(a); and reimbursement of the general fund for any debt principal or interest payments made to support bonds issued or debt incurred pursuant to RSA 6:13-e, III(a), any remaining funds from judgments or settlements received by the state resulting from lawsuits against the manufacturers of PFAS shall be deposited into the drinking water and groundwater trust fund established in RSA 6-D:1. I-a. Following the reimbursement of the department of justice for legal expenses related to relevant litigation, any funds from judgments or settlements received by the state resulting from lawsuits against manufacturers of PFAS attributable to impacts to public drinking water systems shall be deposited directly into the drinking water and groundwater trust fund established in RSA 6-D:1. RSA 7:6-e and RSA 6:13-e, III, shall not apply to funds deposited pursuant to this paragraph. The New Hampshire drinking water and groundwater advisory commission shall ensure that an amount equivalent to the funds deposited pursuant to this paragraph is distributed through a combination of loans and grants to public water systems whose water sources have been impacted by PFAS contamination above applicable standards. If the funds from judgments or settlements received by the state for impacts to public drinking water systems account for PFAS contamination below applicable standards, the advisory commission may issue grants, loans, or reimbursements to those systems for those impacts. I-b. Pursuant to settlements received under paragraph I-a, the department of environmental services, with consent of the drinking water and groundwater advisory commission, shall establish an application approval process and determine the prorated compensation amount for each public water system with PFAS detections based on the amount public water systems spent or will spend on infrastructure to mitigate PFAS compounds minus the amount received from other funding sources. If there is sufficient funding available, the department may, with the consent of the drinking water and groundwater advisory commission, use that funding to offset the cost of operation and maintenance of infrastructure related to mitigating PFAS. The department of environmental services, with the consent of the drinking water and groundwater advisory commission, may receive reimbursement for costs associated with personnel and analytical costs it incurred to collect the information required for the submissions of claims under the PFAS public water system settlement agreements or to provide assistance in PFAS litigation against manufacturers brought by the state of New Hampshire.

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II.

In addition to the loan forgiveness described in RSA 485-H:5, the department, upon certification by the state treasurer that funds from judgments or settlements have been received under paragraph I and used to redeem the bonds issued under RSA 6:13-e in full and the general fund has been reimbursed for all interest and principal payments charged against it to support said bond, shall grant partial loan forgiveness to the loan recipients, up to 50 percent of the loan principal.

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(a)

If insufficient funds are received by the state under paragraph I to cover 50 percent of the principal, the reimbursements shall be prorated. In no instance shall the loan reimbursement exceed 50 percent of the total loan amount, unless it received loan forgiveness under RSA 485-H:5, in which case the combined maximum shall be 60 percent.

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(b)

In the event a loan recipient receives compensation from a responsible party, the department shall not grant partial loan forgiveness that in combination with any compensation would exceed 100 percent of the total cost of the remediation. Source. 2020, 30:4, eff. July 23, 2020. 2024, 349:11, eff. Aug. 2, 2024. 2025, 141:375, 377, eff. July 1, 2025.

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