(a) Whenever practicable and in the public interest, the State of Illinois shall reach a final settlement with a potentially responsible party in an administrative action brought before the Board or a civil action brought before a court to establish liability and recover response costs under Section 22.2 if such settlement involves only a minor portion of the response costs at the facility concerned and, in the judgment of the State of Illinois, the conditions in either of the following subparagraphs (1) or (2) are met: (1) Both (i) the amount of the hazardous substances contributed by that party to the facility, and (ii) the toxic or other hazardous effects of the substances contributed by that party to the facility, are minimal in comparison to the other hazardous substances at the facility.(2) The potentially responsible party (i) is the owner of the real property on or in which the facility is located; (ii) did not conduct or permit the generation, transportation, storage, treatment, or disposal of any hazardous substance at the facility; (iii) did not contribute to the release or threat of release of a hazardous substance at the facility through any action or omission; and (iv) did not purchase the real property with actual or constructive knowledge that the property was used for the generation, transportation, storage, treatment, or disposal of any hazardous substance.(b) The State of Illinois may provide a covenant not to sue with respect to the facility concerned to any party who has entered into a settlement under this Section unless such a covenant would be inconsistent with the public interest. A party which has resolved its liability to the State through a settlement under this Section shall not be liable for claims for contribution regarding matters addressed in the settlement. Such a settlement does not discharge any of the other potentially responsible parties unless its terms so provide, but it shall reduce the total potential liability of the other potentially responsible parties by the amount of the settlement.
(c) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to affect the authority of the State to reach other settlements with other potentially responsible parties.