FOR PUBLICATION

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT :    ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEES:

CHRISTOPHER J. BRAUN    STEVE CARTER
JEFFREY D. CLAFLIN    Attorney General of Indiana
AMY E. ROMIG
Plews Shadley Racher & Braun     MONIKA PREKOPA TALBOT
Indianapolis, Indiana     TIMOTHY J. JUNK
            Deputy Attorneys General
            Indianapolis, Indiana

KIEL BROTHERS OIL COMPANY, INC.,    )

                                     )
Appellant-Petitioner,                )
                                     )
vs.                                  )    No. 49A02-0404-CV-324   
                                     )
THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF            )
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT and         )
THE OFFICE OF THE INDIANA            )
ATTORNEY GENERAL,                    )
                                     )
Appellees-Respondents.               )

     December 30, 2004

     OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION

BAILEY, Judge

(1)     submit to the administrator a request for indemnification of a third party containing any information required by the administrator; and
(2)     forward a copy of the request under subdivision (1) to the attorney general for the attorney general’s approval.

However, neither of these code sections defines the phrase “third party.” Moreover, while Title 328 of the Indiana Administrative Code defines “third party liability” as “the damage a tank owner or operator is legally obligated to pay for injury, expense, and damage suffered by a third party as the result of a release,” it, too, does not define the term “third party.” See Ind. Admin. Code tit. 328, 1-1-10(a) (2001). As such, the specific issue before us, which is one of first impression in Indiana, requires us to engage in statutory construction to determine whether an operator, i.e., Lessee, leasing certain UST’s from an owner, i.e., Lessor, is entitled to third-party indemnification from the ELTF when: (1) the operator paid the statutory registration fees to the ELTF, in lieu of the owner; (2) a petroleum contamination resulted from the operation of the UST’s; (3) the owner incurred expenses in remediating the contamination; (4) the owner sought first-party reimbursement from the ELTF and received partial compensation; and (5) the operator has subsequently paid the remainder of the remediation expenses to the owner, as well as attorney fees and other costs.
Statutory interpretation is a question of law reserved for the court and is reviewed de novo. Shaffer v. State, 795 N.E.2d 1072, 1076 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003). De novo review allows us to decide an issue without affording any deference to the trial court’s decision. Id. When statutes have not been previously construed, such as Indiana Code Sections 13-23-8-1(2) and 13-23-9-3, our interpretation is controlled by the express language of the statutes and the rules of statutory construction. Id. Our goal in statutory construction is to determine, give effect to, and implement the intent of the legislature. Id.
It is a general rule of statutory construction that undefined words and phrases in a statute are given their plain, ordinary and usual meaning. Ind. Code § 1-1-4-1(1). Courts may consult English language dictionaries to ascertain the plain and ordinary meaning of a statutory term. Walling v. Appel Serv. Co., 641 N.E.2d 647, 649 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994). According to its plain and ordinary meaning, a “third party” is “[a] person other than the principals.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 2378 (2002). In fact, Black’s Law Dictionary defines the phrase “third party” as “[o]ne who is not a party to a lawsuit, agreement, or other transaction but who is somehow involved in the transaction; someone other than the principal parties,” i.e., an outside party. Black’s Law Dictionary 1489 (7th ed 1999).
In the present case, Lessee contends that it is entitled to third-party indemnification from the ELTF because Lessee operated the UST’s in question and paid all of the annual registration fees to the ELTF. Accordingly, Lessee’s argument continues, Lessor, i.e., the owner of the three UST’s, was a third party to the relationship between Lessee and the ELTF and is, thus, a third party within the spirit and meaning of Indiana Code Sections 13-23-8-1(2) and 13-23-9-3.
However, our review of the record reveals that, regardless of whether Lessor paid the required statutory registration fees, or Lessee paid them in Lessor’s stead, the UST’s in question were registered at all times pertinent to this action. As a consequence, when Lessor—as the owner of the UST’s—filed a first-party claim against the ELTF, such claim was honored and Lessor received reimbursement in the amount of $189,469.64. In so doing, however, the ELTF denied or disallowed some of Lessor’s first-party claims, in the aggregate amount of $13,209.14, because such claims were deemed non-reimbursable. Lessor did not seek administrative relief from the ELTF’s decision to deny or disallow the “non-reimbursable” claims. Instead, Lessor sought reimbursement from Lessee for the disallowed remediation expenses, as well as lost rent, interest costs, out-of-pocket cleanup expenses—also known as the $35,000.00 deductible—and attorney fees. Indeed, Lessee eventually paid Lessor $200,986.41 as compensation for the remediation of the petroleum contamination.
Lessee then applied to the ELTF for third party indemnification in the amount of $230,986.41. Exhibit Four, which was attached to Lessee’s application, sought third-party reimbursement for the Lessor’s $35,000.00 deductible and numerous remediation expenses, all of which had already been denied or disallowed by the ELTF in Lessor’s first-party claim. Accordingly, IDEM, on behalf of the ELTF, denied Lessee’s third-party indemnification claim finding, in relevant part, that Lessor is not a third party. We agree.
Pursuant to Indiana Code Section 13-23-9-3, to receive money from the ELTF, Lessee must submit a request for indemnification of a third party. Here, the alleged third party, i.e., Lessor, was a first-party claimant pursuant to Indiana Code Section 13-23-9-2, involving the same parties, contamination, and remediation expenses. Lessor cannot simultaneously be a first-party claimant and an “outside party” to the underlying circumstances of the present dispute. Because Lessor was a first-party claimant, it is not a third party for purposes of Indiana Code Section 13-23-9-3 and, thus, we find no error in the trial court’s judgment. See footnote
Moreover, we note that, pursuant to the lease agreement, Lessee paid the annual registration fees for the UST’s to the ELTF. During the leasehold period, Lessor did not pay any fees to the ELTF. Thus, for the three UST’s that are the subject of this dispute, the ELTF received only one annual registration fee, per UST in question, from Lessee. As such, the ELTF should only be responsible for reimbursing either Lessor or Lessee—i.e., the owner or the operator—for the remediation costs of the petroleum contamination.
    For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court’s judgment in favor of IDEM and the ELTF.
    Affirmed.
SHARPNACK, J., and MAY, J., concur.