Landmark Publications

Cercla Landmark Publications

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze, interpret and apply provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. * * * "Congress enacted CERCLA in 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), Pub. L. No. 99-499, 100 Stat. 1613, 'in response to the serious environmental and health risks posed by industrial pollution.'" Chubb Custom Ins. Co. v. Space Sys./Loral, Inc., 710 F.3d 946, 956 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. United States, 556 U. S. 599, 602, 129 S. Ct. 1870, 173 L. Ed.2d 812 (2009)). CERCLA "imposes strict liability on four categories of potentially responsible parties (PRPs), for the cleanup costs of an environmental hazard, even if the person did not contribute to the contamination." Id. at 956-57 (footnote omitted). The four categories of PRPs are: (1) a past owner or operator of a facility; (2) an owner or operator of a facility; (3) an arranger of waste disposal; or (4) an entity that accepts waste for treatment or disposal. United States v. Shell Oil Co., 294 F.3d 1045, 1053 (9th Cir. 2002); see 42 U. S. C. § 9607(a). Once a PRP is found liable, it may sue other PRPs for contribution to remediation costs under 42 U. S. C. § 9613(f). TDY Holdings, LLC v. US, 885 F. 3d 1142 (9th Cir. 2018)