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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3800

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act of 1980, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 3, 1994

Mr. SWIFT, by request (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. MINETA, Mr. ROSTENKOWSKI, and Mr. APPLEGATE) introduced the following bill; which was

divided and referred as follows: titles I through VIII jointly to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Public Works and Transportation;

and title IX to the Committee Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Superfund Reform Act

5 of 1994’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AND HUMAN HEALTH

Sec. 101. Purposes and objectives.
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Sec. 102. Early, direct and meaningful community participation.

Sec. 103. Community working groups.

Sec. 104. Citizen information and access offices.

Sec. 105. Response to comments.

Sec. 106. Multiple sources of risk demonstration projects.

Sec. 107. Assessing risks from multiple sources.

Sec. 108. Multiple sources of risk in priority setting.

Sec. 109. Disease registry and medical care providers.

Sec. 110. Substance profiles.

Sec. 111. Determining health effects.

Sec. 112. Public health and related health activities at National Priorities List

sites.

Sec. 113. Health studies.

Sec. 114. Distribution of materials to health professionals and medical centers.

Sec. 115. Grant awards/contracts/community assistance activities.

Sec. 116. Public health recommendations in remedial actions.

Sec. 117. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry notification.

TITLE II—STATE ROLES

Sec. 201. State authority.

Sec. 202. Transfer of authorities.

Sec. 203. State role in determination of remedial action taken.

Sec. 204. State assurances.

Sec. 205. Siting.

Sec. 206. The National Priorities List.

Sec. 207. The State Registry.

TITLE III—VOLUNTARY RESPONSE

Sec. 301. Purposes and objectives.

Sec. 302. State voluntary response program.

Sec. 303. Site characterization program.

TITLE IV—LIABILITY AND ALLOCATION

Sec. 401. Response authorities.

Sec. 402. Compliance with administrative orders.

Sec. 403. Limitations to liability for response costs.

Sec. 404. Liability.

Sec. 405. Civil proceedings.

Sec. 406. Limitations on contribution actions.

Sec. 407. Scope of rulemaking authority.

Sec. 408. Enhancement of settlement authorities.

Sec. 409. Allocation procedures.

TITLE V—REMEDY SELECTION

Sec. 501. Purposes and objectives.

Sec. 502. Cleanup standards and levels.

Sec. 503. Remedy selection.

Sec. 504. Miscellaneous amendments to section 121.

Sec. 505. Response authorities.

Sec. 506. Removal actions.

Sec. 507. Transition.

TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS
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Sec. 601. Interagency agreements at mixed ownership and mixed responsibility

facilities.

Sec. 602. Transfers of uncontaminated property.

Sec. 603. Agreements to transfer by deed.

Sec. 604. Alternative or innovative treatment technologies.

Sec. 605. Definitions.

Sec. 606. Conforming amendment.

TITLE VII—FUNDING

Sec. 701. Authorizations of appropriations.

Sec. 702. Orphan share funding.

Sec. 703. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Sec. 704. Limitations on research, development and demonstration programs.

Sec. 705. Authorization on appropriations from general revenues.

Sec. 706. Additional limitations.

TITLE VIII—INSURANCE

Sec. 801. Short title.

Sec. 802. Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund.

Sec. 803. Financial statements, audits, investigations, and inspections.

Sec. 804. Stay of pending litigation.

Sec. 805. Sunset provisions.

Sec. 806. Sovereign immunity of the United States.

Sec. 807. Effective date.

TITLE IX—TAX

Sec. 901. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Sec. 902. Environmental fees and assessments on insurance companies.

Sec. 903. Funding provisions for Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund.

Sec. 904. Resolution Fund not subject to tax.

1 TITLE I—COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

2 AND HUMAN HEALTH

3 SEC. 101. PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES.

4 The purposes and objectives of the community par5 ticipation activities required by this title are to—

6 (a) inform citizens and elected officials at all

7 levels of government of the existence and status of

8 facilities listed on the National Priority List and

9 contaminated sites identified on State Registries (as

10 established by section 207 of this Act);
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1 (b) provide citizens with information regarding

2 the Superfund identification and cleanup process

3 and maintain lists of technical, health and other rel4 evant experts licensed or located in the state who are

5 available to assist the community;

6 (c) ensure wide dissemination of and access to

7 information in a manner that is easily understood by

8 the community, considering any unique cultural

9 needs of the community, including presentation of

10 information orally and distribution of information in

11 languages other than English; and

12 (d) ensure that the President is aware of and

13 considers the views of affected communities.

14 SEC. 102. EARLY, DIRECT AND MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY

15 PARTICIPATION.

16 (a) Section 117(e)(1) of the Comprehensive Environ17 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

18 1980, referred to in this Act as ‘‘the Act’’ (42 U.S.C.

19 9617) is amended by amending the first sentence to read

20 as follows:

21 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—Subject to such amounts as

22 are provided in appropriations Acts and in accord23 ance with rules promulgated by the President, the

24 President may make grants or services available to

25 any group of individuals which may be affected by
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1 a release or threatened release of a hazardous sub2 stance or pollutant, or contaminant at or from a fa3 cility where there is significant response action

4 under this Act including, a site assessment, remedial

5 investigation/feasibility study, or other removal or

6 remedial action.’’.

7 (b) Section 117(e) of the Act is amended by striking

8 paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

9 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of any grants or

10 services may not exceed $50,000 for a single recipi11 ent of grants or services. The President may waive

12 the $50,000 limitation in any case where such waiv13 er is necessary to carry out the purposes of this sub14 section. Each recipient of grants or services shall be

15 required, as a condition of the grants or services, to

16 contribute at least 20 percent of the total costs of

17 the technical assistance for which such grants and

18 services are made. The President may waive the 20

19 percent contribution requirement if the grants or

20 services recipient demonstrates financial need, and

21 such waiver is necessary to facilitate public partici22 pation in the selection of remedial action at the fa23 cility. Not more than one award or grants or serv24 ices may be made with respect to a single facility,

25 but the grants or services may be renewed to facili-
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1 tate public participation at all stages of remedial ac2 tion.’’.

3 (c) Section 117 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9617) is

4 amended by adding after subsection (e) the following new

5 subsection:

6 ‘‘(f) EARLY, DIRECT AND MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY

7 INVOLVEMENT.—The President shall provide for early, di8 rect and meaningful community involvement in each sig9 nificant phase of response activities taken under this Act.

10 The President shall provide the community with access to

11 information necessary to develop meaningful comments on

12 critical decisions regarding facility characterization, risks

13 posed by the facility, and selection of removal and reme14 dial actions. The President shall consider the views, pref15 erences and recommendations of the affected community

16 regarding all aspects of the response activities, including

17 the acceptability to the community of achieving back18 ground levels.

19 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION TO BE DISSEMINATED.—In addi20 tion to other information the President considers appro21 priate, the President shall ensure that the community is

22 provided information on the following:

23 ‘‘(1) The availability of a Technical Assistance

24 Grant (TAG) under subsection (e), directions on
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1 completing the TAG application, and the details of

2 the application process.

3 ‘‘(2) The possibility (where relevant) that mem4 bers of a community may qualify to receive an alter5 native water supply or relocation assistance.

6 ‘‘(3) The Superfund process, and rights of pri7 vate citizens and public interest or community

8 groups.

9 ‘‘(4) The potential for or existence of a Commu10 nity Working Group (CWG) established under sub11 section (i) (as added by the Superfund Reform Act

12 of 1994).

13 ‘‘(5) An objective description of the facility’s lo14 cation and characteristics, the contaminants present,

15 the known exposure pathways, and the steps being

16 taken to assess the risk presented by the facility.

17 ‘‘(h) PROCESS FOR INVOLVEMENT.—As early as

18 practicable after site discovery, the President shall provide

19 regular, direct, and meaningful community involvement in

20 all phases of the response activities at the facility, includ21 ing the following:

22 ‘‘(1) SITE ASSESSMENT.—Whenever practicable,

23 during the site assessment, the President shall solicit

24 and evaluate the concerns and interests of the com25 munity likely affected by the facility. The evaluation
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1 may consist of face-to-face community surveys, a

2 minimum of one public meeting, written responses to

3 significant concerns, and other appropriate

4 participatory activities.

5 ‘‘(2) REMEDIAL INVESTIGATION/FEASIBILITY

6 STUDY.—During the remedial investigation and fea7 sibility study, the President shall solicit the views

8 and preferences of the community on the remedi9 ation and disposition of the hazardous substances,

10 pollutants or contaminants at the site. The commu11 nity’s views and preferences shall be described in the

12 remedial investigation and feasibility study and con13 sidered in the development of remedial alternatives

14 for the facility.’’.

15 SEC. 103. COMMUNITY WORKING GROUPS.

16 Section 117 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9617) is amended

17 by adding after subsection (h) (as added by this Act) the

18 following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(i) COMMUNITY WORKING GROUPS.—

20 ‘‘(1) CREATION AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—The

21 President shall provide the opportunity to establish

22 a representative public forum, known as a Commu23 nity Working Group (CWG), to achieve direct, regu24 lar and meaningful consultation with community

25 members throughout all stages of a response action.
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1 The President shall consult with the CWG at each

2 significant phase of the remedial process.

3 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE.—The

4 CWG shall serve as a facility information clearing5 house for the community. In addition to maintaining

6 records of facility status and lists of active citizen

7 groups and available experts, the CWG shall also be

8 a repository for health assessment information and

9 other related health data.

10 ‘‘(3) LAND USE RECOMMENDATIONS.—To es11 tablish land use expectations more reliably, and ob12 tain greater community support for remedial deci13 sions affecting future land use, the President shall

14 consult with the CWG on a regular basis throughout

15 the remedy selection process regarding reasonably

16 anticipated future use of land at the facility. The

17 CWG may offer recommendations to the President

18 at any time during the response activities at the fa19 cility on the reasonably anticipated future use of

20 land at the facility, taking into account development

21 possibilities and future waste management needs.

22 The President shall not be bound by any rec23 ommendation of the CWG. However, when the CWG

24 achieves substantial agreement on the reasonably

25 anticipated future use of the land at the facility, the
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1 President shall give substantial weight to that rec2 ommendation. In cases where there is substantive

3 disagreement within the CWG over a recommenda4 tion regarding the reasonably anticipated future use

5 of land at the facility, the President shall seek to

6 reconcile the differences. In the event of continued

7 substantive disagreement, substantial weight shall be

8 given to the views of the residents of the affected

9 community. Should the President make a determina10 tion that is inconsistent with a CWG recommenda11 tion on the reasonably anticipated future use of land

12 at the facility, the President shall issue a written

13 reason for the inconsistency.

14 ‘‘(4) MEMBERS.—CWG membership shall not

15 exceed twenty persons. CWG members shall serve

16 without pay. Nominations for CWG membership

17 shall be solicited and accepted by the President. Se18 lection of CWG members shall be made by the Presi19 dent. In selecting citizen participants for the CWG,

20 the President shall provide notice and an oppor21 tunity to participate in CWG’s to persons who po22 tentially are affected by facility contamination in the

23 community. Special efforts shall be made to ensure

24 that the composition of CWG’s reflects a balanced

25 representation of all those interested in facility re-
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1 mediation. In general, it shall be appropriate for the

2 President to offer members of the following groups

3 representation on a CWG:

4 ‘‘(A) Residents and/or landowners who live

5 on or have property immediately adjacent to or

6 near the facility, or who may be directly af7 fected by releases from the facility, with a mini8 mum of one representative of the recipient a

9 grant for technical assistance, if any, awarded

10 under subsection (e).

11 ‘‘(B) Persons who, although not physically

12 as close to the facility as those in the group

13 identified in subparagraph (A), may be poten14 tially affected by releases from the facility.

15 ‘‘(C) Members of the local medical commu16 nity who have resided in the community for at

17 least five years.

18 ‘‘(D) Representatives of Indian tribes.

19 ‘‘(E) Representatives of citizen, environ20 mental or public interest groups with members

21 residing in the community.

22 ‘‘(F) Local government officials.

23 ‘‘(G) Workers at the facility who will be in24 volved in actual cleanup operations.
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1 ‘‘(H) Persons at the facility during re2 sponse actions.

3 ‘‘(I) Facility owners and the significant

4 PRP’s who, whenever practicable, represent a

5 balance of interests.

6 ‘‘(J) Members of the local business com7 munity.

8 ‘‘(5) OTHER COMMUNITY VIEWS.—The exist9 ence of a CWG shall not affect or diminish any

10 other obligation of the President to consider the

11 views of any person in selecting response actions

12 under this Act.’’.

13 SEC. 104. CITIZEN INFORMATION AND ACCESS OFFICES.

14 Section 117 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9617) is amended

15 by adding after subsection (i) (as added by this Act) the

16 following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(j) CITIZEN INFORMATION AND ACCESS OFFICES.—

18 ‘‘(1) CREATION AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—The

19 Administrator shall ensure that an independent Citi20 zen Information and Access Office (CIAO) is estab21 lished in each State and on each tribal land affected

22 by a National Priorities List facility.

23 ‘‘(2) PRIMARY FUNCTIONS.—The primary func24 tions of each CIAO shall be to—
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1 ‘‘(A) inform citizens and elected officials at

2 all levels of government of the existence and

3 status of National Priorities List facilities in

4 the State;

5 ‘‘(B) provide citizens with information

6 about each phase of the Superfund process, in7 cluding the site identification, assessment and

8 cleanup phases;

9 ‘‘(C) ensure wide distribution of informa10 tion that is easily understood by citizens;

11 ‘‘(D) serve as a statewide, or tribal land12 wide clearinghouse of information; and

13 ‘‘(E) assist in the Administrator’s efforts

14 to notify, nominate, and select potential Com15 munity Working Group members.’’.

16 SEC. 105. RESPONSE TO COMMENTS.

17 Section 117(a) (42 U.S.C. 9617(a)) of the Act is

18 amended by striking ‘‘both of’’ from the phrase imme19 diately preceding paragraph (1) and by inserting after

20 paragraph (2) the following new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(3) Consider the recommendations of any

22 Community Working Group, community members

23 and Technical Assistance Grant recipients estab24 lished for the facility pursuant to this section. Pro25 vide, in writing a response to each significant com-
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1 ment received during the public comment period.

2 The written response shall include an explanation of

3 how the lead agency has used or rejected significant

4 comments of the Community Working Group in its

5 final decision.’’.

6 SEC. 106. MULTIPLE SOURCES OF RISK DEMONSTRATION

7 PROJECTS.

8 Section 117 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9617) is amended

9 by adding after subsection (j) (as added by this Act) the

10 following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(k) MULTIPLE SOURCES OF RISK DEMONSTRATION

12 PROJECTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall se14 lect at least 10 demonstration projects to be imple15 mented over a five-year period, relating to the identi16 fication, assessment, management of, and response

17 to, multiple sources of risk in and around designated

18 facilities. These demonstration projects will examine

19 various approaches to protect communities exposed

20 to such multiple sources of risk. The Administrator

21 shall promulgate regulations that set forth the cri22 teria by which demonstration projects will be se23 lected.

24 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL HEALTH BENEFITS.—In the

25 course of conducting these demonstration projects, if
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1 a distinct pattern of adverse health effects is identi2 fied in the surrounding community, the Adminis3 trator shall consider the provision of additional

4 health benefits to the affected community, in an ef5 fort to improve community health and welfare. Addi6 tional benefits may include services such as consulta7 tions on health information and health screening,

8 the kind and availability of which will be set forth

9 in regulations promulgated by the Administrator.

10 These benefits shall not duplicate any activities al11 ready undertaken at those facilities by the Agency

12 for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry under

13 section 104(i) of this Act.

14 ‘‘(3) MULTIPLE SOURCES OF RISK.—For the

15 purposes of this section, the term ‘multiple sources

16 of risk’ means—

17 ‘‘(A) health risks from the existence of and

18 exposure to hazardous substances in the vicinity

19 of a facility for which a response action under

20 this Act is considered, which may present risks

21 to persons who are also at risk due to condi22 tions at such a facility; or

23 ‘‘(B) health risks from releases or threat24 ened releases of a hazardous substance, pollut25 ant or contaminant from facilities, permitted or
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1 otherwise, in the vicinity of a facility for which

2 a response action under this Act is being con3 sidered, which may present risks to persons who

4 are also at risk due to the specific facility for

5 which a response action is being considered.

6 ‘‘(4) CONSISTENCY WITH DESIGNATION OF

7 EMPOWERMENT ZONES.—The Administrator shall,

8 to the maximum extent practicable, select locations

9 for conducting demonstration projects under this

10 subsection that coincide with areas which have been

11 identified as empowerment zones under the Omnibus

12 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1994 (Public Law

13 103–66).

14 ‘‘(5) RIGHT TO PETITION.—Any person may pe15 tition the Administrator to conduct a demonstration

16 project under this subsection at a specified location.

17 Without regard to paragraph (4), the Administrator

18 may grant such a petition if—

19 ‘‘(A) the petition sets out a reasonable

20 basis in fact that the population residing in the

21 vicinity of the specified location may be exposed

22 to multiple sources of risk as described in para23 graph (3); and

24 ‘‘(B) the petition otherwise meets the re25 quirements of regulations promulgated by the
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1 Administrator which set forth the criteria by

2 which demonstration projects will be selected.

3 ‘‘(6) REVIEWS OF PETITIONS.—The

4 Admninistrator’s determination and reviews of peti5 tions under this subsection are committed to the Ad6 ministrator’s unreviewable discretion.

7 ‘‘(7) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Ad8 ministrator shall coordinate with other departments

9 or agencies as necessary in carrying out the respon10 sibilities of this subsection.’’.

11 SEC. 107. ASSESSING RISKS FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES.

12 Section 105(a) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9605(a)) is

13 amended by adding after paragraph (10) the following

14 new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(11) standards and procedures for assessing

16 the risks, and the cumulative impact of such risks,

17 posed by the release or threatened release of hazard18 ous substances, or pollutants, or contaminants from

19 multiple sources of risk (as described in section

20 117(l)(3) of this Act) in and around a facility, for

21 utilization in response actions authorized by this

22 Act. The demonstration projects authorized under

23 subsection 117(l) of this Act shall be used to help

24 meet the requirements of this subsection.’’.
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1 SEC. 108. MULTIPLE SOURCES OF RISK IN PRIORITY SET2 TING.

3 Section 105(a)(8)(A) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

4 9605(a)(8)(A)) is amended by adding in the last sentence

5 before ‘‘and other appropriate factors’’ the following: ‘‘the

6 presence of multiple sources of risk (described in section

7 117(l)(3) of this Act) to affected communities,’’.

8 SEC. 109. DISEASE REGISTRY AND MEDICAL CARE PROVID9 ERS.

10 Section 104(i)(1) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(1))

11 is amended—

12 (a) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as

13 follows:

14 ‘‘(A) in cooperation with the States, for sci15 entific purposes and public health purposes, estab16 lish and maintain a national registry of persons ex17 posed to toxic substances;’’; and

18 (b) by amending subparagraph (E) by striking

19 ‘‘admissions to hospitals and other facilities and

20 services operated or provided by the Public Health

21 Service’’ and by inserting ‘‘referral to accredited

22 medical care providers’’.

23 SEC. 110. SUBSTANCE PROFILES.

24 Section 104(i)(3) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(3))

25 is amended by amending the paragraph beginning ‘‘Any

26 toxicological profile or revision thereof’’ to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘Any toxicological profile or revision thereof shall reflect

2 the Administrator of ATSDR’s assessment of all relevant

3 toxicological testing which has been peer reviewed. The

4 profiles prepared under this paragraph shall be for those

5 substances highest on the list of priorities under para6 graph (2) for which profiles have not previously been pre7 pared or for substances not on the listing but which have

8 been found at non-National Priorities List facilities and

9 which have been determined by ATSDR to be of critical

10 health concern. Profiles required under this paragraph

11 shall be revised and republished as necessary, based on

12 scientific need. Such profiles shall be provided to the

13 States and made available to other interested parties.’’.

14 SEC. 111. DETERMINING HEALTH EFFECTS.

15 Section 104(i)(5) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(5))

16 is amended—

17 (a) in subparagraph (A) by—

18 (1) striking ‘‘designed to determine the

19 health effects (and techniques for development

20 of methods to determine such health effects) of

21 such substance’’ and inserting—‘‘conducted di22 rectly or by means such as cooperative agree23 ments and grants with appropriate public and

24 nonprofit institutions. The research shall be de25 signed to determine the health effects (and
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1 techniques for development of methods to deter2 mine such health effects) of the substance’’;

3 and

4 (2) redesignating clause (iv) as ‘‘(v)’’,

5 striking ‘‘and’’ after clause (iii), and by insert6 ing a new clause (iv) to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(iv) laboratory and other studies

8 which can lead to the development of inno9 vative techniques for predicting organ-spe10 cific, site-specific, and system-specific

11 acute and chronic toxicity; and’’; and

12 (b) striking subparagraph (D).

13 SEC. 112. PUBLIC HEALTH AND RELATED HEALTH ACTIVI14 TIES AT NPL FACILITIES.

15 Section 104(i)(6) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(6))

16 is amended by—

17 (a) amending subparagraph (A) to read as fol18 lows:

19 ‘‘(A) The Administrator of ATSDR shall perform a

20 public health assessment or related health activity for each

21 facility on the National Priorities List established under

22 section 105 of this Act. The public health assessment or

23 related health activity shall be completed for each facility

24 proposed for inclusion on the National Priorities List not

25 later than one year after the date of proposal for inclusion,
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1 including those facilities owned by any department, agen2 cy, or instrumentality of the United States.’’; and

3 (b) in subparagraph (H), striking ‘‘health as4 sessment’’ and ‘‘such assessment’’ each place that

5 they appear and inserting ‘‘public health assessment

6 or related health activity’’.

7 SEC. 113. HEALTH STUDIES.

8 Section 104(i)(7)(A) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

9 9604(i)(7)(A)) is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(A) Whenever in the judgment of the Administrator

11 of ATSDR it is appropriate on the basis of the results

12 of a public health assessment or on the basis of other ap13 propriate information, the Administrator of ATSDR shall

14 conduct a human health study of exposure or other health

15 effects for selected groups or individuals in order to deter16 mine the desirability of conducting full scale epidemiologic

17 or other health studies of the entire exposed population.’’.

18 SEC. 114. DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALS TO HEALTH PRO19 FESSIONALS AND MEDICAL CENTERS.

20 Section 104(i)(14) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(14))

21 is amended to read as follows:

22 ‘‘(14) In implementing this subsection and other

23 health-related provisions of this Act in cooperation with

24 the States, the Administrator of ATSDR shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) assemble, develop as necessary, and dis2 tribute to the States, medical colleges, physicians,

3 nursing institutions, nurses, and other health profes4 sionals and medical centers, appropriate educational

5 materials (including short courses) on the medical

6 surveillance, screening, and methods of prevention,

7 diagnosis and treatment of injury or disease related

8 to exposure to hazardous substances (giving priority

9 to those listed in paragraph (2)), through means the

10 Administrator of ATSDR considers appropriate; and

11 ‘‘(B) assemble, develop as necessary, and dis12 tribute to the general public and to at-risk popu13 lations appropriate educational materials and other

14 information on human health effects of hazardous

15 substances.’’.

16 SEC. 115. GRANT AWARDS/CONTRACTS/COMMUNITY ASSIST17 ANCE ACTIVITIES.

18 Section 104(i)(15) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

19 6904)(i)(15)) is amended by—

20 (a) inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The activities’’;

21 (b) striking ‘‘cooperative agreements with

22 States (or political subdivisions thereof)’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts

24 with States (or political subdivisions thereof), other

25 appropriate public authorities, public or private in-
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1 stitutions, colleges, and universities, and professional

2 associations,’’;

3 (c) in the second sentence, inserting ‘‘public’’

4 before ‘‘health assessments’’; and

5 (d) adding a new subparagraph as follows:

6 ‘‘(B) When a public health assessment or related

7 health activity is conducted at a facility on, or a release

8 being evaluated for inclusion on the National Priorities

9 List, the Administrator of ATSDR may provide the assist10 ance specified in this paragraph to public or private non11 profit entities, individuals, and community-based groups

12 who may be affected by the release or threatened release

13 of hazardous substances in the environment.’’.

14 SEC. 116. PUBLIC HEALTH RECOMMENDATIONS IN REME15 DIAL ACTIONS.

16 Section 121(c) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9621(c)) is

17 amended by inserting after the phrase ‘‘remedial action’’

18 the second time it appears the following: ‘‘, including pub19 lic health recommendations and decisions resulting from

20 activities under section 104(i),’’.

21 SEC. 117. ATSDR NOTIFICATION.

22 Section 122 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9622) is amended

23 by inserting after subsection (m) the following new sub24 section:
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1 ‘‘(n) NOTIFICATION OF ATSDR.—When the Agency

2 for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has

3 conducted health related response activities pursuant to

4 section 104(i) in response to a release or threatened re5 lease of any hazardous substance that is the subject of

6 negotiations under this section, the President shall notify

7 ATSDR of the negotiations and shall encourage the par8 ticipation of ATSDR in the negotiations.’’.

9 TITLE II—STATE ROLES

10 SEC. 201. STATE AUTHORITY.

11 (a) Title I of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9600 et seq.) is

12 amended by adding after section 126 the following new

13 section:

14 ‘‘§ 127. State authority

15 ‘‘(a) STATE PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At any time after the pro17 mulgation of the criteria required by paragraph (3)

18 of this subsection, a State may apply to the Admin19 istrator to carry out, under its own legal authorities,

20 response actions and enforcement activities at all fa21 cilities listed or proposed for listing on the National

22 Priorities List, or certain categories of facilities list23 ed or proposed for listing on the National Priorities

24 List, within the State. This section shall not apply

25 to any facility owned or operated by a department,
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1 agency, or instrumentality of the United States list2 ed on the National Priorities List if, on the date of

3 enactment of the Superfund Reform Act of 1994, an

4 interagency agreement for such facility has been en5 tered into pursuant to section 120(a)(2).

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR AUTHORIZATION.—If

7 the Administrator determines that the State pos8 sesses the legal authority, technical capability, and

9 resources necessary to conduct response actions and

10 enforcement activities in a manner that is substan11 tially consistent with this Act and the National Con12 tingency Plan at the facilities listed or proposed for

13 listing on the National Priorities List for which it

14 seeks authorization, the Administrator, pursuant to

15 a contract or agreement entered into between the

16 Administrator and the State, may authorize the

17 State to assume the responsibilities established

18 under this Act at all such facilities or categories of

19 facilities. Except as otherwise provided in this Act,

20 such responsibilities include, but are not limited to,

21 responding to a release or threatened release of a

22 hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant;

23 selecting response actions; expending the Fund in

24 amounts authorized by the Administrator to finance

25 response activities; and taking enforcement actions,
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1 including cost recovery actions to recover Fund ex2 penditures made by the State. In an application for

3 authorization, a State shall acknowledge its respon4 sibility to address all response actions at the facili5 ties for which it seeks authorization.

6 ‘‘(3) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—The

7 Administrator shall issue regulations to determine a

8 State’s eligibility for authorization and establish a

9 process and criteria for withdrawal of such an au10 thorization. At a minimum, a State must dem11 onstrate—

12 ‘‘(A) that it has a process for allocating li13 ability among potentially responsible parties

14 that is substantially consistent with section

15 122a of this Act (as added by the Superfund

16 Reform Act of 1994);

17 ‘‘(B) that it provides for public participa18 tion in a manner that is substantially consistent

19 with section 117 of this Act and the National

20 Contingency Plan;

21 ‘‘(C) that it provides for selection and con22 duct of response actions in a manner that is

23 substantially consistent with section 121 of this

24 Act; and
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1 ‘‘(D) that it provides for notification of

2 and coordination with trustees in a manner that

3 is substantially consistent with section

4 104(b)(2) and section 122(j)(1) of this Act.

5 ‘‘(b) REFERRAL OF RESPONSIBILITIES.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At any time after the pro7 mulgation of the criteria required by paragraph (3)

8 of this subsection, a State may apply to the Admin9 istrator to carry out, under its own legal authorities,

10 response actions at a specific facility or facilities list11 ed or proposed for listing on the National Priorities

12 List, within the State.

13 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR REFERRAL.—If the

14 Administrator determines that the State possesses

15 the legal authority, technical capability, and re16 sources necessary to conduct response actions and

17 enforcement activities in a manner substantially con18 sistent with this Act and the National Contingency

19 Plan at the facilities listed or proposed for listing on

20 the National Priorities List facilities for which it

21 seeks referral, the Administrator, pursuant to a con22 tract or agreement entered into between the Admin23 istrator and the State, may refer the responsibilities

24 established under this Act to the State for the facili25 ties for which the State seeks referral. Except as
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1 otherwise provided in this Act, such responsibilities

2 include, but are not limited to, responding to a re3 lease or threatened release of a hazardous substance

4 or pollutant or contaminant; selecting response ac5 tions; expending the Fund in amounts authorized by

6 the Administrator to finance response activities; and

7 taking enforcement actions, including cost recovery

8 actions to recover Fund expenditures made by the

9 State.

10 ‘‘(3) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—The

11 Administrator shall promulgate regulations to deter12 mine a State’s eligibility for referral and establish a

13 process and criteria for withdrawal of such referral.

14 At a minimum, a State must demonstrate that it

15 meets the requirements described in subsection

16 (a)(3).

17 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZED USE OF FUND.—At facilities listed

18 on the National Priorities List for which a State is author19 ized under subsection (a), and at facilities listed on the

20 National Priorities List which are referred to a State

21 under subsection (b), the State shall be eligible for re22 sponse action financing from the Fund. The Administrator

23 shall ensure that all allocations of the Fund to the States

24 for the purpose of undertaking site-specific response ac25 tions are based primarily on the relative risks to human
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1 health and the environment posed by the facilities eligible

2 for funding. The amount of Fund financing for a State3 selected response action at a facility listed on the National

4 Priorities List shall—

5 ‘‘(1) take into account the number and financial

6 viability of parties identified as potentially liable for

7 response costs at such facility, and

8 ‘‘(2) be limited to the amount necessary to

9 achieve a level of response that is not more stringent

10 than that required under this Act.

11 A State also may obtain Fund financing to develop and

12 enhance its capacity to undertake response actions and en13 forcement activities. The Administrator shall establish

14 specific criteria for allocating expenditures from the Fund

15 among States for the purposes of undertaking response

16 actions and enforcement activities at referred and State17 authorized facilities, and building State capacities to un18 dertake such response actions and enforcement activities.

19 The Administrator shall develop a program and provide

20 an appropriate level of Fund financing to assist Indian

21 tribes in developing and enhancing their capabilities to

22 conduct response actions and enforcement activities.

23 ‘‘(d) STATE COST SHARE.—As provided in section

24 104(c)(3)(B) of this Act (as added by the Superfund Re25 form Act of 1994), a State shall pay or assure payment
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1 of 15 percent of the costs of all response actions and pro2 gram support or other costs for which the State receives

3 funds from the Fund under this section. An Indian tribe

4 authorized to conduct response actions and enforcement

5 activities or to which facilities have been referred under

6 this section is not subject to the cost-share requirement

7 of this subsection.

8 ‘‘(e) TERMS AND CONDITIONS; COST RECOVERY.—

9 A contract or agreement for a State authorization or refer10 ral under this section is subject to such terms and condi11 tions as the Administrator prescribes. The terms and con12 ditions shall include requirements for periodic auditing

13 and reporting of State expenditures from the Fund. The

14 contract or agreement may cover a specific facility, a cat15 egory of facilities, or all facilities listed or proposed to be

16 listed on the National Priorities List in the State. The

17 contract or agreement shall require the State to seek cost

18 recovery, as contemplated by this Act, of all expenditures

19 from the Fund. Five percent of the moneys recovered by

20 the State may be retained by the State for use in its haz21 ardous substance response program, and the remainder

22 shall be returned to the Fund. Before making further allo23 cations from the Fund to any State, the Administrator

24 shall take into consideration the effectiveness of the

25 State’s enforcement program and cost recovery efforts.
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1 ‘‘(f) ENFORCEMENT OF AGREEMENTS.—If the Ad2 ministrator enters into a contract or agreement with a

3 State pursuant to this section, and the State fails to com4 ply with any terms and conditions of the contract or agree5 ment, the Administrator, after providing sixty days notice,

6 may withdraw the State authorization or referral, or seek

7 in the appropriate Federal district court to enforce the

8 contract or agreement to recover any funds advanced or

9 any costs incurred because of the breach of the contract

10 or agreement by the State.

11 ‘‘(g) MORE STRINGENT STATE STANDARDS.—Under

12 either an authorization or referral, a State may select a

13 response action that achieves a level of cleanup that is

14 more stringent than required under section 121(d) of this

15 Act if the State agrees to pay for the incremental increase

16 in response cost attributable to achieving the more strin17 gent cleanup level. Neither the Fund nor any party liable

18 for response costs shall incur costs in excess of those nec19 essary to achieve a level of cleanup required under section

20 121(d) of this Act.

21 ‘‘(h) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—The

22 Administrator shall make available, for public review and

23 comment, applications for authorization under subsection

24 (a) and applications for referral under subsection (b). The

25 Administrator shall not approve or withdraw authorization
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1 or referral from a State unless the Administrator notifies

2 the State, and makes public, in writing, the reasons for

3 such approval or withdrawal.

4 ‘‘(i) PERIODIC REVIEW OF AUTHORIZED STATE PRO5 GRAMS AND REFERRALS.—The Administrator shall con6 duct a periodic review of authorized State programs and

7 referrals to determine, among other things, whether—

8 ‘‘(1) the response actions were selected and con9 ducted in a manner that was substantially consistent

10 with this Act, the National Contingency Plan, and

11 the contract or agreement between the Adminis12 trator and the State;

13 ‘‘(2) the State response costs financed by Fund

14 expenditures were incurred in the manner agreed to

15 by the State, in accordance with the contract or

16 agreement between the Administrator and the State;

17 and

18 ‘‘(3) the State’s cost recovery efforts and other

19 enforcement efforts were conducted in accordance

20 with the contract or agreement between the Admin21 istrator and the State.

22 The Administrator, in consultation with the States, shall

23 develop specific criteria for periodic reviews of authorized

24 State programs and referrals. The Administrator shall es-
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1 tablish a mechanism to make the periodic State reviews

2 available to the public.

3 ‘‘(j) MODIFICATION OF RESPONSE.—At a facility for

4 which a State selects a response action under an author5 ization or a referral, the State shall afford the opportunity

6 for public participation in a manner that is substantially

7 consistent with the requirements of section 117(f)–(i) of

8 this Act, and shall give notice of and a copy of the pro9 posed plan for response action to the Administrator. The

10 State also shall give prompt written notice and a copy of

11 the final decision in selecting the response action to the

12 Administrator. Within 90 days from the date of receipt

13 of such notice and final response action decision from the

14 State, the Administrator may issue a notice of a request

15 to modify the State-selected remedy. The Administrator’s

16 notice shall be in writing and shall set forth the basis for

17 the Administrator’s position, and the final date for re18 sponding to the Administrator’s request, which shall be

19 no less than 90 days from the date of the notice. If the

20 State’s response does not resolve the Administrator’s con21 cerns to the Administrator’s satisfaction, the Adminis22 trator may withhold the distribution of Fund monies for

23 the selected response action or may withdraw all or part

24 of the State’s authorization or referral.
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1 ‘‘(k) EFFECT OF SECTION.—The President shall re2 tain the authority to take response actions at facilities list3 ed or proposed for listing on the National Priorities List

4 that are not being addressed by a State under an author5 ization or referral pursuant to this section. At facilities

6 listed or proposed for listing on the National Priorities

7 List that are being addressed by a State under either an

8 authorization or a referral, the President may take re9 sponse actions that the President determines necessary to

10 protect human health or the environment, if the State

11 fails, after a request by the Administrator to take such

12 response actions in a timely manner. A State does not

13 have the authority, except pursuant to this section, to take

14 or order a response action, or any other action relating

15 to releases or threatened releases, at any facility listed or

16 proposed for listing on the National Priorities List. This

17 section does not affect the authority of the United States

18 under this Act to seek cost recovery for costs incurred by

19 the United States.’’.

20 (b) TRANSITION AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

21 (1) Sections 104(c)(5), 104(c)(7), 104(d)(1),

22 and 104(d)(2) of the Act are each amended by in23 serting after the heading in each paragraph the fol24 lowing—‘‘This paragraph applies only to response

25 actions for which a Record of Decision or other deci-
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1 sion document is signed before the date of enact2 ment of the Superfund Reform Act of 1994 and re3 sponse actions covered by a contract or agreement

4 for which a State has selected, pursuant to the op5 tion provided in subsection (c)(3)(C) (as added by

6 the Superfund Reform Act of 1994), the funding re7 quirements set forth in subsection (c)(3)(A) (as

8 amended by Superfund Reform Act of 1994).’’;

9 (2) Section 114(a) of the Act is amended by

10 striking ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting—‘‘Except as other11 wise provided in this Act, nothing’’;

12 (3) Section 121(f)(1) of the Act is amended by

13 striking the existing provisions and inserting—‘‘The

14 President may repeal, no earlier than one year after

15 the promulgation of final regulations under sections

16 127(a)(3) and 127(b)(3), the regulations issued

17 under this paragraph prior to the date of enactment

18 of the Superfund Reform Act of 1994.’’;

19 (4) Section 121(f)(2) of the Act is amended

20 by—

21 (A) striking ‘‘legally applicable or relevant

22 and appropriate’’ from the second sentence of

23 subparagraph (A); and
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1 (B) striking ‘‘subsection (d)(4)’’ from the

2 second sentence of subparagraph (A) and in3 serting ‘‘subsection (d)(5)(C)’’;

4 (5) Section 121(f)(3) of the Act is amended

5 by—

6 (A) striking ‘‘legally applicable or relevant

7 and appropriate’’ from the second sentence of

8 subparagraph (A); and

9 (B) striking ‘‘subsection (d)(4)’’ from the

10 second sentence of subparagraph (A) and in11 serting ‘‘subsection (d)(5)(C)’’.

12 (6) Section 302(d) of the Act is amended by

13 striking ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting—‘‘Except as other14 wise provided in this Act, nothing’’.

15 SEC. 202. TRANSFER OF AUTHORITIES.

16 Section 120(g) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9620(g)) is

17 amended by adding, after ‘‘the Environmental Protection

18 Agency,’’ the phrase ‘‘and except as provided in section

19 127,’’.

20 SEC. 203. STATE ROLE IN DETERMINATION OF REMEDIAL

21 ACTION TAKEN.

22 Section 120(h)(3) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)(3))

23 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

24 ‘‘If the property being transferred is part of a facility sub25 ject to a State authorization or a referral under section
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1 127, all demonstrations required by this paragraph to be

2 made to the Administrator shall be made to the appro3 priate State official.’’.

4 SEC. 204. STATE ASSURANCES.

5 Section 104(c)(3) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(c)(3))

6 is amended by—

7 (a) in the beginning of the paragraph after

8 ‘‘(3)’’ inserting ‘‘State cost shares for response ac9 tions and programs for which Superfund funds may

10 be allocated under this section or section 127 shall

11 be as follows—’’;

12 (b) striking ‘‘The’’ before ‘‘President’’ and in13 serting ‘‘(A) For all remedial actions for which a

14 Record of Decision is signed before the date of en15 actment of the Superfund Reform Act of 1994, the’’;

16 (c) redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B) and

17 (C) of existing section 104(c)(3) as subparagraphs

18 (1), (2) and (3) respectively; by striking ‘‘(i)’’, wher19 ever it appears and inserting ‘‘(I)’’; and striking

20 ‘‘(ii)’’ wherever it appears and inserting ‘‘(II)’’;

21 (d) adding a new subparagraph (B) as follows:

22 ‘‘(B) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (C),

23 for the costs of all response actions for which a Record

24 of Decision or other decision document is signed after the

25 date that is one year after the effective date of final regu-
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1 lations promulgated under section 127(a)(3) and section

2 127(b)(3), and for all program or other costs for which

3 Fund money may be allocated to the State pursuant to

4 this section or section 127, the President shall not provide

5 or authorize funding from the Fund unless the State first

6 enters into a contract or agreement with the President

7 providing assurances deemed adequate by the President

8 that the State will pay or assure payment of 15 percent

9 of all such costs as required by section 127(d). The Ad10 ministrator may provide funding authorized under this

11 paragraph for a one-year or other period for all costs and

12 facilities in a State; in that event, the State cost share

13 requirement set forth above shall apply to all costs covered

14 by such period.’’; and

15 (e) adding a new subparagraph (C) as follows:

16 ‘‘(C) Each State shall have the option of receiving

17 funding for all response action costs and program or other

18 costs for which funding is authorized under this section

19 or section 127 pursuant to either subparagraph (A) or

20 subparagraph (B) of this paragraph. The option selected

21 by the State shall apply to all contracts and agreements

22 signed pursuant to this section or section 127.’’.

23 SEC. 205. SITING.

24 Section 104(c)(9) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(c)(9))

25 is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(9) SITING.—Effective one year after the date of en2 actment of the Superfund Reform Act of 1994, the Presi3 dent shall not provide any remedial actions pursuant to

4 this section unless the State in which the release occurs

5 submits a report describing its plans for adequate disposal

6 capacity for hazardous wastes, in accordance with guide7 lines issued by the Administrator.’’.

8 SEC. 206. THE NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST.

9 (a) Section 105(a)(8)(B) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

10 9605(a)(8)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘as part of the

11 plan’’, and by inserting before ‘‘Within’’ the sentence

12 ‘‘The National Priorities List, and any modifications to

13 the National Priorities List, may be adopted administra14 tively, and without rulemaking.’’.

15 (b) Section 105(a)(8) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

16 9605(a)(8)) is amended by adding after subparagraph (B)

17 the following new subparagraph—

18 ‘‘(C) before determining that a facility is to be

19 listed on the National Priorities List, the Adminis20 trator shall publish a notice proposing the facility

21 for listing on the National Priorities List and shall

22 provide an opportunity for public document. Public

23 notice and opportunity for comment also shall be

24 provided before a decision by the Administrator to

25 remove a facility from the National Priorities List.
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1 The Administrator shall establish a procedure under

2 which any person may request that a facility be con3 sidered for listing on, or removal from, the National

4 Priorities List. The Administrator has the sole dis5 cretion to list or remove a facility on the National

6 Priorities List.’’.

7 SEC. 207. THE STATE REGISTRY.

8 Section 105(a)(8) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8))

9 is amended by adding after subparagraph (C) (as added

10 by this Act) a new subparagraph—

11 (D) STATE REGISTRY.—Each State shall main12 tain and make available to the public a list of facili13 ties in the State that are believed to present a cur14 rent or potential hazard to human health or the en15 vironment due to the release or threatened release of

16 hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants.

17 Each State, in consultation with the Administrator

18 and other appropriate federal agencies, shall prepare

19 such listing, and shall, on an annual basis, publish

20 the State Registry, specifying the governmental

21 agency addressing the facility, and whether the facil22 ity is on the National Priorities List.’’.

23 TITLE III—VOLUNTARY RESPONSE

24 SEC. 301. PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES.

25 The purposes and objectives of this title are to—
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1 (a) significantly increase the pace of response

2 activities at contaminated sites by promoting and

3 encouraging the development and expansion of State

4 voluntary response programs, and

5 (b) benefit the public welfare by returning con6 taminated sites to economically productive uses.

7 SEC. 302. STATE VOLUNTARY RESPONSE PROGRAM.

8 Title I of the Act is amended by adding after section

9 127 (as added by this Act) the following new section—

10 ‘‘§ 128. Voluntary response program

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall estab12 lish a program to provide technical and other assistance

13 to the States to establish and expand voluntary response

14 programs.

15 ‘‘(b) VOLUNTARY RESPONSE PROGRAM.—The Ad16 ministrator shall assist States to establish and administer

17 a voluntary program that—

18 ‘‘(1) covers all eligible facilities, as defined in

19 subsection (c) of this section, within the State;

20 ‘‘(2) provides adequate opportunities for public

21 participation, including prior notice and opportunity

22 for comment, in selecting response actions;

23 ‘‘(3) provides opportunities for technical assist24 ance for voluntary response actions;
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1 ‘‘(4) has the capability, through enforcement or

2 other mechanisms, of assuming the responsibility for

3 completing a response action if the current owner or

4 prospective purchaser fails or refuses to complete the

5 necessary response, including operation and mainte6 nance; and

7 ‘‘(5) provides adequate oversight and has ade8 quate enforcement authorities to ensure that vol9 untary response actions are completed in accordance

10 with applicable Federal and State laws, including

11 applicable permit requirements and any on-going op12 eration and maintenance or long-term monitoring

13 activities.

14 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE FACILITIES.—

15 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph 2 of this

16 subsection, the term ‘eligible facility’ means a facil17 ity or portion of a facility where there has been a

18 release or threat of release of a hazardous sub19 stance, pollutant, or contaminant into the environ20 ment.

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘eligible facility’ does not include

22 any of the following—

23 ‘‘(A) a facility at which a remedial inves24 tigation and feasibility study is underway, un25 less the Administrator, in consultation with the
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1 State, determines that it is appropriate to allow

2 the response action at such a facility to proceed

3 under a voluntary response program;

4 ‘‘(B) a facility with respect to which a

5 Record of Decision has been issued under sec6 tion 104 of this Act;

7 ‘‘(C) a facility with respect to which a cor8 rective action permit condition or order has

9 been proposed, issued, modified, or amended to

10 require implementation of specific corrective

11 measures under section 3004(u), 3004(v), or

12 3008(h) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42

13 U.S.C. 6924(u), 6924(v), or 6928(h));

14 ‘‘(D) a land disposal unit with respect to

15 which a closure notification under subtitle C of

16 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921

17 et seq.) has been submitted;

18 ‘‘(E) a facility with respect to which an ad19 ministrative or judicial order or decree concern20 ing the response action has been issued, sought,

21 or entered into by the United States under this

22 Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C.

23 6901 et seq.), the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

24 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), the Federal Water

25 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.),
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1 the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C.

2 2601 et seq.) or title XIV of the Public Health

3 Service Act, commonly known as the Safe

4 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300(f) et seq.);

5 and

6 ‘‘(F) a facility at which assistance for re7 sponse activities may be obtained under subtitle

8 I of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C.

9 6991 et seq.) from the Leaking Underground

10 Storage Tank Trust Fund established under

11 section 9508 of the Internal Revenue Code of

12 1986.

13 ‘‘(3) A facility listed or proposed for listing on

14 the National Priorities List may be an ‘eligible facil15 ity’ if—

16 ‘‘(A) the facility is not a facility identified

17 in paragraph (2);

18 ‘‘(B) the State in which the facility is lo19 cated has obtained a State authorization or re20 ferral under section 127 of this Act; and

21 ‘‘(C) the Administrator concurs in the

22 State’s determination to address the facility

23 under its voluntary response program.

24 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORTING.—The Administrator shall

25 report, not later than 1 year after enactment of this Act
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1 and annually thereafter, to the Congress on the status of

2 State voluntary response programs including—

3 ‘‘(1) whether the State’s voluntary response

4 program continues to meet the criteria set forth in

5 subsection (b) or (c);

6 ‘‘(2) whether the State has adopted procedures

7 to ensure that all response actions completed or un8 dertaken under the State’s voluntary response pro9 gram comply with all applicable Federal and State

10 laws;

11 ‘‘(3) whether public participation opportunities

12 have been adequate during the process of selecting

13 a response action for each voluntary response;

14 ‘‘(4) whether voluntary response actions com15 pleted or undertaken under the State voluntary re16 sponse program have been implemented in a manner

17 that has reduced or eliminated risks to human

18 health and the environment to the satisfaction of the

19 State;

20 ‘‘(5) whether voluntary response actions com21 pleted or undertaken under the State voluntary re22 sponse program at facilities listed or proposed for

23 listing on the National Priorities List were con24 ducted in accordance with section 121(d) of this Act;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(6) whether a voluntary response action has

2 increased risk to human health or the environment,

3 and whether a State has taken timely and appro4 priate steps to reduce or eliminate that risk to

5 human health or the environment.

6 ‘‘(i) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—This section is

7 not intended—

8 ‘‘(1) to impose any requirement on a State vol9 untary response program existing on or after the

10 date of enactment of this Act; or

11 ‘‘(2) to affect the liability of any person or re12 sponse authorities afforded under any law (including

13 any regulation) relating to environmental contamina14 tion, including this Act (except as expressly provided

15 in section 101(39)(D) (42 U.S.C. 9601(39)(D)), sec16 tion 107(a)(5)(C) (42 U.S.C. 9607(a)(5)(C)), the

17 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.),

18 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.

19 1251 et seq.), the Toxic Substances Control Act (15

20 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), or title XIV of the Public

21 Health Service Act, commonly known as the ‘‘Safe

22 Drinking Water Act’’ (42 U.S.C. 300(f) et seq.).’’.

23 SEC. 303. SITE CHARACTERIZATION PROGRAM.

24 Title I of the Act is amended by adding after section

25 128 (as added by this Act) the following new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 129. Site characterization technical assistance pro2 gram

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall estab4 lish a program to provide technical and other assistance

5 to municipalities to conduct site characterizations for fa6 cilities at which voluntary response actions are being con7 ducted or are proposed to be conducted pursuant to a

8 State voluntary response program that meets the require9 ments described in section 127.

10 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out the

11 program established under subsection (a), the Adminis12 trator may provide technical and other assistance to a mu13 nicipality to conduct a site characterization of a facility

14 within the jurisdiction of the municipality at which vol15 untary response actions are being conducted or are pro16 posed to be conducted. A municipality requesting technical

17 and other assistance shall provide to the Administrator the

18 following information—

19 ‘‘(1) describing the facility at which voluntary

20 response actions are being conducted or are pro21 posed to be conducted;

22 ‘‘(2) demonstrating the financial need of the

23 owner or prospective purchaser of such a facility for

24 funds to conduct a site characterization;
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1 ‘‘(3) analyzing the potential of the facility for

2 creating new businesses and employment opportuni3 ties on completion of the response action;

4 ‘‘(4) estimating the fair market value of the site

5 after the proposed or ongoing response action, if a

6 response action is necessary;

7 ‘‘(5) regarding the economic viability and com8 mercial activity on real property—

9 ‘‘(i) located within the immediate vicinity

10 of the affected site at the time of consideration

11 of the application; or

12 ‘‘(ii) projected to be located within the im13 mediate vicinity of the affected site by the date

14 that is 5 years after the date of the consider15 ation of the application;

16 ‘‘(6) regarding the potential of the facility for

17 creating new businesses and employment opportuni18 ties on completion of a response action;

19 ‘‘(7) regarding whether the affected site is lo20 cated in an economically distressed community;

21 ‘‘(8) regarding the presence of multiple sources

22 of risk as described in section 117(k) of this Act;

23 and
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1 ‘‘(9) in such form, as the Administrator consid2 ers appropriate to carry out the purposes of this sec3 tion.’’.

4 TITLE IV—LIABILITY AND ALLOCATION

5 SEC. 401. RESPONSE AUTHORITIES.

6 (a) Section 104(e)(2) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

7 9604(e)(2)) is amended by deleting the word ‘‘cleanup’’

8 and inserting the phrase ‘‘response action’’, and inserting

9 after subparagraph (C) the following:

10 ‘‘(D) The nature and extent of all activities

11 and operations at such vessel or facility, includ12 ing the identity of any persons engaged in, re13 sponsible for, controlling, or having the ability

14 to control such activities or operations.

15 ‘‘(E) Information relating to the liability or

16 responsibility of any person to perform or pay

17 for a response action.

18 ‘‘(F) Information that is otherwise relevant

19 to enforce the provisions of this Act.’’.

20 (b) Section 104(e)(7) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(e))

21 is amended to read as follows:

22 ‘‘(7) ADMINISTRATIVE SUBPOENAS.—When it

23 would assist in the collection of information nec24 essary or appropriate for the purposes of implement25 ing this Act, the President may by subpoena require
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1 the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the

2 production of reports, papers, documents, answers to

3 questions, and other information that the President

4 deems necessary. Witnesses shall be paid the same

5 fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the

6 courts of the United States. In the event of contu7 macy or failure or refusal of any person to obey any

8 such subpoena, any district court of the United

9 States in which venue is proper shall have jurisdic10 tion to order any such person to comply with such

11 subpoena. Any failure to obey such an order of the

12 court is punishable by the court as a contempt

13 thereof.

14 ‘‘(8) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION—

15 ‘‘(A) Any records, reports, or information

16 obtained from any person under this section

17 (including records, reports or information ob18 tained by representatives of the President and

19 records, reports or information obtained pursu20 ant to a contract, grant or other agreement to

21 perform work pursuant to this section, but not

22 including documents, reports, compilations,

23 summaries, or other analyses prepared by the

24 President or representatives of the President

25 which reference or incorporate information ob-
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1 tained under this section) shall be available to

2 the public, except as follows:

3 ‘‘(i) Upon a showing satisfactory to

4 the President (or the State, as the case

5 may be) by any person that records, re6 ports or information, or any particular

7 part thereof (other than health or safety

8 effects data), to which the President (or

9 the State, as the case may be) or any offi10 cer, employee, or representative has access

11 under this section if made public would di12 vulge information entitled to protection

13 under section 1905 of title 18 of the

14 United States Code, such information or

15 particular portion thereof shall be consid16 ered confidential in accordance with the

17 purposes of that section, except that such

18 record, report, document or information

19 may be disclosed to other officers, employ20 ees, or authorized representatives of the

21 United States (including government con22 tractors) concerned with carrying out this

23 chapter, or when relevant in any proceed24 ing under this chapter, or, if such records,

25 reports or information are obtained or sub-
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1 mitted to the United States (or the State,

2 as the case may be) pursuant to a con3 tract, grant or other agreement to perform

4 work pursuant to this section, to persons

5 from whom the President seeks to recover

6 costs pursuant to this Act.

7 ‘‘(ii) This section does not require

8 that information which is exempt from dis9 closure pursuant to section 522(a) of title

10 5 of the United States Code by reason of

11 subsection (b)(5), subsection (b)(6), or

12 subsection (b)(7) of such section, be avail13 able to the public, nor shall the disclosure

14 of any such information pursuant to this

15 section authorize disclosure to other par16 ties or be deemed to waive any confiden17 tiality privilege available to the President

18 under any Federal or State law.’’.

19 SEC. 402. COMPLIANCE WITH ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS.

20 (a) Section 106(a) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9606(a))

21 is amended by—

22 (1) inserting after the phrase ‘‘hazardous sub23 stance’’ the phrase ‘‘, or pollutant or contaminant’’;

24 and
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1 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following:

2 ‘‘The President may amend such orders and issue

3 additional orders, as appropriate, without a subse4 quent finding of an imminent and substantial

5 endangerment, to complete response action under6 taken in response to a release or substantial threat

7 of a release, or to require additional response actions

8 that are necessary or appropriate.’’.

9 (b) Section 106(b)(1) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

10 9606(b)(1)) is amended—

11 (1) by striking out the phrase ‘‘to enforce such

12 order’’, and

13 (2) by inserting before the period ‘‘, or be re14 quired to comply with such order, or both, even if

15 another party has complied, or is complying, with

16 the terms of the same order or another order per17 taining to the same facility, release or threatened re18 lease’’; and

19 (3) by inserting at the end of the paragraph the

20 following:

21 ‘‘For purposes of this title, a ‘sufficient cause’ requires—

22 ‘‘(A) an objectively reasonable belief by the per23 son to whom the order is issued that the person is

24 not liable for any response costs under section 107

25 of this title; or
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1 ‘‘(B) that the action to be performed pursuant

2 to the order is determined to be inconsistent with

3 the national contingency plan.

4 The existence or results of an allocation process pursuant

5 to section 122a of this title shall not affect or constitute

6 a basis for a determination of ‘sufficient cause.’ ’’.

7 (c) Section 106(b)(2) is amended by moving the sec8 ond sentence of subsection (b)(2)(A) and redesignating it

9 as subsection (b)(4), and by striking the word ‘‘para10 graph’’ in such newly designated subsection (b)(4) and re11 placing it with the word ‘‘subsection’’.

12 (d) Section 106(b)(2)(A) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

13 9602(b)(2)(A) is amended by striking out the phrase

14 ‘‘completion of’’, and inserting the phrase ‘‘the President

15 determines that such person has completed’’.

16 (e) Section 106(b)(2)(C) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

17 9606(b)(2)(C)) is amended by inserting after the words

18 ‘‘Subparagraph (D)’’ the phrase ’’, or as may be author19 ized in a settlement entered into under section 122a of

20 this title.

21 SEC. 403. LIMITATIONS TO LIABILITY FOR RESPONSE

22 COSTS.

23 Section 107 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9607) is amend24 ed—

25 (a) in subsection (a) by inserting—
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1 ‘‘(5) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through

2 (4) of this subsection, a person who does not impede

3 the performance of response actions or natural re4 source restoration shall not be liable—

5 ‘‘(A) to the extent liability is based solely

6 on subsection 107(a)(3) or 107(a)(4) of this

7 Act, and the arrangement for disposal, treat8 ment, or transport for disposal or treatment, or

9 the acceptance for transport for disposal or

10 treatment, involved less than five hundred

11 (500) pounds of municipal solid waste (MSW)

12 or sewage sludge as defined in sections 101(41)

13 and 101(44) of this Act, respectively, or such

14 greater or lesser amount as the Administrator

15 may determine by regulation;

16 ‘‘(B) to the extent liability is based solely

17 on subsection 107(a)(3) or 107(a)(4) of this

18 Act, and the arrangement for disposal, treat19 ment, or transport for disposal or treatment, or

20 the acceptance for transport or disposal or

21 treatment, involved less than ten (10) pounds

22 or liters of materials containing hazardous sub23 stances or pollutants or contaminants of such

24 greater or lesser amount as the Administrator

25 may determine by regulation, except where—
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1 ‘‘(i) the Administrator has determined

2 that such material contributed significantly

3 or could contribute to the costs of response

4 at the facility; or

5 ‘‘(ii) the person has failed to respond

6 fully and completely to information re7 quests by the United States, or has failed

8 to certify that, on the basis of information

9 within its possession, it qualifies for this

10 exception;

11 ‘‘(C) to the extent liability is based solely

12 on subsection 107(a)(1) of this Act, for a re13 lease or threat of release from a facility, and

14 the person is a bona fide prospective purchaser

15 of the facility as defined in section 101(39);

16 ‘‘(D) to the extent the liability of a depart17 ment, agency, or instrumentality of the United

18 States is based solely on section 107(a)(1) or

19 (2) with regard to a facility over which the de20 partment, agency, or instrumentality exercised

21 no regulatory or other control over activities

22 that directly or indirectly resulted in a release

23 or threat of a release of a hazardous substance,

24 and—
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1 ‘‘(i) all activities that directly or indi2 rectly resulted in a release of threat of a

3 release of a hazardous substance during

4 the period of ownership by the United

5 States occurred prior to 1976;

6 ‘‘(ii) the activities either directly or in7 directly resulting in a release or a threat of

8 a release of a hazardous substance at the

9 facility were pursuant to a statutory au10 thority;

11 ‘‘(iii) such department, agency, or in12 strumentality of the United States did not

13 cause or contribute to the release or threat

14 of release of hazardous substances or pol15 lutants or contaminants at the facility; and

16 ‘‘(iv) there are persons, other than the

17 United States, who are both potentially lia18 ble for the release of hazardous substances

19 or pollutants or contaminants at the facil20 ity and fully capable of performing or fi21 nancing the response action at the facility;

22 or

23 ‘‘(E) to the extent the liability of a Federal

24 or State entity or municipality is based solely

25 on its ownership of a road, street, or other right
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1 of way or other public transportation route over

2 which hazardous substances are transported, or

3 the granting of a license or permit to conduct

4 business; or

5 ‘‘(F) For more than 10 percent of total re6 sponse costs at the facility, in aggregate, for all

7 persons to the extent their liability is based

8 solely on subsections 107(a)(3) or 107(a)(4) of

9 this Act, and the arrangement for disposal,

10 treatment, or transport for disposal or treat11 ment, or the acceptance for transport for dis12 posal or treatment involved only municipal solid

13 waste (MSW) or sewage sludge as defined in

14 sections 101(41) and 101(44), respectively, of

15 this Act. Such limitation on liability shall apply

16 only—

17 ‘‘(i) where either the acts or omissions

18 giving rise to liability occurred before the

19 date thirty-six (36) months after enact20 ment of this paragraph, or the person as21 serting the limitation institutes or partici22 pates in a qualified household hazardous

23 waste collection program within the mean24 ing of section 101(43); and
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1 ‘‘(ii) where the disposal did not occur

2 on lands owned by the United States or

3 any department, agency, or instrumentality

4 therefore, or on any tribal land.’’.

5 (b) by inserting after subsection (m) the follow6 ing:

7 ‘‘(n) PROSPECTIVE PURCHASER AND WINDFALL

8 LIEN.—Where there are unrecovered response costs for

9 which an owner of a facility is not liable by operation of

10 subsection 107(a)(5)(C) of this Act, and a response action

11 for which there are unrecovered costs inures to the benefit

12 of such owner, the United States shall have a lien upon

13 the facility for such unrecovered costs. Such lien—

14 ‘‘(1) shall not exceed the increase in fair market

15 value of the property attributable to the response ac16 tion at the time of a subsequent sale or other dis17 position of property;

18 ‘‘(2) shall be subject to the requirements for no19 tice and validity established in paragraph (3) of sub20 section (l) of this section; and

21 ‘‘(3) shall continue until the earlier of satisfac22 tion of the lien, or recovery of all response costs in23 curred at the facility.’’
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1 (c) Section 120 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9620) is

2 amended by inserting before the word ‘‘facilities’’ in

3 the title of the section the phrase ‘‘entities and’’.

4 (d) Section 120(a)(1) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

5 9620(a)(1)) is amended—

6 (1) after the word ‘‘title’’ in the first sen7 tence by inserting the phrase ‘‘the right to con8 tribution protection set forth in section 113 and

9 122, when such department, agency or instru10 mentality resolves its share of liability under

11 this Act and liability for all federal civil and ad12 ministrative penalities and fines imposed under

13 this Act, regardless of whether such penalties

14 and fines are punitive or coercive in nature or

15 are imposed for isolated or continuing viola16 tions.’’;

17 (2) by inserting the word ‘‘other’’ before

18 the phrase ‘‘person or entity’’ in the second

19 sentence and by inserting after the second sen20 tence the following new sentence:

21 ‘‘The waiver of immunity in this section does not en22 compass uniquely governmental actions such as—

23 ‘‘(A) any actions of any department, agen24 cy or instrumentality, except for official seizure

25 of or holding title to a facility, taken pursuant
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1 to Federal authority to regulate the economy in

2 preparation for, during, or otherwise in connec3 tion with war through the use and implementa4 tion of national priority rating systems, national

5 wage, profit and price incentives or controls, or

6 otherwise to mobilize the national economy for

7 war-related production; or

8 ‘‘(B) any actions of any department, agen9 cy, or instrumentality taken in response to a

10 natural disaster pursuant to the Emergency

11 Flood Control Work Act (33 U.S.C. 701(n)), or

12 the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.

13 5121 et seq.).’’;

14 (e) Section 120(a)(4) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

15 9620(a)(4)) is amended—

16 (1) by inserting ‘‘currently’’ before

17 ‘‘owned’’ in the first sentence;

18 (2) by inserting after the word ‘‘United

19 States’’ the phrase ‘‘in the following cir20 cumstances: (A)’’; and

21 (3) by inserting after the word ‘‘List’’ ‘‘;

22 (B) when such facilities are included on the Na23 tional Priorities List but are specifically re24 ferred to the State by the Administrator pursu25 ant to the provisions of section 127 of this Act;
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1 or (c) when such laws are part of an authorized

2 program approved by the Administrator pursu3 ant to section 127 of this Act, and such facili4 ties are included on the National Priorities List

5 and are to be addressed by the State authorized

6 program pursuant to section 127 of this Act.

7 Each department, agency, or instrumentality of

8 the United States shall be subject to State re9 quirements, both substantive and procedural,

10 respecting liability for the costs of responding

11 to releases or threats of releases of hazardous

12 substances at non-federally-owned facilities re13 ferred to the State pursuant to section 127 of

14 this Act, or such requirements that are part of

15 a State authorized program for non-federally16 owned facilities being addressed under a State

17 authorized program pursuant to section 127 of

18 this Act.’’;

19 (4) after the word ‘‘preceding’’ by replac20 ing the word ‘‘sentence’’ with ‘‘sentences’’;

21 (5) at the end of the section by adding

22 ‘‘This waiver of immunity for such facilities

23 shall include all civil and administrative pen24 alties and fines imposed under such laws, re25 gardless of whether such penalties and fines are
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1 punitive or coercive in nature or are imposed

2 for isolated or continuing violations. Neither the

3 United States, nor any agent, employee or offi4 cer thereof, shall be immune or exempt from

5 any process or sanction of any State or Federal

6 Court with respect to the enforcement of any

7 appropriate relief under such laws, but the

8 United States shall be entitled to remove any

9 action filed in state court against any depart10 ment, agency, instrumentality, employee or offi11 cer of the United States to the appropriate

12 Federal district court. No agent, employee, or

13 officer of the United States shall be personally

14 liable for any civil or administrative penalty

15 under any Federal or State law with respect to

16 any act or omission within the scope of the offi17 cial duties of the agent, employee, or officer. All

18 funds collected by a State from the Federal

19 Government from penalties and fines imposed

20 for violation of any substantive or procedural

21 requirement referred to in this subsection shall

22 be used by the State only for projects designed

23 to improve or protect the environment or to de24 fray the costs of environmental protection or

25 enforcement.’’.
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1 (f) Section 120(j)(1) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

2 9620(j)(1)) is amended before the phrase ‘‘with re3 spect to the site’’ in the second sentence by inserting

4 ‘‘or any State law applicable under section

5 120(a)(4)’’.

6 SEC. 404. LIABILITY.

7 (a) Section 107(a)(1) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

8 9607(a)(1)) is amended by striking the word ‘‘and’’ and

9 inserting the word ‘‘or’’.

10 (b) Section 107(a)(3) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

11 9607(a)(3)) is amended by striking out the phrase ‘‘by

12 any other party or entity,’’.

13 (c) Section 107(a)(4) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

14 9607(a)(4)) is amended—

15 (1) by inserting a blank line before the phrase

16 ‘‘from which there is a release’’;

17 (2) by moving the phrase ‘‘from which there is

18 a release’’ to the left margin; and

19 (3) inserting a comma after the phrase ‘‘threat20 ened release’’.

21 (d) Section 107(a)(4)(A) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

22 9607(a)(4)(A)) is amended by inserting the phrase ‘‘, in23 cluding direct costs, indirect costs, and costs of overseeing

24 response actions conducted by private parties’’ before the

25 phrase ‘‘incurred by the United States’’.
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1 (e) Section 107(a)(4)(B) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

2 9607(a)(4)(B)) is amended—

3 (1) by striking out the word ‘‘other’’ both times

4 it appears; and

5 (2) by inserting the phrase ‘‘other than the

6 United States, a State or an Indian tribe’’ before the

7 phrase ‘‘consistent with the national contingency

8 plan’’.

9 (f) Section 107(c)(3) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

10 9607(a)(3)) is amended—

11 (1) by inserting the phrase ‘‘in addition to li12 ability for any response costs incurred by the United

13 States as a result of such failure to take proper ac14 tion,’’ after the world ‘‘person’’ the second time it

15 appears;

16 (2) by striking out the phrase ‘‘at least equal

17 to, and not more than’’ and inserting the phrase ‘‘up

18 to’’;

19 (3) by striking out the comma after the word

20 ‘‘times’’; and

21 (4) by striking out the phrase ‘‘any costs in22 curred by the Fund as a result of such failure to

23 take proper action’’ and inserting the phrase ‘‘such

24 response costs’’.
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1 (g) Section 107 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9607(a)(4)(B))

2 is amended by inserting the phrase ‘‘, or pollutant or con3 taminant’’ after the term ‘‘hazardous substance’’ or ‘‘haz4 ardous substances’’ wherever they appear in sections

5 107(a)(2), (3) and (4); 107(b); 107(c); 107(d)(1) and (2);

6 107(f)(1); 107(i); 107(j); and 107(k)(1)(B).

7 SEC. 405. CIVIL PROCEEDINGS.

8 (a) Section 113(a) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9613(a))

9 is amended—

10 (1) by striking out the phrase ‘‘upon application

11 by any interested person’’, and inserting the phrase

12 ‘‘by any adversely affected person through the filing

13 of a petition for review’’; and

14 (2) by striking out the phrase ‘‘application shall

15 be made’’, and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘petition

16 shall be filed’’.

17 (b) Section 113(b) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9613(b))

18 is amended—

19 (1) before ‘‘without regard to the citizenship,’’

20 by inserting the phrase ‘‘or in any manner limiting

21 or affecting the President’s ability to carry out a re22 sponse action under this Title,’’; and

23 (2) by inserting immediately after the first sen24 tence the following sentence: ‘‘Any action initiated in

25 any state or local court against the United States
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1 (or any department, agency,or instrumentality, offi2 cer or employee thereof) pursuant to or under any

3 provision of or authorized by this title may be re4 moved by the United States to the appropriate fed5 eral district court in accordance with section 1446 of

6 title 18 of the United States Code.’’

7 (c) Section 113(g) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9613(g))

8 is amended by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and insert9 ing—

10 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS FOR RECOVERY OF COSTS.—Ex11 cept as provided in paragraph (3) below, an initial

12 action for recovery of costs referred to in section

13 107 of this title must be commenced—

14 ‘‘(A) for removal action, within three years

15 after completion of all removal action taken

16 with respect to the facility, including off-site

17 disposal of any removed materials; except that

18 if physical on-site construction of the remedial

19 action is initiated within three years after the

20 completion of all removal action taken with re21 spect to the facility, costs incurred for removal

22 action may be recovered in the cost recovery ac23 tion brought under subparagraph (B); and
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1 ‘‘(B) for a remedial action, within six years

2 after initiation of physical on-site construction

3 of the remedial action.

4 In any such action described in this subsection, the

5 court shall enter a declaratory judgment on liability

6 for response costs or damages that will be binding

7 on any subsequent action or actions to recover fur8 ther response costs or damages. A subsequent action

9 or actions under section 107 of this title for further

10 response costs at the vessel or facility may be main11 tained at any time during the response action, but

12 must be commenced no later than three years after

13 the date of completion of all response action. Except

14 as otherwise provided in this paragraph, an action

15 may be commenced under section 107 of this title

16 for recovery of costs at any time after such costs

17 have been incurred.

18 ‘‘(3) CONTRIBUTION.—An action by a poten19 tially responsible party against another potentially

20 responsible party for recovery of any response costs

21 or damages must be commenced within the later

22 of—

23 ‘‘(A) the time limitations set forth in para24 graph (2) above, or
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1 ‘‘(B) where recovery is sought for costs or

2 damages paid pursuant to a judgment or settle3 ment, three years after—

4 ‘‘(i) the date of judgment in any ac5 tion under this Act for recovery of such

6 costs or damages, or

7 ‘‘(ii) the date of any administrative

8 order or judicial settlement for recovery of

9 the costs or damages paid or incurred pur10 suant to such a settlement.’’.

11 (d) Section 113(g) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9613(g))

12 is amended by inserting the following at the end thereof:

13 ‘‘(4) CLAIMS BY THE UNITED STATES, STATES

14 OR INDIAN TRIBES.—Claims by the United States

15 under section 106, and claims by the United States,

16 a State or Indian tribe under section 107(a), of this

17 Act shall not be deemed compulsory counterclaims in

18 an action against the United States, a State or an

19 Indian tribe seeking response costs, contribution,

20 damages, or any other claim by any person under

21 this Act.’’.

22 (e) Section 113(j)(1) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

23 9613(j)(1)) is amended—
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1 (1) before the phrase ‘‘or ordered’’ by inserting

2 the phrase ‘‘or selected by the President pursuant to

3 this Act,’’; and

4 (2) after the phrase ‘‘or ordered’’ by inserting

5 the phrase ‘‘or sought’’.

6 SEC. 406. LIMITATIONS ON CONTRIBUTION ACTIONS.

7 Section 113 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9613) is amend8 ed—

9 (a) by amending subsection (f)(1) as follows—

10 (1) by redesignating the paragraph as sub11 paragraph ‘‘(1)(A),’’;

12 (2) before the phrase ‘‘may seek contribu13 tion’’ by inserting the phrase ‘‘who is liable or

14 potentially liable under section 107(a) of this

15 title’’;

16 (3) by striking out the phrase ‘‘during or

17 following any civil action under section 106 of

18 this title or under section 107(a) of this title’’,

19 and inserting in lieu thereof the phrase ‘‘in a

20 claim asserted under section 107(a)’’; and

21 (4) by deleting the period at the end of the

22 first sentence, and inserting the following:

23 ‘‘except that there shall be no right of contribution

24 where—
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1 ‘‘(i) the person asserting the right of con2 tribution has waived such rights in a settlement

3 pursuant to this Act;

4 ‘‘(ii) the person from whom contribution is

5 sought is liable solely under section 107(a)(3)

6 of this Act, and contributed less than ten

7 pounds or ten liters of material containing haz8 ardous substances at the facility, or such great9 er or lesser amount as the Administrator may

10 determine by regulation;

11 ‘‘(iii) the person from whom contribution is

12 sought has entered into a final settlement with

13 the United States pursuant to section 122(g).’’;

14 (5) before the phrase ‘‘this section and the

15 Federal Rules’’ by inserting the phrase ‘‘section

16 107(a),’’; and

17 (6) by striking out the sentence ‘‘Nothing

18 in this subsection shall diminish the right of

19 any person to bring an action for contribution

20 in the absence of a civil action under section

21 106 of this title or section 107 of this title.’’.

22 (b) by inserting after subparagraph (1)(A) the

23 following subparagraph:

24 ‘‘(B) Any person who commences an action for

25 contribution against a person who is not liable by
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1 operation of subsection 107(a)(5) of this Act, or

2 against a person who is protected from suits in con3 tribution by this section or by a settlement with the

4 United States, shall be liable to the person against

5 whom the claim of contribution is brought for all

6 reasonable costs of defending against the claim, in7 cluding all reasonable attorney’s and expert witness

8 fees.’’.

9 (c) Section 113(f) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

10 9613(f)) is amended by striking out paragraph (2),

11 and inserting the following:

12 ‘‘(2) SETTLEMENT.—A person that has re13 solved its liability to the United States in an admin14 istrative or judicially approved settlement shall not

15 be liable for claims by other persons regarding re16 sponse actions, response costs or damages addressed

17 in the settlement. A person that has resolved its li18 ability to a State in an administrative or judicially

19 approved settlement shall not be liable for claims by

20 persons other than the United States regarding re21 sponse costs for damages addressed in the settle22 ment for which the State has a claim under this

23 title. Such settlement does not discharge any other

24 potentially responsible persons unless its terms so

25 provide, but it reduces the potential liability of such
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1 other persons by the amount of the settlement. The

2 protection afforded by this section shall include pro3 tection against contribution claims and all other

4 types of claims, under federal or state law, that may

5 be asserted against the settling party for recovery of

6 response costs or damages incurred or paid by an7 other person, if such costs or damages are addressed

8 in the settlement, but shall not include protection

9 against claims based on contractual indemnification

10 or other express contractual agreements to pay such

11 costs or damages.’’.

12 SEC. 407. SCOPE OF RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.

13 Section 115 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9615), is amended

14 by redesignating the text of the section as subsection ‘‘(a)’’

15 and adding a new subsection:

16 ‘‘(b) The authority conferred by this section includes,

17 without limitation, authority to promulgate legislative reg18 ulations to define the terms and scope of sections 101

19 through 405 this Act, inclusive.

20 ‘‘(c) This section confirms, without limitation, au21 thority to promulgate regulations to define the terms of

22 this Act as they apply to lenders and other financial serv23 ices providers, and property custodians, trustees, and

24 other fiduciaries.’’.
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1 SEC. 408. ENHANCEMENT OF SETTLEMENT AUTHORITIES.

2 Section 122 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9622), is amend3 ed—

4 (a) by striking out subparagraph (e)(3);

5 (b) by redesignating subparagraphs (e)(4) and

6 (5) as subparagraphs (e)(3) and (4), respectively;

7 (c) By redesignating subparagraphs (e)(6) as a

8 new section 122(o) and by amending redesignated

9 section 122(n)—

10 (1) by deleting ‘‘remedial investigation and

11 feasibility study’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

12 ‘‘response action’’; and

13 (2) by deleting ‘‘remedial action’’ in both

14 places where it appears and inserting ‘‘response

15 action’’;

16 (d) by inserting at the end of Section 122 the

17 following—

18 ‘‘(p) RETENTION OF FUNDS.—If, as part of any

19 agreement under this chapter, the President will be carry20 ing out any action and the parties will be paying amounts

21 to the President, the President may retain such amounts

22 in interest bearing accounts, and use such amounts, to23 gether with accrued interest, for purposes of carrying out

24 the agreement.

25 ‘‘(q) Notwithstanding the limitations on review in sec26 tion 113(h), and except as provided in subsection (g) of
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1 this section, a person whose claim for response costs or

2 contribution is limited as a result of contribution protec3 tion afforded by an administrative settlement under this

4 section may challenge the cost recovery component of such

5 settlement only by filing a complaint against the Adminis6 trator in the United States District Court within 60 days

7 after such settlement becomes final. Venue shall lie in the

8 district in which the appropriate Regional Administrator

9 has her principal office. Any review of an administrative

10 settlement shall be limited to the administrative record,

11 and the settlement shall be upheld unless the objecting

12 party can demonstrate on that record that the decision

13 of the President to enter into the administrative settle14 ment was arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise not in accord15 ance with law.’’;

16 (e) by deleting subsection (f)(1) and inserting

17 in lieu thereof:

18 ‘‘(1) FINAL COVENANTS.—The President shall

19 offer potentially responsible parties who enter into

20 settlement agreements otherwise acceptable to the

21 United States a final covenant not to sue concerning

22 any liability to the United States under this Act, in23 cluding a covenant with respect to future liability,

24 for response actions or response costs, provided

25 that—
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1 ‘‘(A) the settling party agrees to perform,

2 or there are other adequate assurances of the

3 performance of, a final remedial action for the

4 release or threat of release that is the subject

5 of the settlement;

6 ‘‘(B) the settlement agreement has been

7 reached prior to the commencement of litigation

8 against the settling party under section 106 or

9 107 of this Act with respect to this facility;

10 ‘‘(C) the settling party waives all contribu11 tion rights against other potentially responsible

12 parties at the facility; and

13 ‘‘(D) the settling party pays premium that

14 compensates for the risks of remedy failure; fu15 ture liability resulting from unknown condi16 tions; unanticipated increases in the cost of any

17 uncompleted response action, unless the settling

18 party is performing the response action; and

19 the United States litigation risk with respect to

20 persons who have not resolved their liability to

21 the United States under this Act, unless all

22 parties have settled their liability to the United

23 States, or the settlement covers 100 percent of

24 the United States response costs. The President

25 shall have sole discretion to determine the ap-
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1 propriate amount of any such premium, and

2 such determinations are committed to the

3 President’s discretion. The President has dis4 cretion to waive or reduce the premium pay5 ment for persons who demonstrate an inability

6 to pay such a premium.

7 ‘‘(2) DISCRETIONARY COVENANTS.—For all

8 other settlements under this title, the President

9 may, in his discretion, provide any person with a

10 covenant not to sue concerning any liability to the

11 United States under this title, if the covenant not to

12 sue is in the public interest. The President may in13 clude any conditions in such covenant not to sue, in14 cluding but not limited to the additional condition

15 referred to in paragraph (5) of this subsection. In

16 determining whether such conditions or covenants

17 are in the public interest, the President shall con18 sider the effectiveness and reliability of the response

19 action, the nature of the risks remaining at the facil20 ity, the strength of evidence, the likelihood of cost

21 recovery, the reliability of any response action or ac22 tions to restore, replace or acquire the equivalent of

23 injured natural resources, and any other factors rel24 evant to the protection of human health, welfare,

25 and the environment.’’.
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1 (f) by striking out the word ‘‘remedial’’, wher2 ever it appears in paragraph (f)(2), and inserting

3 the word ‘‘response’’;

4 (g) by deleting paragraphs (f)(3) and (f)(4);

5 (h) by redesignating existing paragraphs (f)(2),

6 (f)(5), and (f)(6) as paragraphs (f)(3), (f)(4), and

7 (f)(5), respectively;

8 (i) in redesignated subparagraph (f)(5)(A)—

9 (1) by striking out the word ‘‘remedial’’,

10 and inserting in lieu thereof the word ‘‘re11 sponse’’;

12 (2) by deleting ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ in the

13 first clause of the first sentence and inserting

14 ‘‘paragraph (1) or (3)’’ in lieu thereof;

15 (3) by deleting ‘‘de minimis settlements’’

16 and inserting ‘‘de minimis and other expedited

17 settlements pursuant to subsection (g) of this

18 section’’ in lieu thereof; and

19 (4) by striking the phrase ‘‘the President

20 certifies under paragraph (3) that remedial ac21 tion has been completed at the facility con22 cerned’’, and inserting in lieu thereof the phrase

23 ‘‘that the response action that is the subject of

24 the settlement agreement is selected’’;
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1 (j) by amending redesignated subsection

2 (f)(5)(B)—

3 (1) by striking ‘‘In extraordinary cir4 cumstances, the’’ and inserting the word

5 ‘‘The’’;

6 (2) by striking the phrase ‘‘those referred

7 to in paragraph (4) and’’;

8 (3) by inserting ‘‘the agreement containing

9 the covenant not to sue provides for payment of

10 a premium to address possible remedy failure or

11 any releases that may result from unknown

12 conditions, and’’ before the phrase ‘‘the other

13 terms’’; and

14 (4) by inserting at the end the following:

15 ‘‘The President may, in his discretion, waive or

16 reduce the premium payment for persons who

17 demonstrate an inability to pay such a pre18 mium.’’

19 (k) by deleting paragraph (g)(1)(A) and insert20 ing in lieu thereof:

21 ‘‘(g) EXPEDITED FINAL SETTLEMENT.—

22 ‘‘(1) PARTIES ELIGIBLE FOR EXPEDITED SET23 TLEMENT.—Wherever practicable and in the public

24 interest, and as provided in section 122a of this

25 title, the President will as promptly as possible offer
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1 to reach a final administrative or judicial settlement

2 with potentially responsible parties who, in the judg3 ment of the President, meet one or more of the fol4 lowing conditions for eligibility for an expedited set5 tlement—

6 ‘‘(A) the potentially responsible party’s in7 dividual contribution of hazardous substances

8 at the facility is de minimis. The contribution

9 of hazardous substance to a facility by a poten10 tially responsible party is de minimis if—

11 ‘‘(i) the potentially responsible party’s

12 volumetric contribution of materials con13 taining hazardous substances is minimal in

14 comparison to the total volumetric con15 tributions at the facility; such individual

16 contribution is presumed to be minimal if

17 it is one percent or less of the total volu18 metric contribution at the facility, unless

19 the Administrator identifies a different

20 threshold based on site-specific factors;

21 and

22 ‘‘(ii) the potentially responsible par23 ty’s hazardous substances do not present

24 toxic or other hazardous effects that are
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1 significantly greater than those of other

2 hazardous substances at the facility; or’’;

3 (l) by inserting the following after subsection

4 (g)(1)(B)—

5 ‘‘(C) The potentially responsible party’s li6 ability is based solely on subsection 107(a)(3)

7 or 107(a)(4) of this title, and the arrangement

8 for disposal, treatment, or transport for dis9 posal or treatment, or the acceptance for trans10 port for disposal or treatment, involved only

11 municipal solid waste (MSW) or sewage sludge

12 as defined in section 101(41) or 101(44), re13 spectively, of this Act. The Administrator may

14 offer to settle the liability of generators and

15 transporters of MSW or sewage sludge whose li16 ability is limited pursuant to section

17 107(a)(5)(A) of this title for up to 10 percent

18 of the total response costs at the facility; or

19 ‘‘(D) The potentially responsible party is a

20 small business or a municipality and has dem21 onstrated to the United States a limited ability

22 to pay response costs. For purposes of this pro23 vision:

24 ‘‘(i) In the case of a small business,

25 the President shall consider, to the extent
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1 that information is provided by the small

2 business, the business’ ability to pay for its

3 total allocated share, and demonstrable

4 constraints on its ability to raise revenues.

5 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a municipal owner

6 or operator, the President shall consider,

7 to the extent that information is provided

8 by the municipality, the following factors:

9 (1) the municipality’s general obligation

10 bond rating and information about the

11 most recent bond issue for which the rat12 ing was prepared; (2) the amount of total

13 available funds (other than dedicated

14 funds); (3) the amount of total operating

15 revenues (other than obligated or encum16 bered revenues), (4) the amount of total

17 expenses; (5) the amounts of total debt

18 and debt service; (6) per capita income;

19 and (7) real property values. A municipal20 ity may also submit for consideration by

21 the President an evaluation of the poten22 tial impact of the settlement on essential

23 services that the municipality must pro24 vide, and the feasibility of making delayed

25 payments or payments over time. If a mu-
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1 nicipality asserts that it has additional en2 vironmental obligations besides its poten3 tial liability under this Act, then the mu4 nicipality may create a list of the obliga5 tions, including an estimate of the costs of

6 complying with such obligations. A munici7 pality may establish an inability to pay

8 through an affirmative showing that such

9 payment of its liability under this Act

10 would either (I) create a substantial de11 monstrable risk that the municipality

12 would default on existing debt obligations,

13 be forced into bankruptcy, be forced to dis14 solve, or be forced to make budgetary cut15 backs that would substantially reduce cur16 rent levels of protection of public health

17 and safety, or (II) necessitate a violation of

18 legal requirements or limitations of general

19 applicability concerning the assumption

20 and maintenance of fiscal municipal obliga21 tions.’’;

22 (m) by deleting paragraphs (2) and (3) of sub23 section (g) and inserting in lieu thereof:

24 ‘‘(2) The determination of whether a party is

25 eligible for an expedited settlement shall be made on
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1 the basis of information available to the President at

2 the time the settlement is negotiated. Such deter3 mination, and the settlement, are committed to the

4 President’s unreviewable discretion. If the President

5 determines not to apply these provisions for expe6 dited settlements at a facility, the basis for that de7 termination must be explained in writing.

8 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL FACTORS RELEVANT TO MU9 NICIPALITIES.—In any settlement with a municipal10 ity pursuant to this title, the President may take ad11 ditional equitable factors into account in determining

12 an appropriate settlement amount, including, with13 out limitation, the limited resources available to that

14 party, and any in-kind services that the party may

15 provide to support the response action at the facility.

16 In considering the value of in-kind services, the

17 President shall consider the fair market value of

18 those services.’’;

19 (n) by striking in paragraph (g)(4) ‘‘$500,000’’

20 and inserting ‘‘$2,000,000’’;

21 (o) by striking paragraph (g)(5) and redesig22 nating paragraph (g)(6) and (g)(5);

23 (p) by amending paragraph (h) by striking—
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1 (1) the title, and inserting the phrase ‘‘Au2 thority to settle claims for penalties, punitive

3 damages and cost recovery’’; and

4 (2) by striking out the phrase ‘‘settlement

5 authority’’;

6 (q) by amending paragraph (h)(1)—

7 (1) before the phrase ‘‘cost incurred’’ by

8 inserting the phrase ‘‘past and future’’;

9 (2) before the phrase ‘‘by the United

10 States Government’’ by inserting the phrase ‘‘or

11 that may be incurred’’; and

12 (3) by inserting after the phrase ‘‘if the

13 claim has not been referred to the Department

14 of Justice for further action’’, the following:

15 ‘‘The head of any department or agency with

16 the authority to seek, or to request the Attor17 ney General to seek, civil or punitive damages

18 under this Act may settle claims for such pen19 alties or damages which may otherwise be as20 sessed in civil administrative or judicial pro21 ceedings’’; and by striking out ‘‘$500,000’’ and

22 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$2,000,000’’; and

23 (r) by striking paragraph (h)(4).
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1 SEC. 409. ALLOCATION PROCEDURES

2 The Act is amended by inserting following sec3 tion 122:

4 ‘‘§ 122a. Allocation at Multi-party facilities

5 ‘‘(a) SCOPE.—

6 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of

7 this section, for each non-federally owned facility

8 listed on the National Priorities List involving two

9 or more potentially responsible parties, the Adminis10 trator shall—

11 ‘‘(A) initiate the allocation process estab12 lished under this section for any remedial action

13 selected by the President after the date of en14 actment of the Superfund Reform Act of 1994,

15 and

16 ‘‘(B) initiate the allocation process estab17 lished in subsections (c)(2) through (d)(3) of

18 this section for any remedial action selected by

19 the President prior to the date of enactment of

20 the Superfund Reform Act of 1994, when re21 quested by any potentially responsible party

22 who has resolved its liability to the United

23 States with respect to the remedial action or is

24 performing the remedial action pursuant to an

25 order issued under section 106(a) of this title,

26 to assist in allocating shares among potentially
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1 responsible parties. The allocation performed

2 pursuant to this subsection shall not be con3 strued to require—

4 ‘‘(i) payment of an orphan share pur5 suant to subsection (e) of this section; or

6 ‘‘(ii) the conferral of reimbursement

7 rights pursuant to subsection (h) of this

8 section.

9 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of

10 this section, the Administrator may initiate the allo11 cation process established under this section with re12 spect to any other facility involving two (2) or more

13 potentially responsible parties, as the Administrator

14 deems appropriate.

15 ‘‘(3) The allocation process established under

16 this section shall not apply to any facility where—

17 ‘‘(i) there has been a final settlement, de18 cree or order that determines all liability or al19 located shares of all potentially responsible par20 ties with respect to the facility; or

21 ‘‘(ii) where response action is being carried

22 out by a State pursuant to referral or author23 ization under section 104(k) of this title.

24 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this section limits or affects—
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1 ‘‘(A) the Administrator’s obligation to per2 form an allocation for facilities that have been

3 the subject of partial or expedited settlements;

4 ‘‘(B) the ability of a potentially responsible

5 party at a facility to resolve its liability to the

6 United States or other parties at any time be7 fore initiation or completion of the allocation

8 process; or

9 ‘‘(C) the validity, enforceability, finality or

10 merits of any judicial or administrative order,

11 judgment or decree issued, signed, lodged, or

12 entered with respect to liability under this Act,

13 or authorizes modification of any such order,

14 judgment or decree.

15 ‘‘(b) MORATORIUM ON COMMENCEMENT OR CON16 TINUATION OF SUITS.—

17 ‘‘(1) No person may commence an action pursu18 ant to section 107 of this Act regarding a response

19 action for which an allocation must be performed

20 under subsection (a)(1)(A) of this section, or for

21 which the Administrator has initiated an allocation

22 under subsection (a)(1)(B) or (a)(2) of this section,

23 until 60 days after issuance of the allocator’s report

24 under subsection (d)(1) of this section.
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1 ‘‘(2) If an action under section 107 of this Act

2 regarding a response for which an allocation is to be

3 performed under this section pending (A) upon date

4 of enactment of the Superfund Reform Act of 1994,

5 or (B) upon initiation of an allocation under sub6 section (a)(1)(B) or (a)(2) of this section, the action

7 shall be stayed until 60 days after the issuance of

8 an allocator’s report, unless the court determines

9 that a stay will not result in a just and expeditious

10 resolution of the action.

11 ‘‘(3) Any applicable limitations period with re12 spect to actions subject to paragraph (1) shall be

13 tolled from the earlier of—

14 ‘‘(A) the date of listing of the facility on

15 the National Priorities list; or

16 ‘‘(B) the commencement of the allocation

17 process pursuant to this section, until 120 days

18 after the allocation report required by this sec19 tion has been provided to the parties to the al20 location.

21 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this section shall in any way

22 limit or affect the President’s authority to exercise

23 the powers conferred by sections 103, 104, 105,

24 106, or 122 of this title, or to commence an action

25 where there is a contemporaneous filing of a judicial
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1 consent decree resolving a party’s liability; or to file

2 a proof of claim or take other action in a proceeding

3 under title 11 of the U.S. Code.

4 ‘‘(5) The procedures established in this section

5 are intended to guide the exercise of settlement au6 thority by the United States, and shall not be con7 strued to diminish or affect the principles of retro8 active, strict, joint and several liability under this

9 title.

10 ‘‘(c) COMMENCEMENT OF ALLOCATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) RESPONSIBLE PARTY SEARCH.—At all fa12 cilities subject to this section, the Administrator

13 shall, as soon as practicable but not later than 60

14 days after the earlier of the commencement of the

15 remedial investigation or the listing of the facility on

16 the National Priorities List, initiate a search for po17 tentially responsible parties, using its authorities

18 under section 104 of this title.

19 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO PARTIES.—As soon as prac20 ticable after receipt of sufficient information, but

21 not more than eighteen (18) months after com22 mencement of the remedial investigation, the Admin23 istrator shall—

24 ‘‘(A) notify those potentially responsible

25 parties who will be assigned shares in the allo-
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1 cation process and notify the public, in accord2 ance with section 117(d) of this title, of the list

3 of potentially responsible parties preliminarily

4 identified by the Administrator to be assigned

5 shares in the allocation process; and

6 ‘‘(B) provide the notified potentially re7 sponsible parties with a list of neutral parties

8 who are not employees of the United States and

9 who the Administrator determines, in his or her

10 sole discretion, are qualified to perform an allo11 cation at the facility.

12 ‘‘(3) SELECTION OF ALLOCATOR.—The Admin13 istrator shall thereafter—

14 ‘‘(A) acknowledge the parties’ selection of

15 an allocator from the list, or select an allocator

16 from the list provided to the parties if the par17 ties cannot agree on a selection within 30 days

18 of the notice;

19 ‘‘(B) contract with the selected allocator

20 for the provision of allocations services; and

21 ‘‘(C) make available all responses to infor22 mation requests, as well as other relevant infor23 mation concerning the facility and potentially

24 responsible parties, to the parties and to the al25 locator within 30 days of the appointment of
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1 the allocator. The Administrator shall not make

2 available any privileged or confidential informa3 tion, except as otherwise authorized by law.

4 ‘‘(4) PROPOSED ADDITION OF PARTIES.—

5 ‘‘(A) For 60 days after information has

6 been made available pursuant to paragraph

7 3(C), the parties identified by the Adminis8 trator and members of the affected community

9 shall have the opportunity to identify and pro10 pose additional potentially responsible parties or

11 otherwise provide information relevant to the

12 facility or such potentially responsible parties.

13 This period may be extended by the Adminis14 trator for an additional 30 days upon request of

15 a party.

16 ‘‘(B) Within 30 days after the end of the

17 period specified in paragraph (A) for identifica18 tion of additional parties, the Administrator

19 shall issue a final list of parties subject to the

20 allocation process, hereinafter the ‘allocation

21 parties’. The Administrator shall include in the

22 list of allocation parties those parties identified

23 pursuant to paragraph (A) in the allocation

24 process unless the Administrator determines

25 and explains in writing that there is not a suffi-
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1 cient basis in law or fact to take enforcement

2 action with respect to those parties under this

3 title, or that they have entered into an expe4 dited settlement under section 122(g). The Ad5 ministrator’s determination is to be based on

6 the information available at the time of the de7 termination and is committed to the Adminis8 trator’s unreviewable discretion.

9 ‘‘(5) ROLE OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Federal

10 departments, agencies or instrumentalities that are

11 identified as potentially responsible parties shall be

12 subject to, and be entitled to the benefits of, the al13 location process provided by this section to the same

14 extent as any other party.

15 ‘‘(6) REPRESENTATION OF THE UNITED

16 STATES.—The Administrator and the Attorney Gen17 eral shall be entitled to review all documents and

18 participate in any phase of the allocation proceeding.

19 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATION DETERMINATION.—

20 ‘‘(1) SETTLEMENT AND ALLOCATION RE21 PORT.—Following issuance of the list of allocation

22 parties, the allocator may convene the allocation par23 ties for the purpose of facilitating agreement con24 cerning their shares. If the allocation parties do not

25 agree to a negotiated allocation of shares, the allo-
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1 cator shall prepare a written report, with a

2 nonbinding, equitable allocation of percentage shares

3 for the facility, and provide such report to the allo4 cation parties and the Administrator.

5 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION REQUESTS.—To assist in

6 the allocation of shares, the allocator may request

7 information from the allocation parties, and may

8 make additional requests for information at the re9 quest of any allocation party. The allocator may re10 quest the Administrator to exercise any information11 gathering authority under this title where necessary

12 to assist in determining the allocation of shares.

13 ‘‘(3) FACTORS IN THE ALLOCATION.—Unless

14 the allocation parties agree to a negotiated alloca15 tion, the allocator shall prepare a nonbinding, equi16 table allocation of percentage shares for the facility

17 based on the following factors:

18 ‘‘(A) The amount of hazardous substances

19 contributed by each allocation party.

20 ‘‘(B) The degree of toxicity of hazardous

21 substances contributed by each allocation party.

22 ‘‘(C) The mobility of hazardous substances

23 contributed by each allocation party.

24 ‘‘(D) The degree of involvement of each al25 location party in the generation, transportation,
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1 treatment, storage, or disposal of the hazardous

2 substance.

3 ‘‘(E) The degree of care exercised by each

4 allocation party with respect to the hazardous

5 substance, taking into account the characteris6 tics of the hazardous substance.

7 ‘‘(F) The cooperation of each allocation

8 party in contributing to the response action and

9 in providing complete and timely information

10 during the allocation process.

11 ‘‘(G) Such other factors that the Adminis12 trator determines are appropriate by published

13 regulation or guidance, including guidance with

14 respect to the identification of orphan shares

15 pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection.

16 ‘‘(4) IDENTIFICATION OF ORPHAN SHARES.—

17 The allocator may determine that a percentage share

18 for the facility is specifically attributable to an or19 phan share. The orphan share may only consist of

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(A) Shares attributable to hazardous sub22 stances that the allocator determines, on the

23 basis of information presented, to be specifically

24 attributable to identified but insolvent or de-
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1 funct responsible parties who are not affiliated

2 with any allocation party.

3 ‘‘(B) The difference between the aggregate

4 shares that the allocator determines, on the

5 basis of the information presented, are specifi6 cally attributable to contributors of municipal

7 solid waste subject to the limitations in section

8 107(a)(5)(D) of this title, and the share actu9 ally assumed by those parties in any settle10 ments with the United States pursuant to sub11 section 122(g) of this title, including the fair

12 market value of in-kind services provided by a

13 municipality.

14 ‘‘(C) The difference between the aggregate

15 share that the allocator determines, on the

16 basis of information presented, is specifically

17 attributable to parties with a limited ability to

18 pay response costs and the share actually as19 sumed by those parties in any settlements with

20 the United States pursuant to subsection

21 122(g) of this title.

22 The orphan share shall not include shares attrib23 utable to hazardous substances that the allocator

24 cannot attribute to any identified party. Such shares

25 shall be distributed among the allocation parties.
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1 ‘‘(e) FUNDING OF ORPHAN SHARES.—From funds

2 available in the Fund in any given fiscal year, and without

3 further appropriation action, the President shall make re4 imbursements from the Fund, to eligible parties for costs

5 incurred and equitably attributable to orphan shares de6 termined pursuant to this section, provided that Fund fi7 nancing of orphan shares shall not exceed $300,000,000

8 in any fiscal year. Reimbursements made under this sub9 section shall be subject to such terms and conditions as

10 the President may prescribe.

11 ‘‘(f) TIMING.—The allocator shall provide the report

12 required by subsection (d)(1) of this section to the alloca13 tion parties and the Administrator within 180 days of the

14 issuance of the list of parties pursuant to subsection

15 (c)(4)(B) of this section. Upon request, for good cause

16 shown, the Administrator may grant the allocator addi17 tional time to complete the allocation, not to exceed 90

18 days.

19 ‘‘(g) SETTLEMENT FOLLOWING ALLOCATION.—

20 ‘‘(1) OBLIGATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES.—

21 The President will accept a timely offer of settle22 ment from a party based on the share determined by

23 the allocator, if it includes appropriate premia and

24 other terms and conditions of settlement, unless the

25 Administrator, with the concurrence of the Attorney
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1 General of the United States, determines that a set2 tlement based on the allocator’s determinations

3 would not be fair, reasonable, and in the public in4 terest. The Administrator and the Attorney General

5 shall seek to make any such determination within 60

6 days from the date of issuance of the allocator’s re7 port. The determinations of the Administrator and

8 the Attorney General shall not be judicially

9 reviewable.

10 ‘‘(2) If the Administrator and the Attorney

11 General determine not to settle on the basis of the

12 allocation, they shall provide the allocation parties

13 and members of the affected community with a writ14 ten explanation of the Administrator’s determina15 tion. If the Administrator and the Attorney General

16 make such a determination, the parties who are will17 ing to settle on the basis of the allocation are enti18 tled to a consultation with an official appointed by

19 the President, to present any objections to the deter20 mination, within 60 days after the determination.

21 ‘‘(3) Settlements based on allocated shares shall

22 include—

23 ‘‘(A) a waiver of contribution rights

24 against all parties who are potentially respon25 sible parties for the response action;
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1 ‘‘(B) covenants not to sue, consistent with

2 the provisions of section 122(f) of this title, and

3 provisions regarding performance or adequate

4 assurance of performance of response actions

5 addressed in the settlement;

6 ‘‘(C) a premium that compensates for the

7 United States litigation risk with respect to po8 tentially responsible parties who have not re9 solved their liability to the United States, ex10 cept that no such premium shall apply if all

11 parties settle or the settlement covers 100 per12 cent of response costs;

13 ‘‘(D) contribution protection, consistent

14 with sections 113(f) and 122(g) of this title, re15 garding matters addressed in the settlement.

16 Such settlement does not discharge any of the

17 other potentially responsible parties unless its

18 terms so provide, but it reduces the potential li19 ability of the others by the amount of the settle20 ment; and

21 ‘‘(E) provisions through which the settling

22 parties shall receive reimbursement from the

23 Fund for any response costs incurred by such

24 parties in excess of the aggregate of their allo25 cated share and any premia required by the set-
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1 tlement. Such right to reimbursement shall not

2 be contingent on the United States recovery of

3 response costs from any responsible person not

4 a party to any settlement with the United

5 States.

6 ‘‘(4) The President shall report annually to

7 Congress on the administration of the allocation

8 scheme, and provide information comparing alloca9 tion results with actual settlements at multiparty fa10 cilities.

11 ‘‘(5) The provisions of this section shall not

12 apply to any offer of settlement made after com13 mencement of litigation by the United States against

14 the offering party under section 107 of this title.

15 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF REIMBURSEMENT.—In any

16 settlement in which a party agrees to perform response

17 work in excess of its share, the Administrator shall have

18 authority in entering the settlement to confer a right of

19 reimbursement on the settling party pursuant to such pro20 cedures as the Administrator may prescribe.

21 ‘‘(i) POST-SETTLEMENT LITIGATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States may

23 commence an action under section 107 against any

24 person who has not resolved its liability to the

25 United States following allocation, on or after 60
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1 days following issuance of the allocator’s report. In

2 any such action, the potentially responsible parties

3 shall be liable for all unrecovered response costs, in4 cluding any federally funded orphan share identified

5 in accordance with subsection (d)(4). Defendants in

6 any such action may implead any allocation party

7 who did not resolve its liability to the United States.

8 The Administrator and the Attorney General shall

9 issue guidelines to ensure that the relief sought

10 against de minimis parties under principles of joint

11 and several liability will not be grossly disproportion12 ate to their contribution to the facility. The applica13 tion of such guidelines is committed to the discretion

14 of the Administrator and the Attorney General.

15 ‘‘(2) In commencing any action under section

16 107 following allocation, the Attorney General must

17 certify, in the complaint, that the United States has

18 been unable to reach a settlement that would be in

19 the best interests of the United States.

20 ‘‘(3) ADMISSIBILITY OF ALLOCATOR’S RE21 PORT.—The allocator’s report shall not be admissi22 ble in any court with respect to a claim brought by

23 or against the United States, except in its capacity

24 as a nonsettling potentially responsible party, or for

25 the determination of liability. The allocator’s report,
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1 subject to the rules and discretion of the court, may

2 be admissible solely for the purpose of assisting the

3 court in making an equitable allocation of response

4 costs among the relative shares of nonsettling liable

5 parties.

6 ‘‘(4) OTHER AUTHORITIES UNAFFECTED.—

7 Nothing in this section limits or in any way affects

8 the exercise of the President’s authority pursuant to

9 sections 103, 104, 105, or 106.

10 ‘‘(5) COSTS.—

11 ‘‘(A) The costs of implementing the alloca12 tion procedure set forth in this section, includ13 ing reasonable fees and expenses of the allo14 cator, shall be considered necessary cost of re15 sponse.

16 ‘‘(B) The costs attributable to any funding

17 of orphan shares identified by the allocator pur18 suant to subsection (d)(4) also shall be consid19 ered necessary costs of response, and shall be

20 recoverable from liable parties who do not re21 solve their liability on the basis of the alloca22 tion.

23 ‘‘(6) REJECTION OF SHARE DETERMINATION.—

24 In any action by the United States under this title,

25 if the United States has rejected an offer of settle-
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1 ment that is consistent with subsections (g)(1) and

2 (g)(3) of this section and was presented to the

3 United States prior to the commencement of the ac4 tion, the offeror shall be entitled to recover from the

5 United States the offeror’s reasonable costs of de6 fending the action after the making of the offer, in7 cluding reasonable attorneys’ fees, if the ultimate

8 resolution of liability or allocation of costs with re9 spect to the offeror, taking into account all settle10 ments and reimbursements with respect to the facil11 ity other than those attributable to insurance or in12 demnification, is as or more favorable to the offeror

13 than the offer based on the allocation.

14 ‘‘(j) PROCEDURES.—The Administrator shall further

15 define the procedures of this section by regulation or guid16 ance, after consultation with the Attorney General.’’.

17 TITLE V—REMEDY SELECTION AND

18 CLEANUP STANDARDS

19 SEC. 501. PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES.

20 The purposes and objectives of this title are to—

21 (a) ensure that remedial actions under the Act

22 are protective of human health and the environment;

23 (b) provide consistent and equivalent protection

24 to all communities affected by facilities subject to re25 medial action; and
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1 (c) ensure that the national goals, national ge2 neric cleanup levels, and the national risk protocol

3 required by this title are developed through a proc4 ess based on substantial public input and, where ap5 propriate, on consensual decisionmaking.

6 SEC. 502. CLEANUP STANDARDS AND LEVELS.

7 Section 121(d)(1)–(2)(C)(i) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

8 9621(d)) is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(d) DEGREE OF CLEANUP.—

10 ‘‘(1) PROTECTION OF HUMAN HEALTH AND

11 THE ENVIRONMENT.—A remedial action selected

12 under this section or otherwise required or agreed to

13 by the President under this Act shall be protective

14 of human health and the environment. In order to

15 provide consistent protection to all communities, the

16 Administrator shall promulgate national goals to be

17 applied at all facilities subject to remedial action

18 under this Act.

19 ‘‘(2) GENERIC CLEANUP LEVELS.—The Admin20 istrator shall promulgate, as appropriate, national

21 generic cleanup levels for specific hazardous sub22 stances, pollutants, or contaminants, based on the

23 national goals established in paragraph (1). A clean24 up level shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) reflect reasonably anticipated future

2 land uses,

3 ‘‘(B) reflect other variables which can be

4 easily measured at a facility and whose effects

5 are scientifically well-understood to vary on a

6 site-specific basis, and

7 ‘‘(C) represent concentration levels below

8 which a response action is not required.

9 ‘‘(3) SITE-SPECIFIC METHODS TO ESTABLISH

10 CLEANUP LEVELS.—Notwithstanding the promulga11 tion of national generic cleanup levels under sub12 section (d)(2) and nationally-approved generic rem13 edies under subsection (b)(4) of this section, the Ad14 ministrator may, as appropriate, rely on a site-spe15 cific risk assessment to determine the proper level of

16 cleanup at a facility, based on the national goals es17 tablished in paragraph (1) and the reasonably antici18 pated future land uses at the facility. This may

19 occur if a national generic cleanup level has not been

20 developed or to account for particular characteristics

21 of a facility or its surroundings. In establishing site22 specific cleanup levels, the President shall consider

23 the views of the affected community in accordance

24 with section 117 of this Act.
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1 ‘‘(4) RISK ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator

2 shall promulgate a national risk protocol for con3 ducting risk assessments based on realistic assump4 tions. After promulgation, risk assessment underly5 ing the degree of cleanup and remedy selection proc6 esses shall use the national risk protocol.

7 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS.—

8 ‘‘(A) A remedial action shall be required to

9 comply with the substantive requirements of—

10 ‘‘(i) any standard, requirement, cri11 terion, or limitation under any federal en12 vironmental or facility siting law that the

13 President determines is suitable for appli14 cation to the remedial action at the facil15 ity; and

16 ‘‘(ii) any promulgated standard, re17 quirement, criterion, or limitation under

18 any state environmental law specifically

19 addressing remedial action that is adopted

20 for the purpose of protecting human health

21 or the environmental with the best avail22 able scientific evidence through a public

23 process where such a law is more stringent

24 than any such federal cleanup standard,

25 requirement, criterion, or limitation, or the
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1 cleanup level determined in accordance

2 with the requirements of this section.

3 ‘‘(B) Procedural requirements of federal

4 and state standards, requirements, criteria, or

5 limitations, including but not limited to permit6 ting requirements, shall not apply to response

7 actions conducted on-site. In addition, compli8 ance with such laws shall not be required with

9 respect to return, replacement, or disposal of

10 contaminated media or residuals of contami11 nated media into the same medium in or very

12 near existing areas of contamination on-site.

13 ‘‘(C) The President may select a remedial

14 action meeting the requirements of paragraph

15 (1) that does not attain a level or standard of

16 control at least equivalent to the federal or

17 State standards, requirements, criteria, or limi18 tations as required by paragraph (A), if the

19 President finds that—

20 ‘‘(i) the remedial action selected is

21 only part of a total remedial action that

22 will attain such level or standard of control

23 when completed;

24 ‘‘(ii) compliance with such require25 ment at that facility will result in greater
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1 risk to human health and the environment

2 than alternative options;

3 ‘‘(iii) compliance with such require4 ments is technically impracticable from an

5 engineering perspective;

6 ‘‘(iv) a generic remedy under section

7 (b)(4) has been selected for the facility;

8 ‘‘(v) the remedial action selected will

9 attain a standard of performance that is

10 equivalent to that required under the

11 standard, requirement, criterion, or limita12 tion identified under (A)(i) and (A)(ii)

13 through use of another approach;

14 ‘‘(vi) with respect to a State standard,

15 requirement, criterion, or limitation, the

16 State has not consistently applied (or dem17 onstrated the intention to consistently

18 apply) the standard, requirement, criterion,

19 or limitation in similar circumstances at

20 other remedial actions within the State; or

21 ‘‘(vii) in the case of a remedial action

22 to be undertaken solely under section 104

23 using the Fund, a selection of a remedial

24 action that attains such level or standard

25 of control will not provide a balance be-
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1 tween the need for protection of public

2 health and welfare and the environment at

3 the facility under consideration, and the

4 availability of amounts from the Fund to

5 respond to other facilities which present or

6 may present a threat to public health or

7 welfare or the environment, taking into

8 consideration the relative immediacy of

9 such threat.

10 The President shall publish such findings, to11 gether with an explanation and appropriate doc12 umentation.’’.

13 SEC. 503. REMEDY SELECTION.

14 Section 121(b) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9621(b)) is

15 amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(b) GENERAL RULES.—

17 ‘‘(1) SELECTION OF PROTECTIVE REMEDIES.—

18 Remedies selected at individual facilities shall be

19 protective of human health and the environment.

20 Whether a response action requires remediation

21 through treatment, containment, a combination of

22 treatment and containment, or other means, shall be

23 determined through the evaluation of remedial

24 alternatives.
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1 ‘‘(2) LAND USE.—In selecting a remedy, the

2 President shall take into account the reasonably an3 ticipated future uses of land at a facility as required

4 by this Act.

5 ‘‘(3) APPROPRIATE REMEDIAL ACTION.—

6 ‘‘(A) The President shall identify and se7 lect an appropriate remedy utilizing treatment,

8 containment, other remedial measures, or any

9 combination thereof, that is protective of

10 human health and the environment and

11 achieves the degree of cleanup determined

12 under section 121(d), taking into account the

13 following factors:

14 ‘‘(i) The effectiveness of the remedy.

15 ‘‘(ii) The long-term reliability of the

16 remedy, that is, its capability to achieve

17 long-term protection of human health and

18 the environment.

19 ‘‘(iii) Any risk posed by the remedy to

20 the affected community, to those engaged

21 in the cleanup effort, and to the environ22 ment.

23 ‘‘(iv) The acceptability of the remedy

24 to the affected community.
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1 ‘‘(v) The reasonableness of the cost of

2 the remedy in relation to the preceding

3 factors (i) through (iv).

4 ‘‘(B) INNOVATIVE REMEDIES.—If an oth5 erwise appropriate treatment remedy is avail6 able only at a disproportionate cost and the

7 President determines that an appropriate treat8 ment remedy is likely to become available with9 in a reasonable period of time, the President

10 may select an interim containment remedy. A

11 selected interim containment remedy shall in12 clude adequate monitoring to ensure the contin13 ued integrity of the containment system. If an

14 appropriate treatment remedy becomes available

15 within that period of time, that remedy shall be

16 required.

17 ‘‘(C) HOT SPOTS.—In evaluating a facility

18 for a permanent containment remedy, if the

19 President determines, based on standard site

20 investigation, that a discrete area within a facil21 ity is a ‘hot spot’ (as defined in this para22 graph), the President shall select a remedy for

23 the ‘hot spot’ with a preference for treatment,

24 unless he determines, based on treatability

25 studies and other information, that no treat-
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1 ment technology exists or such technology is

2 only available at a disproportionate cost. In

3 such instances the President shall select an in4 terim containment remedy for a ‘hot spot’ sub5 ject to adequate monitoring to ensure its con6 tinued integrity and shall review the interim

7 containment remedy within five years to deter8 mine whether an appropriate treatment remedy

9 for the ‘hot spot’ is available. For purposes of

10 this paragraph, the term ‘hot spot’ means a dis11 crete area within a facility that contains haz12 ardous substances that are highly toxic or high13 ly mobile, cannot be reliably contained, and

14 present a significant risk to human health or

15 the environment should exposure occur.

16 ‘‘(4) GENERIC REMEDIES.—In order to stream17 line the remedy selection process, and to facilitate

18 rapid voluntary action, the President shall establish,

19 taking into account the factors enumerated in sub20 section (b)(3)(A), cost-effective generic remedies for

21 categories of facilities, and expedited procedures that

22 include community involvement for selecting generic

23 remedies at an individual facility. To be eligible for

24 selection at a facility, a generic remedy shall be pro25 tective of human health and the environment at that
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1 facility. When appropriate, the President may select

2 a generic remedy without considering alternative

3 remedies.’’.

4 SEC. 504. MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 121.

5 (a) Section 121(c) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9621(c))

6 is amended by striking out the word ‘‘initiation’’, and in7 serting in lieu thereof the phrase ‘‘completion of all phys8 ical on-site construction’’.

9 (b) Section 121(d) of the Act is further amended

10 by—

11 (1) redesignating paragraph (2)(C)(ii) as para12 graph ‘‘(6)(A)’’;

13 (2) redesignating paragraph (2)(C)(iii) as para14 graph ‘‘(6)(B)’’;

15 (3) striking ‘‘clauses (iii) and (iv)’’ in redesig16 nated paragraph (6)(A) and inserting ‘‘subpara17 graph (B)’’;

18 (4) striking paragraph (2)(C)(iv);

19 (5) redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph

20 ‘‘(7)’’ and amending it to read as follows:

21 ‘‘(7) In the case of any removal or remedial ac22 tion involving the transfer of any hazardous sub23 stance or pollutant or contaminant off-site, such

24 hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant

25 shall be transferred to a facility which is authorized
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1 under applicable Federal and state law to receive

2 such hazardous substance or pollutant or contami3 nant and is in compliance with such applicable Fed4 eral and state law. Such substance or pollutant or

5 contaminant may be transferred to a land disposal

6 facility permitted under subtitle C of the Solid

7 Waste Disposal Act only if the President determines

8 that both of the following requirements are met:

9 ‘‘(A) The unit to which the hazardous sub10 stance or pollutant or contaminant is trans11 ferred is not releasing any hazardous waste, or

12 constituent thereof, into the groundwater or

13 surface water or soil.

14 ‘‘(B) All such releases from other units at

15 the facility are being controlled by a corrective

16 action program approved by the Administrator

17 under subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal

18 Act.

19 The President shall notify the owner or operator of

20 such facility of determinations made under this

21 paragraph.’’; and

22 (6) striking paragraph (4).

23 (c) Section 121(e) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9621(e)) is

24 amended by—
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1 (1) in paragraph (1) inserting in the first sen2 tence ‘‘or permit application’’ before ‘‘shall be re3 quired’’; and by adding at the end thereof the follow4 ing: ‘‘Furthermore, no Federal, State or local permit

5 or permit application shall be required for on-site or

6 off-site activities conducted under section 311(b).’’;

7 and

8 (2) striking paragraph (2).

9 (d) Section 121(f) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9621(f)) is

10 amended by adding after paragraph (3) (as amended by

11 this Act) the following new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(4) A State may enforce only those Federal or

13 State legally applicable standards, requirements, cri14 terion, or limitations to which the Administrator has

15 determined the remedial action is required to con16 form under this Act. Where the parties agree, the

17 consent decree may provide for administrative en18 forcement. Each consent decree shall also contain

19 stipulated penalties for violations of the decree in an

20 amount not to exceed $25,000 per day. Such stipu21 lated penalties shall not be construed to impair or

22 affect the authority of the court to order compliance

23 with the specific terms of any such decree.’’.
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1 SEC. 505. RESPONSE AUTHORITIES.

2 (a) Section 104(b)(1) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

3 9604(b)(1)) is amended by—

4 (1) inserting ‘‘actions,’’ before ‘‘studies’’;

5 (2) striking ‘‘, to recover the costs thereof, and’’

6 and inserting ‘‘or’’; and

7 (3) striking the ‘‘.’’ after ‘‘Act’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘and shall be entitled to recover the costs thereof.’’.

9 (b) Section 104(j) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9604(j)) is

10 amended by—

11 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘remedial’’,

12 and inserting ‘‘response’’;

13 (2) striking paragraph (2);

14 (3) redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph

15 ‘‘(2)’’ and striking ‘‘estate’’ and inserting ‘‘prop16 erty’’; and

17 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as redesig18 nated by this Act) the following new paragraph:

19 ‘‘(4) DISPOSAL AUTHORITY.—The President is

20 authorized to dispose of any interest in real property

21 acquired for use by the Administrator under this

22 subsection by sale, exchange, donation or otherwise

23 and any such interest in real property shall not be

24 subject to any of the provisions of section 120 except

25 the notice provisions of Section 120(h)(1). Any mon-
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1 eys received by the President pursuant to this sub2 paragraph shall be deposited in the Fund.’’.

3 SEC. 506. REMOVAL ACTIONS.

4 (a) Section 104(c)(1) of this Act is amended in sub5 paragraph (C) as follows—

6 (1) strike ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and insert

7 ‘‘$6,000,000’’;

8 (2) strike ‘‘12 months’’ and insert ‘‘three

9 years’’; and

10 (3) strike ‘‘consistent with the remedial action

11 to be taken’’ and insert ‘‘not inconsistent with any

12 remedial action that has been selected or is antici13 pated at the time of the removal action.’’.

14 (b) Section 117 of the Act is amended by adding after

15 subsection (k) (as added by this Act) the following new

16 subsection:

17 ‘‘(l) REMOVAL ACTIONS.—Whenever the planning pe18 riod for a removal action is expected to be greater than

19 six months, the Administrator shall provide the commu20 nity with notice of the anticipated removal action and a

21 public comment period of no less than thirty days.’’.

22 SEC. 507. TRANSITION.

23 The provisions of this title shall become effective on

24 the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to all

25 response actions for which a Record of Decision or other
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1 decision document is signed after the date of enactment

2 of the Act.

3 TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS

4 SEC. 601. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS AT MIXED OWNER5 SHIP AND MIXED RESPONSIBILITY FACILI6 TIES.

7 Section 120(e) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9620(e)) is

8 amended by—

9 (a) inserting after paragraph (3) the following

10 new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(4) A provision allowing for the participation

12 of other responsible parties in the response action.;’’

13 and

14 (b) inserting after paragraph (6) the following

15 new paragraphs:

16 ‘‘(7) EXCEPTION TO REQUIRED ACTION.—No

17 department, agency, and instrumentality of the

18 United States that owns or operates a facility over

19 which the department, agency, or instrumentality ex20 ercised no regulatory or other control over activities

21 that directly or indirectly resulted in a release or

22 threat of a release of a hazardous substance shall be

23 subject to the requirements of paragraphs (1)

24 through (6) except (5)(F) and (G) of this subsection

25 if the department, agency, or instrumentality dem-
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1 onstrates to the satisfaction of the Administrator

2 that—

3 ‘‘(A) no department, agency, or instrumen4 tality was the primary or sole source or cause

5 of a release or threat of release of a hazardous

6 substance at the facility;

7 ‘‘(B) the activities either directly or indi8 rectly resulting in a release or threat of a re9 lease of a hazardous substance at the facility

10 were pursuant to a statutory authority and oc11 curred prior to 1976; and

12 ‘‘(C) the person or persons primarily or

13 solely responsible for such release or threat of

14 release are financially viable, and capable of

15 performing or financing the response action at

16 the facility.

17 In the event the above conditions are not met, the

18 applicable terms of section 120(e) apply to the de19 partment, agency, or instrumentality of the United

20 States at the facility. Upon determination by the

21 Administrator that a department, agency, or instru22 mentality qualifies for the exception provided by this

23 paragraph, the head of such department, agency, or

24 instrumentality may exercise enforcement authority

25 pursuant under section 106 (in addition to any other
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1 delegated authorities). To the extent a person who

2 has been issued an order under the authority of this

3 paragraph seeks reimbursement under the provisions

4 of section 106, the relevant department, agency, or

5 instrumentality, and not the Fund, shall be the

6 source of any appropriate reimbursement. If the Ad7 ministrator determines that the relevant department,

8 agency, or instrumentality has failed to seek the per9 formance of response actions by responsible parties

10 within 12 months after the facility has been listed

11 on the National Priorities List, the Administrator

12 may void the exception provided by this paragraph

13 and the applicable provisions or section 120(e) would

14 apply to the department, agency or instrumentality

15 at the facility.

16 SEC. 602. TRANSFERS OF UNCONTAMINATED PROPERTY.

17 Section 120(h)(4)(A) of the Act (42 U.S.C.

18 9620(h)(4)(A)) is amended by striking the words ‘‘stored

19 for one year or more,’’.

20 SEC. 603. AGREEMENTS TO TRANSFER BY DEED.

21 Section 120(h) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)) is

22 amended by adding after paragraph (5) the following new

23 paragraph:

24 ‘‘(6) AGREEMENTS TO TRANSFER BY DEED.—

25 Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to pro-
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1 hibit the head of the department, agency, or instru2 mentality of the United States from entering into an

3 agreement to transfer by deed real property or facili4 ties prior to the entering of such deed.’’.

5 SEC. 604. ALTERNATIVE OR INNOVATIVE TREATMENT

6 TECHNOLOGIES.

7 Section 111(a) of the Act of 1980 is amended by add8 ing after paragraph (6) the following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(7) ALTERNATIVE OR INNOVATIVE TREAT10 MENT TECHNOLOGIES.—

11 ‘‘(A) When a party potentially liable under

12 this Act undertakes a response action pursuant

13 to an administrative order or consent decree,

14 and employs an alternative or innovative tech15 nology that fails to achieve a level of response

16 required under this Act, the Administrator may

17 use the Fund to reimburse no more than fifty

18 percent of response costs incurred by the poten19 tially liable party in taking other actions ap20 proved by the Administrator to achieve these

21 required levels of response. The Administrator

22 shall issue guidance on the procedures and cri23 teria to be used in determining whether a reme24 dial technology constitutes an alternative or in25 novative technology for purposes of this sub-
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1 section, and the appropriate level of funding for

2 response activities that are necessary to achieve

3 a level of response required under this Act. The

4 Administrator shall review and update such

5 guidance, as appropriate.’’.

6 SEC. 605. DEFINITIONS.

7 Section 101 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9601)) is amended

8 by—

9 (a) in paragraph (1) striking the ‘‘.’’ after

10 ‘‘Act’’ and inserting ‘‘and includes the cost of en11 forcement activities related thereto.’’;

12 (b) in paragraph (10)(H) striking ‘‘subject to’’

13 and inserting ‘‘in compliance with’’;.

14 (c) in paragraph (14) inserting after ‘‘Con15 gress’’ the phrase ‘‘, unless such waste contains a

16 substance that is listed under any other subpara17 graph of this paragraph’’;

18 (d) in paragraph (20) by—

19 (1) in subparagraph (A) inserting after

20 ‘‘similar means to’’ the phrase ‘‘the United

21 States (or any department, agency, or instru22 mentality thereof), or’’;

23 (2) in subparagraph (D) by inserting—

24 (A) after ‘‘does not include’’ the

25 phrase ‘‘the United States (or any depart-
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1 ment, agency, or instrumentality thereof),

2 or’’; and,

3 (B) before ‘‘any State’’ the phrase

4 ‘‘any department, agency, or instrumental5 ity of the United States, or’’; and

6 (3) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘a’’

7 after ‘‘such’’ and inserting ‘‘department, agen8 cy, or instrumentality of the United States, or’’;

9 (4) by adding after subparagraph (D) the

10 following new subparagraphs:

11 ‘‘(E) The term ‘owner or operator’ shall include

12 a trust or estate, but does not include a person who

13 holds title to a vessel or facility solely in the capacity

14 as a fiduciary, provided that such person—

15 ‘‘(i) does not participate in the manage16 ment of a vessel or facility operations that re17 sult in a release or threat of release of hazard18 ous substances; and

19 ‘‘(ii) complies with such other requirements

20 as the Administrator may set forth by regula21 tion.

22 ‘‘(F) The term ‘owner or operator’ shall not in23 clude the United States or any department, agency

24 or instrumentality of the United States or a con25 servator or receiver appointed by a department,
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1 agency or instrumentality of the United States,

2 which acquired ownership or control of a vessel or

3 facility (or any right or interest therein)—

4 ‘‘(i) in connection with the exercise of re5 ceivership or conservatorship authority or the

6 liquidation or winding up of the affairs of any

7 entity subject to a receivership or

8 conservatorship, including any subsidiary there9 of; or

10 ‘‘(ii) in connection with the exercise of any

11 seizure or forfeiture authority; or

12 ‘‘(iii) pursuant to an act of Congress speci13 fying the property to be acquired:

14 Provided, That the United States, or conservator or

15 receiver appointed by the United States does not

16 participate in the management of the vessel or facil17 ity operations that result in a release or threat of re18 lease of hazardous substances and complies with

19 such other requirements as the Administrator may

20 set forth by regulation.’’;

21 (e) in paragraph (23) adding at the end of the

22 paragraph the following: ‘‘The terms ‘remove’ or ‘re23 moval’ are not limited to emergency situations and

24 include actions to address future or potential expo25 sures and, provided such actions are consistent with
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1 the requirements of this Act, actions obviating the

2 need for a remedial action.’’;

3 (f) in paragraph (25) striking ‘‘related thereto’’,

4 and inserting ‘‘and oversight activities related there5 to when such activities are undertaken by the Presi6 dent.’’;

7 (g) in paragraph (29) striking the ‘‘.’’ after

8 ‘‘Act’’ and inserting ‘‘, except that the term ‘‘haz9 ardous substance’’ shall be substituted for the term

10 ‘‘hazardous waste’’ in the definitions of ‘‘disposal’’

11 and ‘‘treatment.’’;

12 (h) in paragraph (33) striking ‘‘; except that

13 the’’, and inserting ‘‘. The’’;

14 (i) adding after paragraph (38) the following

15 new paragraphs:

16 ‘‘(39) BONA FIDE PROSPECTIVE PURCHASER.—

17 The term ‘bona fide prospective purchaser’ means a

18 person who acquires ownership of a facility after en19 actment of this provision, and who can establish by

20 a preponderance of the evidence that—

21 ‘‘(A) all active disposal of hazardous sub22 stances at the facility occurred before that per23 son acquired the facility;

24 ‘‘(B) the person conducted a site audit of

25 the facility in accordance with commercially
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1 reasonable and generally accepted standards

2 and practices. The Administrator shall have au3 thority to develop standards by guidance or reg4 ulation, or to designate standards promulgated

5 or developed by others, that satisfy this sub6 paragraph. In the case of property for residen7 tial or other similar use, a site inspection and

8 title search that reveal no basis for further in9 vestigation satisfy the requirements of this sub10 paragraph;

11 ‘‘(C) the person provided all legally re12 quired notices with respect to the discovery or

13 release of any hazardous substances at the fa14 cility;

15 ‘‘(D) the person exercised due care with re16 spect to hazardous substances found at the fa17 cility and took reasonably necessary steps to ad18 dress any release or threat of release of hazard19 ous substances and to protect human health

20 and the environment. The requirements of due

21 care and reasonably necessary steps with re22 spect to hazardous substances discovered at the

23 facility shall be conclusively established where

24 the person successfully completes a response ac25 tion pursuant to a State voluntary response
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1 program, as defined in section 127 of this title;

2 and

3 ‘‘(E) the person provides full cooperation,

4 assistance, and facility access to those respon5 sible for response actions at the facility, includ6 ing the cooperation and access necessary for the

7 installation, integrity, operation, and mainte8 nance of any complete or partial response ac9 tion at the facility; and

10 ‘‘(F) the person is not affiliated with any

11 other person liable for response costs at the fa12 cility, through any direct or indirect familial re13 lationship, or any contractual, corporate, or fi14 nancial relationship other than that created by

15 the instruments by which title to the facility is

16 conveyed or financed.

17 ‘‘(40) FIDUCIARY.—

18 ‘‘(A) Except as provided in subparagraph

19 (B), the term ‘fiduciary’ means a person who

20 owns or controls property—

21 ‘‘(i) as a fiduciary within the meaning

22 of section 3(31) of the Employee Retire23 ment Income Security Act of 1974, or as

24 a trustee, executor, administrator, custo25 dian, guardian, conservator, or receiver
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1 acting for the exclusive benefit of another

2 person; and

3 ‘‘(ii) who has not previously owned or

4 operated the property in a non-fiduciary

5 capacity.

6 ‘‘(B) The term ‘fiduciary’ does not include

7 any person described in subparagraph (A)—

8 ‘‘(i) who acquires ownership or control

9 of property to avoid the liability of such

10 person or any other person under this Act;

11 or

12 ‘‘(ii) who owns or controls property on

13 behalf of or for the benefit of a holder of

14 a security interest.

15 ‘‘(41) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.—The term

16 ‘municipal solid waste’ means all waste materials

17 generated by households, including single and multi18 family residences, and hotels and motels. The term

19 also includes waste materials generated by commer20 cial, institutional, and industrial sources, to the ex21 tent such wastes (A) are essentially the same as

22 waste normally generated by households or (B) were

23 collected and disposed of with other municipal solid

24 waste or sewage sludge as part of normal municipal

25 solid waste collection services, and, regardless of
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1 when generated, would be considered conditionally

2 exempt small quantity generator waste under section

3 3001(d) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C.

4 6921(d)). Examples of municipal solid waste include

5 food and yard waste, paper, clothing, appliances,

6 consumer product packaging, disposable diapers, of7 fice supplies, cosmetics, glass and metal food con8 tainers, elementary or secondary school science lab9 oratory waste, and household hazardous waste (such

10 as painting, cleaning, gardening, and automotive

11 supplies). The term ‘municipal solid waste’ does not

12 include combustion ash generated by resource recov13 ery facilities or municipal incinerators, or waste

14 from manufacturing or processing (including pollu15 tion control) operations not essentially the same as

16 waste normally generated by households.

17 ‘‘(42) MUNICIPALITY.—The term ‘municipality’

18 means a political subdivision of a State, including

19 cities, counties, villages, towns, townships, boroughs,

20 parishes, school districts, sanitation districts, water

21 districts, and other public entities performing local

22 governmental functions. The term also includes a

23 natural person acting in the capacity of an official,

24 employee, or agent of a municipality in the perform25 ance of governmental functions.
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1 ‘‘(43) QUALIFIED HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS

2 WASTE COLLECTION PROGRAM.—The term ‘qualified

3 household hazardous waste collection program’

4 means a program established by an entity of the fed5 eral government, a state, municipality, or Indian

6 tribe that provides, at a minimum, for semiannual

7 collection of household hazardous wastes at acces8 sible, well-publicized collection points within the rel9 evant jurisdiction.

10 ‘‘(44) SEWAGE SLUDGE.—The term ‘sewage

11 sludge’ means solid, semisolid, or liquid residue re12 moved during the treatment of municipal waste

13 water, domestic sewage, or other waste water at or

14 by publicly-owned or federally-owned treatment

15 works.

16 ‘‘(45) SITE CHARACTERIZATION.—The term

17 ‘site characterization’ means an investigation that

18 determines the nature and extent of a release or po19 tential release of a hazardous substance, pollutant or

20 contaminant, and that includes an onsite evaluation

21 and sufficient testing, sampling and other field data

22 gathering activities to analyze whether there has

23 been a release or threat of a release of a hazardous

24 substance, pollutant or contaminant, and the health

25 and environmental risks posed by such a release or
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1 threat of release. The investigation also may include

2 review of existing information (available at the time

3 of the review), an off-site evaluation, or other meas4 ures as the Administrator deems appropriate.

5 ‘‘(46) VOLUNTARY RESPONSE.—The term ‘vol6 untary response’ means a response action—

7 ‘‘(A) undertaken and financed by a current

8 owner or prospective purchaser under a vol9 untary response program; and

10 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the current

11 owner or prospective purchaser agrees to pay all

12 State oversight costs.’’.

13 SEC. 606. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

14 Section 126(a) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 9626(a)) is

15 amended by adding, after ‘‘section 104(i) (regarding

16 health authorities),’’ the phrase ‘‘section 127 (regarding

17 State authority), section 120 (regarding voluntary re18 sponse actions),’’.

19 TITLE VII—FUNDING

20 SEC. 701. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 Section 111(a) of the Act is amended by striking

22 ‘‘$8,500,000,000 for the 5-year period beginning on Octo23 ber 17, 1986, and not more than $5,100,000,000 for the

24 period commencing October 1, 1991, and ending Septem25 ber 30, 1994’’ and inserting ‘‘$9,600,000,000 for the pe-
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1 riod commencing October 1, 1994, and ending September

2 30, 1999’’.

3 SEC. 702. ORPHAN SHARE FUNDING.

4 Section 111(a) is amended by adding after paragraph

5 (7) (as added by this Act) the following new paragraph:

6 ‘‘(8) ORPHAN SHARE FUNDING.—Payment of

7 orphan shares pursuant to section 122a(e) of this

8 Act.’’.

9 SEC. 703. AGENCY FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND DISEASE

10 REGISTRY.

11 Section 111(m) of the Act is amended to read as fol12 lows:

13 ‘‘(m) There shall be directly available to the Agency

14 for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to be used for

15 the purpose of carrying out activities described in sub16 section (c)(4) of this section and section 104(i) of this Act

17 not less than $80,000,000 per fiscal year for each of fiscal

18 years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. Any funds so

19 made available which are not obligated by the end of the

20 fiscal year in which made available shall be turned to the

21 Fund.’’.

22 SEC. 704. LIMITATIONS ON RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT,

23 AND DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS.

24 Section 111(n) of the Act is amended to read as fol25 lows:
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1 ‘‘(1) SECTION 311(b).—For each of the fiscal

2 years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999, not more

3 than $20,000,000 of the amounts available in the

4 Fund may be used for the purposes of carrying out

5 the applied research, development, and demonstra6 tion program for alternative or innovative tech7 nologies and training program authorized under sec8 tion 311(b) of this title (relating to research, devel9 opment, demonstration) other than basic research.

10 Such amounts shall remain available until expended.

11 ‘‘(2) SECTION 311(a).—From the amounts

12 available in the Fund, not more than the following

13 amounts may be used for the purposes of section

14 311(a) of this title (relating to hazardous substance

15 research, demonstration, and training activities):

16 ‘‘(A) For fiscal year 1995 $40,000,000.

17 ‘‘(B) For fiscal year 1996 $50,000,000.

18 ‘‘(C) For fiscal year 1997 $55,000,000.

19 ‘‘(D) For fiscal year 1998 $55,000,000.

20 ‘‘(E) For fiscal year 1999 $55,000,000.

21 No more than 10 percent of such amounts shall be

22 used for training under section 311(a) of this title

23 for any fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(3) SECTION 311(d).—For each of the fiscal

25 years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999, not more
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1 than $5,000,000 of the amounts available in the

2 Fund may be used for the purposes of section

3 311(d) of this title (relating to university hazardous

4 substance research centers).’’.

5 SEC. 705. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FROM

6 GENERAL REVENUES.

7 Section 111(p)(1) of the Act is amended to read as

8 follows:

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following sums are au10 thorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the

11 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the Hazard12 ous Substance Superfund:

13 ‘‘(A) For fiscal year 1995, $250,000,000.

14 ‘‘(B) For fiscal year 1996, $250,000,000.

15 ‘‘(C) For fiscal year 1997, $250,000,000.

16 ‘‘(D) For fiscal year 1998, $250,000,000.

17 ‘‘(E) For fiscal year 1999, $250,000,000.

18 In addition there is authorized to be appropriated to

19 the Hazardous Substance Superfund for each fiscal

20 year an amount equal to so much of the aggregate

21 amount authorized to be appropriated under this

22 subsection (and paragraph (2) of section 131(b) of

23 this title) as has not been appropriated before the

24 beginning of the fiscal year involved.’’.
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1 SEC. 706. ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.

2 Section 111 of the Act is amended by adding after

3 subsection (p) the following new subsections:

4 ‘‘(q) ALTERNATIVE OR INNOVATIVE TREATMENT

5 TECHNOLOGIES.—For each of the fiscal years 1995,

6 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999, not more than $40,000,000

7 of the amounts available in the Fund may be used for the

8 purposes of subsection (a)(7) of this section (relating to

9 alternative or innovative treatment technologies).

10 ‘‘(r) CITIZEN INFORMATION AND ACCESS OF11 FICES.—For each of the fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997,

12 1998, and 1999, not more than $50,000,000 of the

13 amounts available in the Fund may be used for the pur14 poses of section 117(j) of this Act (relating to citizen in15 formation and access offices).

16 ‘‘(s) MULTIPLE SOURCES OF RISK DEMONSTRATION

17 PROJECTS.—For the period commencing October 1, 1994

18 and ending September 30, 1999, not more than

19 $30,000,000 of the amounts available in the Fund may

20 be used for the purposes of section 117(k) if this Act (re21 lating to multiple sources of risk demonstration

22 projects).’’.
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1 TITLE VIII—ENVIRONMENTAL INSURANCE

2 RESOLUTION FUND

3 SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE.

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Environmental Insur5 ance Resolution and Equity Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 802. ENVIRONMENTAL INSURANCE RESOLUTION

7 FUND.

8 (a) ENVIRONMENTAL INSURANCE RESOLUTION

9 FUND ESTABLISHED.—There is hereby established the

10 Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund (hereinafter

11 referred to as the ‘‘Resolution Fund’’).

12 (b) OFFICES.—The principal office of the Resolution

13 Fund shall be in the District of Columbia or at such other

14 place as the Resolution Fund may from time to time pre15 scribe.

16 (c) STATUS OF RESOLUTION FUND.—Except as ex17 pressly provided in this title, the Resolution Fund shall

18 not be considered an agency or establishment of the

19 United States. The members of the Board of Trustees

20 shall not, by reason of such membership, be deemed to

21 be officers or employees of the United States.

22 (d) BOARD OF TRUSTEES.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Resolution Fund shall

24 be administered by a Board of Trustees (Board).
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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall consist of

2 the following:

3 (A) GOVERNMENTAL MEMBERS.—

4 (i) The Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency.

6 (ii) The Attorney General of the

7 United States.

8 (B) PUBLIC MEMBERS.—Five public mem9 bers appointed by the President not later than

10 60 days after the date of enactment of this

11 title, not less than two of whom shall represent

12 insurers subject section ll of the Internal

13 Revenue Code of 1986, and not less than two

14 of whom shall represent eligible persons defined

15 in subsection (g)(2)(A). The public members

16 shall be citizens of the United States.

17 (C) EX-OFFICIO MEMBER.—The Secretary

18 of the Treasury shall serve as an ex officio

19 member of the Board.

20 (3) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Board shall be

21 designated by the President from time to time from

22 among the members described in paragraph (2)(A).

23 No expenditure may be made, or other action taken,

24 by the Resolution Fund without the concurrence of

25 the Chair of the Board.
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1 (4) COMPENSATION.—Governmental members

2 of the Board shall serve without additional com3 pensation. Public members of the Board shall, while

4 attending meetings of the Board or while engaged in

5 duties related to such meetings or other activities of

6 the Board pursuant to this title, be entitled to re7 ceive compensation at the rate of $200 per day, in8 cluding travel time. While away from their homes or

9 regular places of business, members of the Board

10 shall be allowed travel and actual, reasonable and

11 necessary expenses to the same extent as officers of

12 the United States.

13 (5) TERM OF PUBLIC MEMBERS.—Public mem14 bers of the Board shall serve for a term of 5 years,

15 except that such members may be removed by the

16 President for any reason at any time. A public mem17 ber whose term has expired may continue to serve

18 on the Board until such time as the President ap19 points a successor. The President may reappoint a

20 public member of the Board, but no such member

21 may consecutively serve more than two terms.

22 (6) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Board shall

23 be filled in the same manner as the original appoint24 ment, except that such appointment shall be for the

25 balance of the unexpired term of the vacant position.
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1 (7) QUORUM.—Four members of the Board

2 shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of busi3 ness.

4 (8) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet not less

5 than quarterly at the call of the Chair. Meetings of

6 the Board shall be open to the public unless the

7 Board, by a majority vote of members present in

8 open session, determines that it is necessary or ap9 propriate to close a meeting. The Chair shall provide

10 at least 10 days notice of a meeting by publishing

11 a notice in the Federal Register and such notice

12 shall indicate whether it is expected that the Board

13 will consider closing all or a portion of the meeting.

14 Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to

15 apply to informal discussions or meetings among

16 Board members.

17 (e) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.—

18 (1) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER; CHIEF FINAN19 CIAL OFFICER.—

20 (A) The Resolution Fund shall have a

21 Chief Executive Officer appointed by the Board

22 who shall exercise any authority of the Resolu23 tion Fund under such terms and conditions as

24 the Board may prescribe.
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1 (B) The Resolution Fund shall have a

2 Chief Financial Officer appointed by the Board.

3 (2) COMPENSATION.—No officer or employee of

4 the Resolution Fund may be compensated by the

5 Resolution Fund at an annual rate of pay which ex6 ceeds the rate of basic pay in effect from time to

7 time for level I of the Executive Schedule under sec8 tion 5312 of title 5, United States Code. No officer

9 or employee of the Resolution Fund, other than a

10 member of the Board, may receive any salary or

11 other compensation from any source other than the

12 Resolution Fund for services rendered during the pe13 riod of employment by the Resolution Fund.

14 (3) POLITICAL TEST OR QUALIFICATION.—No

15 political test or qualification shall be used in select16 ing, appointing, promoting, or taking other person17 nel actions with respect to officers, agents, and em18 ployees of the Resolution Fund.

19 (4) ASSISTANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The

20 Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury,

21 and the Administrator of the Environmental Protec22 tion Agency, may to the extent practicable and fea23 sible, and in their sole discretion, make personnel

24 and other resources available to the Resolution

25 Fund. Such personnel and resources may be pro-
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1 vided on a reimbursable basis, and any personnel so

2 provided shall not be considered employees of the

3 Resolution Fund for purposes of paragraph (2).

4 (f) POWERS OF RESOLUTION FUND.—Notwithstand5 ing any other provision of law, except as provided in this

6 title or as may be hereafter enacted by the Congress ex7 pressly in limitation of the provisions of this paragraph,

8 the Resolution Fund shall have power—

9 (1) to have succession until dissolved by Act of

10 Congress;

11 (2) to make and enforce such bylaws, rules and

12 regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to

13 carry out the purposes of this title;

14 (3) to make and perform contracts, agreements,

15 and commitments;

16 (4) to settle, adjust, and compromise, and with

17 or without consideration or benefit to the Resolution

18 Fund release or waive in whole or in part, in ad19 vance or otherwise, any claim, demand, or right of,

20 by, or against the Resolution Fund;

21 (5) to sue and be sued, complain and defend, in

22 any State, Federal or other court;

23 (6) to determine its necessary expenditures and

24 the manner in which the same shall be incurred, al25 lowed, and paid, and appoint, employ, and fix and
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1 provide for the duties, compensation and benefits of

2 officers, employees, attorneys, and agents, all of

3 whom shall serve at the pleasure of the Board;

4 (7) to invest funds, through the Secretary of

5 the Treasury, in interest bearing securities of the

6 United States suitable to the needs of the Resolution

7 Fund: Provided, that interest earned on such invest8 ments shall be retained by the Resolution Fund and

9 used consistent with the purposes of this title;

10 (8) to hire or accept the voluntary services of

11 consultants, experts, advisory boards, and panels to

12 aid the Resolution Fund in carrying out the pur13 poses of this title; and

14 (9) to take such other actions as may be nec15 essary to carry out the responsibilities of the Resolu16 tion Fund under this title.

17 Nothing in this subsection or any other provision of this

18 title shall be construed to permit the Resolution Fund to

19 issue any evidence of indebtedness or otherwise borrow

20 money.

21 (g) RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN INSUREDS

22 AND INSURERS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Resolution Fund shall

24 offer a comprehensive resolution described in this
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1 subsection with respect to all eligible costs of an eli2 gible person at eligible sites.

3 (2) DEFINITIONS.—

4 (A) ELIGIBLE PERSON.—For purposes of

5 this subsection, the term ‘‘eligible person’’

6 means any individual, firm, corporation, asso7 ciation, partnership, consortium, joint venture,

8 commercial entity or governmental unit (includ9 ing any predecessor in interest or any subsidi10 ary thereof) that satisfies the following criteria:

11 (i) STATUS AS POTENTIALLY RESPON12 SIBLE PARTY.—An eligible person—

13 (I) shall have been named at any

14 time as a potentially responsible party

15 pursuant to the Comprehensive Envi16 ronmental Response, Compensation

17 and Liability Act with respect to an

18 eligible site on the National Priority

19 List in connection with a hazardous

20 substance that was disposed of on or

21 before December 31, 1985; or

22 (II) is or was liable, or alleged to

23 be liable, at any time for removal (as

24 defined in section 101(23) of the

25 Comprehensive Environmental Re-
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1 sponse, Compensation and Liability

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 9601(23)) at any eligi3 ble site in connection with a hazard4 ous substance that was disposed of on

5 or before December 31, 1985.

6 (ii) INSURANCE COVERAGE.—An eligi7 ble person shall have demonstrated, to the

8 satisfaction of the Resolution Fund, that

9 such person had entered into a valid con10 tract for comprehensive general liability

11 (including broad form liability, general li12 ability, commercial general liability, and

13 excess or umbrella coverage) or commercial

14 multi-peril (including broad form property,

15 commercial package, special multi-peril,

16 and excess or umbrella coverage) insurance

17 coverage—

18 (I) for any seven years in any

19 consecutive 14 year period prior to

20 January 1, 1986; or

21 (II) in the case of a person that

22 has been in existence for less than 14

23 years prior to January 1, 1986, for at

24 least one-half of such years of exist25 ence.
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1 For purposes of this clause, a valid con2 tract for insurance shall not include any

3 contract for insurance with respect to

4 which a person has entered into a settle5 ment with an insurer providing, or where

6 a judgment has provided, that the contract

7 has been satisfied and that such person

8 has no right to make any further claims

9 under such contract.

10 (B) ELIGIBLE COSTS.—

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of

12 this subsection, the term ‘‘eligible costs’’

13 means costs described in clause (ii) or (iii)

14 incurred with respect to a hazardous sub15 stance that was disposed of on or before

16 December 31, 1958—

17 (I) for which an eligible person

18 has not been reimbursed; or

19 (II) for which an eligible person

20 has been reimbursed and that are the

21 subject of a dispute between the eligi22 ble person and an insurer.

23 (ii) NPL SITES.—With respect to an

24 eligible site described in subparagraph
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1 (C)(i), eligible costs means costs described

2 in clause (i)—

3 (I) of response (as defined in sec4 tion 101(25) of the Comprehensive

5 Environmental Response, Compensa6 tion and Liability Act (42 U.S.C.

7 9601(25));

8 (II) for natural resources dam9 ages; or

10 (III) to defend potential liability

11 (including, but not limited to, attorney’s

12 fees, costs of suit, consultant and expert

13 fees and costs, and expenses for testing

14 and monitoring).

15 (iii) NON-NPL SITES.—With respect to

16 an eligible site described in paragraph

17 (C)(ii), eligible costs means costs described

18 in clause (i)—

19 (I) of removal (as defined in sec20 tion 101(23) of the Comprehensive

21 Environmental Response, Compensa22 tion and Liability Act (42 U.S.C.

23 9601(23)); or

24 (II) to defend potential liability

25 (including, but not limited to, attor-
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1 ney’s fees, costs of suit, consultant

2 and expert fees and costs, and ex3 penses for testing and monitoring).

4 (iv) LIMIT ON ELIGIBLE COSTS.—

5 (I) Except as provided in

6 subclause (II), the eligible costs of an

7 eligible person may not exceed—

8 (aa) $15,000,000 in the case

9 of an eligible person that has

10 demonstrated insurance coverage

11 pursuant to subparagraph

12 (A)(ii)(I); or

13 (bb) an amount equal to

14 one-seventh of $15,000,000 for

15 each year of insurance coverage,

16 in the case of an eligible person

17 that has demonstrated insurance

18 coverage pursuant that has dem19 onstrated insurance coverage

20 pursuant to subparagraph

21 (A)(ii)(II).

22 (II) The limitation on eligible

23 costs provided in subclause (I) shall

24 not apply to an eligible costs provided

25 in subclause (I) shall not apply to an
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1 eligible person that, when filing a re2 quest for a resolution offer with the

3 Resolution Fund, presents evidence to

4 the satisfaction of the Resolution

5 Fund that the limits on valid con6 tracts of insurance (including per oc7 currence, aggregate, primary, excess

8 or other limits) of such eligible person

9 prior to January 1, 1986, cumula10 tively exceed the amount determined

11 pursuant to subclause (I) without ref12 erence to any time period. For pur13 poses of this clause, a valid contract

14 for insurance shall not include any

15 contract for insurance with respect to

16 which an eligible person has entered

17 into a settlement with an insurer pro18 viding, or where a judgment has pro19 vided, that the contract has been sat20 isfied and that such eligible person

21 has no right to make any further

22 claims under such contract.

23 (C) ELIGIBLE SITE.—For purposes of this

24 subsection, the term ‘‘eligible site’’ means—
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1 (i) any site or facility placed on the

2 National Priority List at any time, at

3 which a hazardous substance was disposed

4 of on or before December 31, 1985; or

5 (ii) any site or facility subject to a re6 moval (as defined in section 101(23) of the

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 9601(23)) conducted pur8 suant to such Act at any time, at which a

9 hazardous substance was disposed of on or

10 before December 31, 1985.

11 For purposes of this subparagraph, the term

12 ‘‘facility’’ shall have the same meaning as pro13 vided in section 101(9) of the Comprehensive

14 Environmental Response, Compensation and Li15 ability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601(9)).

16 (D) STATE.—For purposes of this sub17 section, the term ‘‘State’’ shall have the same

18 meaning as provided in section 101(27) of the

19 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com20 pensation and Liability Act (42 U.S.C.

21 9601(27)).

22 (3) RESOLUTION OFFERS.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Resolution Fund

24 shall offer one comprehensive resolution to each

25 eligible person. The offer shall—
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1 (i) be for a percentage of all the eligi2 ble costs of such eligible person incurred in

3 connection with all eligible sites, deter4 mined pursuant to paragraph (4); and

5 (ii) state the limitation on eligible

6 costs, if any, applicable to the eligible per7 son pursuant to paragraph (2)(B)(ii).

8 (B) REQUESTS FOR RESOLUTION OF9 FERS.—An eligible person shall file a request

10 for resolution from the Resolution Fund in such

11 form and manner as the Resolution Fund shall

12 prescribe. No such request shall be deemed re13 ceived by the Resolution Fund before the date

14 final regulations concerning State percentage

15 categories are published in the Federal Register

16 pursuant to paragraph 4(B)(iii). The Resolu17 tion Fund shall make an offer of resolution, de18 termined pursuant to paragraph (4), to each el19 igible person that has filed a request for an

20 offer of resolution not later than 180 days after

21 the receipt of a complete request as determined

22 by the Resolution Fund.

23 (C) REVIEW OF RESOLUTION OFFERS.—

24 No resolution offer made by the Resolution

25 Fund shall be subject to review by any court.
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1 (4) DETERMINATION OF RESOLUTION OF2 FERS.—

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Resolution Fund

4 shall determine a resolution offer—

5 (i) in the case of an eligible person

6 that has established only one State litiga7 tion venue pursuant to subparagraph (C),

8 by applying the State percentage deter9 mined pursuant to subparagraph (B)(iii) to

10 the established State litigation venue;

11 (ii) in the case of an eligible person

12 that has established two or more State liti13 gation venues pursuant to subparagraph

14 (C), each site with respect to which a State

15 litigation venue has been established shall

16 be accorded equal value and the applicable

17 percentage shall be the weighted average of

18 all established State litigation venues; or

19 (iii) in the case of an eligible person

20 that has not established any State litiga21 tion venue pursuant to subparagraph

22 (C)—

23 (I) if the eligible person has po24 tential liability in connection with only

25 one hazardous waste site, by applying
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1 the State percentage determined pur2 suant to subparagraph (B)(iii) to the

3 State in which the site is located; or

4 (II) if the eligible person has po5 tential liability in connection with

6 more than one hazardous waste site,

7 each site shall be accorded equal value

8 and the applicable percentage shall be

9 the weighted average of all States in

10 which the sites are located.

11 (B) STATE PERCENTAGE.—

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Congress finds

13 that as of January 1, 1994, State law gen14 erally is more favorable to eligible persons

15 that pursue claims concerning eligible costs

16 against insurers in some States, that State

17 law generally is more favorable to insurers

18 with respect to such claims in some States,

19 and that in some States the law generally

20 favors neither insurers nor eligible persons

21 with respect to such claims or that there is

22 insufficient information to determine

23 whether such law generally favors insurers

24 or eligible persons with respect to such

25 claims. The Congress further finds that
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1 considerations of equity and fairness re2 quire that resolution offers made by the

3 Resolution Fund must vary to reflect the

4 relative state of the law among the several

5 States.

6 (ii) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—The

7 Resolution Fund shall examine the law in

8 each State as of January 1, 1994. Not

9 later than 120 days after the date of en10 actment of this title, the Resolution Fund

11 shall publish in the Federal Register a no12 tice of proposed rulemaking soliciting pub13 lic comment for 60 days and classifying

14 States into the following percentage cat15 egories:

16 (I) 20 percent, in the case of the

17 ten States in which the Resolution

18 Fund determines that State law gen19 erally is most favorable to insurers

20 relative to the other States.

21 (II) 60 percent, in the case of the

22 ten States in which the Resolution

23 Fund determines that State law gen24 erally is most favorable to eligible per25 sons relative to the other States.
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1 (III) 40 percent, in the case of

2 all other States.

3 (iii) FINAL REGULATIONS.—

4 (I) Not later than 60 days after

5 the close of the public comment pe6 riod, the Resolution Fund shall pub7 lish in the Federal Register final reg8 ulations providing State classifica9 tions.

10 (II) The State classifications pro11 vided in the final rule shall govern all

12 resolution offers made by the Resolu13 tion Fund and shall not be subject to

14 amendment by the Resolution Fund.

15 (III) Notwithstanding any other

16 provision of law, the final regulations

17 promulgated by the Resolution Fund

18 pursuant to this clause shall not be

19 subject to review by any court.

20 (C) LITIGATION VENUE.—For purposes of

21 this subsection, litigation venue is considered

22 established with respect to an eligible person

23 if—

24 (i) on or before December 31, 1993,

25 the eligible person had pending in a court
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1 of competent jurisdiction a complaint or

2 cross complaint against an insurer with re3 spect to eligible costs at an eligible site;

4 and

5 (ii) no motion to change venue with

6 respect to such complaint was pending on

7 or before January 31, 1994.

8 (5) ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF RESOLU9 TION OFFER.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—

11 (i) An eligible person may, when sub12 mitting a request for a resolution to the

13 Resolution Fund, make a written irrev14 ocable election to accept any resolution to

15 be made by the Resolution Fund.

16 (ii) An eligible person that does not

17 make an election pursuant to clause (i)

18 shall, within 60 days of the receipt of a

19 resolution offer from the Resolution Fund,

20 notify the Resolution Fund in writing of its

21 irrevocable acceptance or rejection of such

22 offer. An eligible person who does not so

23 accept or reject a resolution offer within

24 60 days shall be deemed to have made an

25 irrevocable election to reject the offer and
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1 the provisions of subparagraph (C) shall

2 apply.

3 (B) RESOLUTION OFFER ACCEPTED.—An

4 eligible person that accepts a resolution offered

5 by the Resolution Fund shall be subject to the

6 provisions of this paragraph.

7 (i) WAIVER OF INSURANCE CLAIMS.—

8 The Resolution Fund shall not make pay9 ments to an eligible person unless the eligi10 ble person agrees in writing, subject to re11 instatement described in clause (ii)—

12 (I) to waive any existing and fu13 ture claims against any insurer for eli14 gible costs; and

15 (II) to stay or dismiss each claim

16 pending against an insurer for eligible

17 costs.

18 (ii) REINSTATEMENT OF INSURANCE

19 CLAIMS.—

20 (I) If the Resolution Fund fails

21 to timely fulfill its obligations to an

22 eligible person under the terms of an

23 accepted resolution offer, such eligible

24 person shall be entitled to reinstate
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1 any claim under a contract for insur2 ance with respect to eligible costs.

3 (II) STATUTE OF LIMITATION

4 TOLLED.—Notwithstanding any other

5 provision of Federal or State law, any

6 Federal or State statute of limitation

7 concerning the filing or prosecution of

8 an action by an eligible person against

9 an insurer, or by an insurer against

10 an eligible person, with respect to eli11 gible costs shall be tolled during the

12 pendency of the stay of pending litiga13 tion established by section 804(a).

14 (iii) PAYMENT OF RESOLUTION OF15 FERS.—

16 (I) PRE-RESOLUTION COSTS.—

17 The Resolution Fund shall make

18 equal annual payments over a period

19 of eight years for eligible costs in20 curred by an eligible person on or be21 fore the date such person accepts a

22 resolution offer pursuant to subpara23 graph (A) (i) or (ii), and interest shall

24 not accrue with respect to such eligi25 ble costs. The Resolution Fund may,
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1 in its sole discretion, make such pay2 ments over a shorter period if the ag3 gregate eligible costs do not exceed

4 $50,000. An eligible person shall sub5 mit to the Resolution Fund docu6 mentation of such costs as the Resolu7 tion Fund may require. The initial

8 payment to an eligible person under

9 this subclause shall be made not later

10 than 60 days after the receipt of doc11 umentation satisfactory to the Resolu12 tion Fund.

13 (II) POST-RESOLUTION COSTS.—

14 The Resolution Fund shall make pay15 ments for eligible costs incurred by an

16 eligible person after the date such per17 son accepts a resolution offer pursu18 ant to subparagraph (A) (i) or (ii) to

19 the eligible person, or to a contractor

20 or other person designated by the eli21 gible person, subject to such docu22 mentation as the Resolution Fund

23 may require. Payments under this

24 subclause shall be made not later than

25 60 days after the receipt of docu-
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1 mentation satisfactory to the Resolu2 tion Fund.

3 (III) ADJUSTMENT FOR DEDUCT4 IBLE OR SELF INSURANCE.—In the

5 case of an eligible person that has

6 submitted to the Resolution Fund, as

7 proof of status as an eligible person,

8 a contract for insurance described in

9 paragraph (2)(A)(ii) that is subject to

10 a self-insured retention or a deduct11 ible, payment to such eligible person

12 pursuant to a resolution shall be re13 duced by the amount of such self-in14 sured retention or deductible, except

15 that such reduction shall not exceed

16 the amount of one self-insured reten17 tion or one deductible that the eligible

18 person would have required to pay

19 with respect to one claim for eligible

20 costs under the terms of the contracts

21 for insurance submitted. In the event

22 that the eligible person submitted

23 more than one contract for insurance,

24 any such reduction shall be made with

25 respect to the lowest of the amounts
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1 of self-insured retentions and

2 deductibles.

3 (IV) ADJUSTMENT FOR CERTAIN

4 DUTY-TO-DEFEND COSTS.—If an in5 surer has incurred and paid costs pur6 suant to a duty-to-defend clause con7 tained in a contract for insurance de8 scribed in paragraph (2)(B), and such

9 costs are the subject of a dispute be10 tween the eligible person and an in11 surer, the payment of a resolution to

12 an eligible person shall be reduced by

13 such amount, and the Resolution

14 Fund shall pay such amount to the

15 insurer. If such costs were paid by the

16 insurer on or before the date the eligi17 ble person accepted a resolution offer

18 made by the Resolution Fund, pay19 ment to an insurer under this

20 subclause shall be made in equal an21 nual installments over a period of

22 eight years, and interest shall not ac23 crue with respect to such costs. The

24 Resolution Fund may, in its sole dis25 cretion, make such payments over a
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1 shorter period if the aggregate costs

2 do not exceed $50,000.

3 (C) RESOLUTION OFFER REJECTED; LITI4 GATION OF INSURANCE CLAIMS.—

5 (i) ADMISSIBILITY OF RESOLUTION

6 OFFER.—No resolution offered by the Res7 olution Fund shall be admissible in any

8 legal action brought by an eligible person

9 against an insurer or by an insurer against

10 an eligible person.

11 (ii) INSURER ACTION AGAINST ELIGI12 BLE PERSON.—Any eligible person that re13 jects a resolution offer, litigates a claim

14 with respect to eligible costs against an in15 surer, and obtains a final judgment that is

16 less favorable than the resolution offered

17 by the Resolution Fund, shall be liable to

18 such insurer for 20 percent of the reason19 able costs and legal fees incurred by the

20 insurer in connection with such litigation

21 after the resolution was offered to the eli22 gible person. The district courts of the

23 United States shall have original jurisdic24 tion of all such actions, without regard to

25 amount or value. The court shall reduce
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1 any award to an insurer in any such action

2 by the amount, if any, of such costs and

3 legal fees recovered by the insurer pursu4 ant to State law or court rule. Nothing in

5 this clause shall be construed to limit or

6 affect in any way the application of State

7 law, or the rule of any court, to such costs

8 or legal fees.

9 (iii) REIMBURSEMENT TO INSURER.—

10 In the case of an eligible person that re11 jects a resolution offer, litigates a claim

12 with respect to eligible costs against one or

13 more insurers, and obtains a final judg14 ment against any such insurer, the Resolu15 tion Fund—

16 (I) shall reimburse to such in17 surer or insurers the lesser of the

18 amount of the resolution offer made

19 to the eligible person or the final

20 judgment; and

21 (II) may, if the resolution offer

22 exceeded the final judgment, reim23 burse the insurer or insurers for unre24 covered reasonable costs and legal

25 fees, except that the total reimburse-
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1 ment under this subclause may not

2 exceed the amount of the resolution

3 offer to the eligible person.

4 Reimbursements pursuant to this clause

5 shall be subject to such documentation as

6 the Resolution Fund may require and shall

7 be made by the Resolution Fund not later

8 than 60 days after receipt by the Resolu9 tion Fund of a complete request for reim10 bursement as determined by the Resolution

11 Fund.

12 (6) PAYMENTS CONSIDERED PURSUANT TO IN13 SURANCE CONTRACT.—Payments made by the Reso14 lution Fund pursuant to a resolution offer shall be

15 deemed payments made by an insurer under the

16 terms and conditions of a contract of insurance or

17 in settlement thereof. Nothing in this paragraph

18 shall be construed to affect in any way the issue of

19 whether the liability limits of a contract of insurance

20 has been satisfied.

21 (7) RESOLUTION PROCESS NOT ADMISSION OF

22 LIABILITY.—No provision of this title, and no action

23 by an eligible person undertaken in connection with

24 any provision of this title shall in any way constitute
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1 an admission of liability in connection with the dis2 posal of a hazardous substance.

3 (8) REGULATIONS.—

4 (A) PROCEDURES AND DOCUMENTA5 TION.—Not later than 120 days after the date

6 of enactment of this title, the Resolution Fund

7 shall publish in the Federal Register for public

8 comment of not more than 60 days interim

9 final regulations concerning procedures and

10 documentation for the submission of requests

11 for resolution offers and the payment of accept12 ed resolution offers. Not later than 60 days

13 after the close of the public comment period,

14 the Resolution Fund shall publish in the Fed15 eral Register final regulations concerning such

16 procedures and documentation, which may be

17 amended by the Resolution Fund from time to

18 time.

19 (B) OTHER REGULATIONS.—The Resolu20 tion Fund may prescribe such other regulations,

21 rules and procedures as the Resolution Fund

22 deems appropriate from time to time.

23 (C) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No regulation,

24 rule or procedure prescribed by the Resolution

25 Fund pursuant to this paragraph shall be sub-
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1 ject to review by any court except to the extent

2 such regulation, rule or procedure is not con3 sistent with a provision of this title.

4 (h) JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS.—Notwith5 standing section 1349 of title 28, United States Code:

6 (1) The Resolution Fund shall be deemed to be

7 an agency of the United States for purposes of sec8 tions 1345 and 1442 of title 28, United States Code.

9 (2) All civil actions to which the Resolution

10 Fund is a party shall be deemed to arise under the

11 laws of the United States, and the district courts of

12 the United States shall have original jurisdiction of

13 all such actions, without regard to amount or value.

14 (3) Any civil or other action, case or con15 troversy in a court of a State, or in any court other

16 than a district court of the United States, to which

17 the Resolution Fund is a party may at any time be18 fore the trial thereof be removed by the Resolution

19 Fund, without the giving of any bond or security, to

20 the district court of the United States for the dis21 trict and division embracing the place where the

22 same is pending, or, if there is no such district

23 court, to the district court of the United States for

24 the district in which the principal office of the Reso25 lution Fund is located, by following any procedure
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1 for removal of causes in effect at the time of such

2 removal.

3 (4) No attachment or execution shall be issued

4 against the Resolution Fund or any of its property

5 before final judgment in any State, Federal, or other

6 court.

7 (i) REPORTS.—

8 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Resolution Fund

9 shall report annually to the President and the Con10 gress not later than January 15 of each year on its

11 activities for the prior fiscal year. The report shall

12 include—

13 (A) a financial statement audited by an

14 independent auditor; and

15 (B) a determination of whether the fees

16 and assessments imposed by section ll of the

17 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 will be suffi18 cient to meet the anticipated obligations of the

19 Resolution Fund.

20 (2) SPECIAL REPORTS.—The Resolution Fund

21 shall promptly report to the President and the Con22 gress at any time the Resolution Fund determines

23 that the fees and assessments imposed by section

24 ll of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 will be
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1 insufficient to meet the anticipated obligations of the

2 Resolution Fund.

3 (j) FALSE OR FRAUDULENT STATEMENTS OR

4 CLAIMS.—

5 (1) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—

6 (A) For purposes of section 287 of title 18,

7 United States Code (relating to false claims),

8 the Resolution Fund shall be considered an

9 agency of the United States and any officer or

10 employee of the Resolution Fund shall be con11 sidered a person in the civil service of the

12 United States.

13 (B) For purposes of section 1001 of title

14 18, United States Code (relating to false state15 ments or entries), the Resolution Fund shall be

16 considered an agency of the United States.

17 (2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Officers and employees

18 of the Resolution Fund shall be considered officers

19 and employees of the United States for purposes of

20 section 3729 of title 31, United States Code (relat21 ing to false claims).

22 SEC. 803. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, AUDITS, INVESTIGA23 TIONS AND INSPECTIONS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The financial statements of the

25 Resolution Fund shall be prepared in accordance with gen-
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1 erally accepted accounting principles and shall be audited

2 annually by an independent certified public account in ac3 cordance with the auditing standards issued by the Comp4 troller General. Such auditing standards shall be consist5 ent with the private sector’s generally accepted auditing

6 standards.

7 (b) INVESTIGATIONS AND OTHER AUDITS.—The In8 spector General of the Environmental Protection Agency

9 is authorized to conduct audits and investigations as the

10 Inspector General deems necessary or appropriate. For

11 purposes of the preceding sentence, the provisions of the

12 Inspector General Act of 1978 shall apply to the Resolu13 tion Fund and to the Inspector General to the same extent

14 as they apply to the Environmental Protection Agency.

15 SEC. 804. STAY OF PENDING LITIGATION.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—

17 (1) Except as provided in this section, enact18 ment of this title operates as a stay, applicable to all

19 person other than the United States, of the com20 mencement or continuation, including the issuance

21 or employment of process or service of any pleading,

22 motion, or notice, of any judicial, administrative, or

23 other action with respect to claims for indemnity or

24 other claims arising from a contract for insurance

25 described in section 802(g)(2)(A)(ii) concerning in-
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1 surance coverage for eligible costs as defined in sec2 tion 802(g)(2)(B)(i).

3 (2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed

4 to apply to the extent the issuance or employment

5 of process or service of any pleading, motion, or no6 tice, of any judicial, administrative, or other action

7 with respect to claims for indemnity or other claims

8 does not concern eligible costs (as defined in section

9 802(g)(2)(B)(i)) or a contract for insurance de10 scribed in section 802(g)(2)(A)(ii). An eligible per11 son (as defined in section 802(g)(2)(A)) may move

12 to serve claims not involving eligible costs from

13 claims involving eligible costs and may proceed with

14 the prosecution of claims not involving eligible costs.

15 (b) TERMINATION OF STAY.—

16 (1) PENDING OFFER OF RESOLUTION.—The

17 stay established by subsection (a) shall terminate

18 with respect to an eligible person upon the earlier

19 of—

20 (A) the rejection of a resolution offer by

21 such eligible person pursuant to section

22 802(g)(5)(A); or

23 (B) the failure of the Resolution Fund to

24 timely fulfill the terms of a resolution offer ac25 cepted by such eligible person.
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1 (2) EXPIRATION OF RESOLUTION OFFERS.—No

2 stay established by subsection (a) shall be effective

3 after May 31, 2000.

4 (c) OTHER STAYS.—Nothing in this section shall be

5 construed to limit or affect in any way the discretion of

6 any judicial, administrative, or other entity to maintain

7 or impose a stay that is not required by subjection (a)

8 but that will otherwise serve the ends of justice by staying

9 a judicial, administrative or other action pending the ac10 ceptance or rejection of a resolution offer pursuant to sec11 tion 802(g)(5)(A).

12 (d) AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES UNAF13 FECTED.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to

14 limit or affect in any way the discretion or authority of

15 the United States or any party to commerce or continue

16 all allocation process, cost recovery, or other action pursu17 ant to the authority of sections 101–122a of the Com18 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and

19 Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601–9622a).

20 SEC. 805. SUNSET PROVISIONS.

21 (a) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT REQUEST FOR RESOLU22 TION.—The authority of the Resolution Fund to accept

23 requests for resolution shall terminate after September 30,

24 1999.
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1 (b) AUTHORITY TO OFFER RESOLUTIONS.—The au2 thority of the Resolution Fund to offer resolutions to eligi3 ble persons shall terminate after March 31, 2000.

4 (c) CONTINUING OBLIGATIONS.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall be construed to limit or affect in any way the

6 authority of the Resolution Fund—

7 (1) to make payments pursuant to resolution

8 offers made on or before March 31, 2000; or

9 (2) to reimburse insurers with respect to litiga10 tion commenced or continued in connection with a

11 resolution offer made on or before March 31, 2000,

12 that was rejected by an eligible person or not acted

13 upon by an eligible person as provided in section

14 802(g)(5)(a).

15 SEC. 806. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY OF THE UNITED STATES.

16 No obligation or liability of the Resolution Fund shall

17 constitute an obligation or liability of the United States,

18 or of any department, agency, instrumentality, officer, or

19 employee thereof. No person shall have a cause of action

20 of any kind against the United States, or any department

21 agency, instrumentality, officer, or employee thereof with

22 respect to any obligation, liability, or activity of the Reso23 lution Fund.
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1 SEC. 807. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The provisions of this title shall become effective on

3 the date of enactment of this title.

4 TITLE IX—TAXES

5 SEC. 901. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE

6 OF 1986.

7 (a) Section 59A(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code

8 of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 59A(e)(1)) is amended by striking

9 ‘‘January 1, 1996’’ and inserting instead ‘‘January 1,

10 2001’’.

11 (b) Section 4611(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of

12 1986 (26 U.S.C. 4611(e)) is amended—

13 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘December

14 31, 1986’’ and inserting instead ‘‘December 31,

15 1995’’;

16 (2) in paragraph (2)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘December 31, 1993 or

18 December 31, 1994’’ and inserting instead

19 ‘‘December 31, 1998 or December 31, 1999’’;

20 (B) by striking ‘‘December 31, of 1994 or

21 1995, respectively’’ and inserting instead ‘‘De22 cember 31 of 1999 or 2000, respectively’’; and

23 (C) by striking ‘‘1994 or 1995’’ the last

24 place it appears and inserting instead ‘‘1999 or

25 2000’’;
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1 (3) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘January

2 1, 1987, and ending December 31, 1995’’ and in3 serting instead ‘‘January 1, 1996, and ending De4 cember 31, 2000’’; and

5 (4) in paragraph (3)(B)—

6 (A) in the title thereof, by striking ‘‘Janu7 ary 1, 1996’’ and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2001’’;

8 and

9 (B) by striking ‘‘Fund before January 1,

10 1996’’ and inserting instead ‘‘Fund before Jan11 uary 1, 2001’’.

12 SEC. 902. ENVIRONMENTAL FEES AND ASSESSMENTS ON IN13 SURANCE COMPANIES.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Internal Revenue Code of

15 1986 is amended by inserting after section ll the fol16 lowing new section:

17 ‘‘§ . Environmental fees and assessments on insur18 ance companies’’.

19 [RESERVED]

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections

21 for chapter ll of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

22 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section

23 ll the following:
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1 ‘‘§ . Environmental fees and assessments on insur2 ance companies’’.

3 SEC. 903. FUNDING PROVISIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IN4 SURANCE RESOLUTION FUND.

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—

6 (1) Except as provided in section 802(f)(7) of

7 this Act, all expenditures of the Resolution Fund

8 shall be paid out of the fees and assessments im9 posed by section ll of the Internal Revenue Code.

10 (2) Except as may be expressly authorized by

11 the Secretary of the Treasury, all funds of the Reso12 lution Fund shall be maintained in the Treasury of

13 the United States. The Secretary may provide for

14 the disbursement of such funds to the Resolution

15 Fund or on behalf of the Resolution Fund under

16 such procedures, terms and conditions as the Sec17 retary may prescribe.

18 (b) TRANSFER TO RESOLUTION FUND.—The Sec19 retary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Resolution

20 Fund on October 1 of fiscal year 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

21 and 1999, an amount equal to the fees and assessments

22 anticipated to be collected pursuant to section ll of the

23 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 during the then current

24 fiscal year.

25 (c) ADJUSTMENTS.—In each succeeding fiscal year

26 the Secretary of the Treasury shall adjust the amounts
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1 transferred pursuant to paragraph (2) to reflect actual

2 collections of fees and assessments during the prior fiscal

3 year, except that with respect to the transfer made on Oc4 tober 1, 1999, the Resolution Fund shall reimburse the

5 Secretary the amount of such transfer subsequently deter6 mined by the Secretary to have exceeded actual collections

7 of fees and assessments during such fiscal year.

8 SEC. 904. RESOLUTION FUND NOT SUBJECT TO TAX.

9 The Resolution Fund, including its capital, reserves,

10 surplus, security holdings, and income shall be exempt

11 from all taxation now or hereafter imposed by the United

12 States (including any territory, dependency or possession

13 thereof) or any State, county, municipality or local taxing

14 authority.

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