I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1418

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act of 1980 concerning liability for the sale of certain facilities

for residential use.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 14, 1999

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation

and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 concerning liability

for the sale of certain facilities for residential use.

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 ‘‘Justice for Displaced

5 Residents Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. LIABILITY FOR SALE OF CERTAIN FACILITIES FOR

2 RESIDENTIAL USE.

3 Section 107 the Comprehensive Environmental Re4 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42

5 U.S.C. 9607) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(o) LIABILITY FOR SALE OF CERTAIN FACILITIES

8 FOR RESIDENTIAL USE.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Without regard to the de10 fenses provided for in paragraphs (2) through (4) of

11 subsection (b), a person shall be liable for 3 times

12 the amount of response costs or damages for which

13 the person otherwise would be liable under sub14 section (a) but for this subsection if—

15 ‘‘(A) at the time of disposal of a des16 ignated hazardous substance, the person owned

17 or operated any vessel or facility at which the

18 designated hazardous substance was disposed

19 of;

20 ‘‘(B) the vessel or facility is or has been

21 subject to a removal action by the President or

22 an equivalent action by a State; and

23 ‘‘(C) prior to the performance of the re24 moval action, the person sold, leased, conveyed,

25 or otherwise disposed of the facility or vessel

26 under circumstances in which the future resi-
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1 dential use of the vessel or facility was reason2 ably foreseeable or anticipated.

3 ‘‘(2) RECOVERIES UNDER SUBSECTION (a).—

4 Amounts recovered under paragraph (1) shall be in

5 addition to any amounts recovered under subsection

6 (a).

7 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.—A person

8 shall not be liable under this subsection if the

9 person—

10 ‘‘(A)(i) purchased, leased, or otherwise ac11 quired the vessel or facility primarily for use as

12 a personal residence, (ii) did not cause or con13 tribute to the release or threatened release of

14 designated hazardous substances at the vessel

15 or facility, and (iii) took due care with respect

16 to designated hazardous substances found at

17 the vessel or facility; or

18 ‘‘(B)(i) purchased, leased, or otherwise ac19 quired the vessel or facility primarily for devel20 opment for personal residential use, (ii) did not

21 cause or contribute to the release or threatened

22 release of designated hazardous substances at

23 the vessel or facility, (iii) took due care with re24 spect to designated hazardous substances found

25 at the vessel or facility, and (iv) is an unaffili-
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1 ated business or entity with fewer than 25 em2 ployees and less than $2,000,000 in gross an3 nual revenues.

4 ‘‘(4) RECOVERY OF RESPONSE COSTS OR DAM5 AGES.—Response costs or damages under paragraph

6 (1) shall be recoverable by the Administrator or any

7 person who resides or has previously resided in the

8 vessel or facility following the sale, lease, convey9 ance, or other disposal of the vessel or facility de10 scribed in paragraph (1)(C).

11 ‘‘(5) USE OF FUNDS.—If the Administrator or

12 any other person recovers an amount under para13 graph (1), the amount shall be equitably allocated

14 among and made available to all persons who reside

15 or have previously resided in the vessel or facility

16 following the sale, lease, conveyance, or other dis17 posal of the vessel or facility described in paragraph

18 (1)(C).

19 ‘‘(6) SHIFTING OF FEES.—Any person who

20 commences an action for liability under this sub21 section against a person who is not liable by oper22 ation of paragraph (3) shall be liable to such non23 liable person for all reasonable costs of defending

24 the action, including all reasonable attorneys’ fees

25 and expert witness fees.
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1 ‘‘(7) DESIGNATED HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE DE2 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘designated

3 hazardous substance’ means mercury, poly4 chlorinated biphenyls, tetrachloroethylenes, and any

5 other hazardous substance that the Administrator

6 may designate pursuant to this subsection.’’.

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