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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 820 Introduced in House (IH)]

104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 820

 To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
 Liability Act of 1980 to clarify liability under that Act for certain 
                        recycling transactions.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 1995

 Mrs. Lincoln (for herself, Mr. Upton, Mr. Schaefer, Mr. Boucher, Mr. 
  Manton, Mr. Gillmor, and Mr. Tauzin) 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 to clarify liability under that Act for certain 
                        recycling transactions.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Superfund Recycling Equity Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to promote the reuse and recycling of scrap material in 
        furtherance of the goals of waste minimization and natural 
        resource conservation while protecting human health and the 
        environment;
            (2) to level the playing field between the use of virgin 
        materials and recycled materials; and
            (3) to remove the disincentives and impediments to 
        recycling because of potential Superfund liability.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF LIABILITY UNDER CERCLA FOR RECYCLING 
              TRANSACTIONS.

    (a) Clarification of Liability.--Title I of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 127. RECYCLING TRANSACTIONS.

    ``(a) Liability Clarification.--As provided in subsections (b), 
(c), (d) and (e), a person who arranged for the recycling of recyclable 
material shall not be liable under section 107(a)(3) or 107(a)(4).
    ``(b) Recyclable Material Defined.--For purposes of this section, 
the term `recyclable material' means scrap paper, scrap plastic, scrap 
glass, scrap textiles, scrap rubber (other than whole tires), scrap 
metal, or spent lead-acid, spent nickel-cadmium and other spent 
batteries, as well as minor amounts of material incident to or adhering 
to the scrap material as a result of its normal and customary use prior 
to becoming scrap.
    ``(c) Transactions Involving Scrap Paper, Plastic, Glass, Textiles, 
or Rubber.--Transactions involving scrap paper, scrap plastic, scrap 
glass, scrap textiles, or scrap rubber (other than whole tires) shall 
be deemed to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged for 
the transaction (by selling recyclable material or otherwise arranging 
for the recycling of recyclable material) can demonstrate by a 
preponderance of the evidence that all of the following criteria were 
met at the time of the transaction:
            ``(1) The recyclable material met a commercial 
        specification grade.
            ``(2) A market existed for the recyclable material.
            ``(3) A substantial portion of the recyclable material was 
        made available for use as a feedstock for the manufacture of a 
        new saleable product.
            ``(4) The recyclable material could have been a replacement 
        or substitute for a virgin raw material, or the product to be 
        made from the recyclable material could have been a replacement 
        or substitute for a product made, in whole or in part, from a 
        virgin raw material.
            ``(5) For transactions occurring 90 days or more after the 
        date of enactment of this section, the person exercised 
        reasonable care to determine that the facility where the 
        recyclable material would be handled, processed, reclaimed, or 
        otherwise managed by another person (hereinafter in this 
        section referred to as a `consuming facility') was in 
        compliance with substantive (not procedural or administrative) 
        provisions of any Federal, State, or local environmental law or 
        regulation, or compliance order or decree issued pursuant 
        thereto, applicable to the handling, processing, reclamation, 
        storage, or other management activities associated with the 
        recyclable material.
            ``(6) For purposes of this subsection, `reasonable care' 
        shall be determined using criteria that include (but are not 
        limited to) (A) the price paid in the recycling transaction; 
        (B) the ability of the person to detect the nature of the 
        consuming facility's operations concerning its handling, 
        processing, reclamation, or other management activities 
        associated with the recyclable material; and (C) the result of 
        inquiries made to the appropriate Federal, State, or local 
        environmental agency (or agencies) regarding the consuming 
        facility's past and current compliance with substantive (not 
        procedural or administrative) provisions of any Federal, State, 
        or local environmental law or regulation, or compliance order 
        or decree issued pursuant thereto, applicable to the handling, 
        processing, reclamation, storage, or other management 
        activities associated with the recyclable material. For the 
        purposes of this paragraph, a requirement to obtain a permit 
        applicable to the handling, processing, reclamation, or other 
        management activity associated with the recyclable materials 
        shall be deemed to be a substantive provision.
    ``(d) Transactions Involving Scrap Metal.--
            ``(1) Transactions involving scrap metal shall be deemed to 
        be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged for the 
        transaction (by selling recyclable material or otherwise 
        arranging for the recycling of recyclable material) can 
        demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that at the time 
        of the transaction--
                    ``(A) the person met the criteria set forth in 
                subsection (c) with respect to the scrap metal;
                    ``(B) the person was in compliance with any 
                applicable regulations or standards regarding the 
                storage, transport, management, or other activities 
associated with the recycling of scrap metal that the Administrator 
promulgates under the Solid Waste Disposal Act subsequent to the 
enactment of this section and with regard to transactions occurring 
after the effective date of such regulations or standards; and
                    ``(C) the person did not melt the scrap metal prior 
                to the transaction.
            ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(C), melting of scrap 
        metal does not include the thermal separation of 2 or more 
        materials due to differences in their melting points (referred 
        to as `sweating').
            ``(3) For the purposes of this subsection, the term `scrap 
        metal' means bits and pieces of metal parts (e.g., bars, 
        turnings, rods, sheets, wire) or metal pieces that may be 
        combined together with bolts or soldering (e.g., radiators, 
        scrap automobiles, railroad box cars), which when worn or 
        superfluous can be recycled, except for scrap metals that the 
        Administrator excludes from this definition by regulation and 
        steel shipping containers of a capacity from 30 liters to and 
        including 3,000 liters, whether intact or not, having any 
        hazardous substance (but not metal bits or pieces) contained in 
        or adhering thereto.
    ``(e) Transactions Involving Batteries.--(1) Transactions involving 
spent lead-acid batteries, spent nickel-cadmium batteries or other 
spent batteries shall be deemed to be arranging for recycling if the 
person who arranged for the transaction (by selling recyclable material 
or otherwise arranging for the recycling of recyclable material) can 
demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that at the time of the 
transaction--
            ``(A) the person met the criteria set forth in subsection 
        (c) with respect to the spent lead-acid batteries, spent 
        nickel-cadmium batteries, or other spent batteries but did not 
        recover the valuable components of such batteries; and
            ``(B)(i) with respect to transactions involving lead-acid 
        batteries, the person was in compliance with applicable Federal 
        environmental regulations or standards, and any amendments 
        thereto, regarding the storage, transport, management, or other 
        activities associated with the recycling of spent lead-acid 
        batteries;
            ``(ii) with respect to transactions involving nickel-
        cadmium batteries, Federal environmental regulations or 
        standards are in effect regarding the storage, transport, 
        management, or other activities associated with the recycling 
        of spent nickel-cadmium batteries, and the person was in 
        compliance with applicable regulations or standards or any 
        amendments thereto; or
            ``(iii) with respect to transactions involving other spent 
        batteries, Federal environmental regulations or standards are 
        in effect regarding the storage, transport, management, or 
        other activities associated with the recycling of such 
        batteries, and the person was in compliance with applicable 
        regulations or standards or any amendments thereto.
    ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection, a person 
who, by contract, arranges or pays for processing of batteries by an 
unrelated third person and receives from such third person materials 
reclaimed from such batteries shall not thereby be deemed to recover 
the valuable components of such batteries.
    ``(f) Exclusions.--(1) The exemptions set forth in subsections (c), 
(d), and (e) shall not apply if--
            ``(A) the person had an objectively reasonable basis to 
        believe at the time of the recycling transaction--
                    ``(i) that the recyclable material would not be 
                recycled,
                    ``(ii) that the recyclable material would be burned 
                as fuel, or for energy recovery or incineration, or
                    ``(iii) for transactions occurring before 90 days 
                after the date of the enactment of this section, that 
                the consuming facility was not in compliance with a 
                substantive (not a procedural or administrative) 
                provision of any Federal, State, or local environmental 
                law or regulation, or compliance order or decree issued 
                pursuant thereto, applicable to the handling, 
                processing, reclamation, or other management activities 
                associated with the recyclable material; or
            ``(B) the person added hazardous substances to the 
        recyclable material for purposes other than processing for 
        recycling; or
            ``(C) the person failed to exercise reasonable care with 
        respect to the management and handling of the recyclable 
        material.
    ``(2) For purposes of this subsection, an objectively reasonable 
basis for belief shall be determined using criteria that include (but 
are not limited to) the size of the person's business, customary 
industry practices, the price paid in the recycling transaction, and 
the ability of the person to detect the nature of the consuming 
facility's operations concerning its handling, processing, reclamation 
or other management activities associated with the recyclable material.
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection, a requirement to obtain a 
permit applicable to the handling, processing, reclamation, or other 
management activities associated with recyclable material shall be 
deemed to be a substantive provision.
    ``(g) Effect on Other Liability.--Nothing in this section shall be 
deemed to affect the liability of a person under paragraph (1) or (2) 
of section 107(a).
    ``(h) PCBs.--An exemption under this section does not apply if the 
recyclable material contained polychlorinated biphenyls in excess of 50 
parts per million or any new standard promulgated pursuant to 
applicable Federal laws.
    ``(i) Regulations.--The Administrator has the authority, under 
section 115, to promulgate additional regulations concerning this 
section.
    ``(j) Effect on Pending or Concluded Actions.--The exemptions 
provided in this section shall not affect any concluded judicial or 
administrative action or any pending judicial action initiated by the 
United States prior to enactment of this section.
    ``(k) Liability for Attorney's Fees for Certain Actions.--Any 
person who commences an action in contribution against a person who is 
not liable by operation of this section shall be liable to that person 
for all reasonable costs of defending that action, including all 
reasonable attorney's and expert witness fees.
    ``(l) Relationship to Liability Under Other Laws.--Nothing in this 
section shall affect--
            ``(1) liability under any other Federal, State, or local 
        statute or regulation promulgated pursuant to any such statute, 
        including any requirements promulgated by the Administrator 
        under the Solid Waste Disposal Act; or
            ``(2) the ability of the Administrator to promulgate 
        regulations under any other statute, including the Solid Waste 
        Disposal Act.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--The table of contents for title I of such 
Act is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 127. Recycling transactions.''.
                                 <all>
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