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Federal and State requirements specified in section
121(d)(7) of that Act (as amended by this Act).
(b) CONTINUED EFFECTIVENESS OF REGULATIONS
AND GUIDANCE.—Until promulgation of the national
goals and the national risk protocol under section 121(d),
the President may continue to rely on current regulations
and guidance with regard to acceptable risk levels and the
conduct of risk assessments.
(c) PRIOR RODS.—(1) Nothing in this Act shall
place upon the President an obligation to reopen a record
of decision signed prior to the effective date of this title.
(2) If, pursuant to section 117 of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980, the President determines that a change to a
record of decision signed prior to the effective date of this
title is necessary, the President may apply the rules in
effect at the time the original record of decision was
signed.
TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS
SEC. 601. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS AT MIXED OWNER-
SHIP AND MIXED RESPONSIBILITY FACILI-
TIES.
Section 120(e) (42 U.S.C. 9620(e)) is amended—
(1) by inserting at the end of paragraph (4) the
following new subparagraph:
220
‘‘(D) A provision allowing for the partici-
pation of other responsible parties (if any) in
the response action.’’; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the follow-
ing new paragraphs:
‘‘(8) EXCEPTION TO REQUIRED ACTION.—(A) A
department, agency, or instrumentality of the United
States that owns or operates a facility at which the
department, agency, or instrumentality exercised no
regulatory or other control over activities that di-
rectly or indirectly resulted in a release or threat of
a release of a hazardous substance shall be subject
to the requirements of paragraphs (1) through (6),
other than subparagraphs (F) and (G) of paragraph
(5), unless and to the extent the department, agen-
cy, or instrumentality demonstrates to the satisfac-
tion of the Administrator that—
‘‘(i) no department, agency, or instrumen-
tality was the primary or sole source or cause
of a release or threat of release of a hazardous
substance at the facility;
‘‘(ii) the activities either directly or indi-
rectly resulting in a release or threat of a re-
lease of a hazardous substance at the facility
221
were pursuant to a statutory authority and oc-
curred before 1976; and
‘‘(iii) the person or persons primarily or
solely responsible for such release or threat of
release are financially viable and are capable of
performing or financing all or a portion of the
response action at the facility.
‘‘(B) If the conditions listed in clauses (i)
through (iii) of subparagraph (A) are not met, the
applicable terms of this subsection apply to the de-
partment, agency, or instrumentality of the United
States at the facility. Upon determination by the
Administrator that a department, agency, or instru-
mentality qualifies for the exception provided by this
paragraph, the head of such department, agency, or
instrumentality may exercise enforcement authority
under section 106. To the extent a person who has
been issued an order under the authority of this
paragraph seeks reimbursement under the provisions
of section 106, the relevant department, agency, or
instrumentality, and not the Fund, shall be the
source of any appropriate reimbursement. If the rel-
evant department, agency, or instrumentality has
failed to obtain the performance of response actions
by responsible parties pursuant to an order or con-
222
sent decree within 12 months after the facility has
been listed on the National Priorities List, the ex-
ception provided by this paragraph shall be void and
the department, agency, or instrumentality shall, in
consultation with the Administrator and appropriate
State authorities, commence a remedial investigation
and feasibility study for such facility within six
months after the expiration of the 12-month period.
‘‘(9) An interagency agreement under this sec-
tion shall in no way impair or diminish the obliga-
tion of any department, agency, or instrumentality
of the United States to comply with requirements of
applicable law, unless such requirements have been
specifically—
‘‘(A) addressed; or
‘‘(B) waived;
without objection from the State prior to or at the
time the response action is selected pursuant to sec-
tion 121.’’.
SEC. 602. CONTENTS OF CERTAIN DEEDS.
Section 120(h)(3) (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)(3)) is amend-
ed in the matter following subparagraph (C) by inserting
after ‘‘the Administrator’’ both places it appears the fol-
lowing: ‘‘or, in the case of real property that is not part
223
of a facility on the National Priorities List, to the Gov-
ernor of the affected State’’.
SEC. 603. TRANSFERS OF UNCONTAMINATED PROPERTY.
Section 120(h)(4)(A) (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)(4)(A)) is
amended by striking ‘‘stored for one year or more,’’ in
the first sentence.
SEC. 604. AGREEMENTS TO TRANSFER BY DEED.
Section 120(h) (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)) is amended by
adding after paragraph (5) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(6) AGREEMENTS TO TRANSFER BY DEED.—
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to pro-
hibit the head of the department, agency, or instru-
mentality of the United States from entering into an
agreement to transfer by deed real property or facili-
ties prior to the entering of such deed.’’.
SEC. 605. ALTERNATIVE OR INNOVATIVE TREATMENT
TECHNOLOGIES.
Section 111(a) is amended by adding after paragraph
(6) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(7) ALTERNATIVE
OR
INNOVATIVE
TREAT-
MENT TECHNOLOGIES.—Payment of no more than
50 percent of response costs incurred by a poten-
tially liable party in taking actions approved by the
Administrator to achieve required levels of response
under this Act after employing an alternative or in-
224
novative technology that fails to achieve a level of re-
sponse required under this Act pursuant to an ad-
ministrative order or consent decree. The Adminis-
trator shall issue guidance on the procedures for the
appropriate level of funding for response activities
using alternative innovative technologies as defined
in section 311(b)(10) that are necessary to achieve
a level of response required under this Act. The Ad-
ministrator shall review and update such guidance,
as appropriate.’’.
SEC. 606. DEFINITIONS.
Section 101 (42 U.S.C. 9601) is amended as follows:
(1) Paragraph (10)(H) is amended by striking
‘‘subject to’’ and inserting ‘‘in compliance with’’.
(2) Paragraph (14) is amended by adding at
the end the following: ‘‘The term includes methane,
but only when a response action undertaken to ad-
dress a release or threat of release of a hazardous
substance (as otherwise defined in this paragraph)
at a landfill or similar site also addresses methane.’’.
(3) Paragraph (20) is amended—
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘the
United States or’’ after ‘‘similar means to’’;
(B) in subparagraph (D)—