I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5175
To provide relief to small businesses from liability under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 14, 2000
Mr. OXLEY (for himself, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr.
BLILEY, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. GREENWOOD,
Mr. CONDIT, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mr. BARCIA, and Mr. UPTON) 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 provide relief to small businesses from liability under
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa-
tion, and Liability Act of 1980.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Liabil-
ity Relief Act’’.
SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS LIABILITY RELIEF.
(a) LIABILITY EXEMPTIONS.—Section 107 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9607) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(o) SMALL BUSINESS DE MICROMIS EXEMPTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graphs (2) and (3), a business entity that, during its
3 taxable years preceding the date on which the
business entity first receives or received written noti-
fication from the President of its potential liability
under this section, (A) employed on average not
more than 100 full-time individuals (notwithstanding
fluctuations resulting from seasonal employment) or
the equivalent thereof, and (B) had, on average, an-
nual revenues of $3,000,000 or less, as reported to
the Internal Revenue Service, shall be liable under
paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (a) to the United
States or any other person (including liability for
contribution) for any response costs incurred with
respect to a facility only if the total of material con-
taining a hazardous substance that the business en-
tity arranged for disposal or treatment of, arranged
with a transporter for transport for disposal or
treatment of, or accepted for transport for disposal
or treatment, at the facility, was greater than 110
gallons of liquid material or greater than 200
pounds of solid material.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply if the President determines that—
‘‘(A) the material containing a hazardous
substance referred to in paragraph (1) contrib-
uted or could contribute significantly, individ-
ually or in the aggregate, to the cost of the re-
sponse action with respect to the facility; or
‘‘(B) the business entity has failed to com-
ply with an administrative subpoena or any rea-
sonable request for information issued by the
President under this Act, or has impeded or is
impeding the performance of a response action
with respect to the facility.
‘‘(3) TIME PERIOD COVERED.—Paragraph (1)
shall only apply to material that a business entity
arranged for disposal or treatment of, arranged with
a transporter for transport for disposal or treatment
of, or accepted for transport for disposal or treat-
ment, at a facility before the date of the enactment
of the Small Business Liability Relief Act.
‘‘(p) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE EXEMPTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), a person may be liable for response costs
under paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (a) for mu-
nicipal solid waste at a facility only if the person is
not—
‘‘(A) an owner, operator, or lessee of resi-
dential property from which all of the person’s
municipal solid waste was generated with re-
spect to the facility;
‘‘(B) a business entity that—
‘‘(i) during its 3 taxable years pre-
ceding the date on which the business enti-
ty first receives or received written notifi-
cation from the President of its potential
liability under this section, employed on av-
erage not more than 100 full-time individ-
uals (notwithstanding significant fluctua-
tions resulting from seasonal employment),
or the equivalent thereof; and
‘‘(ii) generated all of its municipal
solid waste with respect to the facility; or
‘‘(C) an organization described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of
such Code that, during its taxable year pre-
ceding the date on which the organization first
receives or received written notification from
the President of its potential liability under this
section, employed not more than 100 paid indi-
viduals at the location from which was gen-
erated all of the municipal solid waste attrib-
utable to the organization with respect to the
facility.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph
(1), a person may be liable under this section if the
President determines that the person has failed to
substantially comply with an administrative sub-
poena or any reasonable request for information
issued by the President under this Act, or has im-
peded or is impeding the performance of a response
action with respect to the facility.
‘‘(3) 
DEFINITION
OF
MUNICIPAL
SOLID
WASTE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this
subsection, the term ‘municipal solid waste’
means waste material—
‘‘(i) generated by a household (includ-
ing a single or multifamily residence, hotel,
or motel); and
‘‘(ii) generated by a commercial, insti-
tutional, or industrial source, to the extent
that the waste material—
‘‘(I) is essentially the same as
waste normally generated by a house-
hold; or
‘‘(II) is collected and disposed of
with other municipal solid waste as
part of normal municipal solid waste
collection services and, with respect to
each source from which the waste ma-
terial is collected, qualifies for a small
business de micromis exemption under
subsection (o).
‘‘(B) EXAMPLES.—Examples of municipal
solid waste under subparagraph (A) include
food and yard waste, paper, clothing, appli-
ances, consumer product packaging, disposable
diapers, office supplies, cosmetics, glass and
metal food containers, elementary or secondary
school science laboratory waste, and household
hazardous waste.
‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘municipal
solid waste’ does not include—
‘‘(i) combustion ash generated by re-
source recovery facilities or municipal in-
cinerators; or
‘‘(ii) waste material from manufac-
turing or processing operations (including
pollution control operations) that is not es-
sentially the same as waste normally gen-
erated by households.
‘‘(4) COSTS AND FEES.—A person that com-
mences a contribution action under section 113 shall
be liable to the defendant for all reasonable costs of
defending the action, including all reasonable attor-
ney’s fees and expert witness fees, if the defendant
is not liable for contribution based on an exemption
under this subsection or subsection (o).’’.
(b) EXPEDITED SETTLEMENT FOR DE MINIMIS CON-
TRIBUTIONS AND LIMITED ABILITY TO PAY.—
(1) PARTIES
ELIGIBLE.—Section 122(g) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 9622(g)) is amended—
(A) in paragraph (1) by redesignating sub-
paragraph (B) as subparagraph (E);
(B) by striking ‘‘(g)’’ and all that follows
through the period at the end of paragraph
(1)(A) and inserting the following:
‘‘(g) EXPEDITED FINAL SETTLEMENT.—
‘‘(1) PARTIES ELIGIBLE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall,
as expeditiously as practicable, notify of eligi-
bility for a settlement, and offer to reach a final
administrative or judicial settlement with, each
potentially responsible party that, in the judg-
ment of the President, meets 1 or more of the
conditions set forth in subparagraphs (B), (C),
and (E).
‘‘(B) DE
MINIMIS
CONTRIBUTION.—The
condition for settlement under this subpara-
graph is that the liability of the potentially re-
sponsible party is for response costs based on
paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (a) of section
107 and the potentially responsible party’s con-
tribution of hazardous substances at a facility is
de minimis. For the purposes of this subpara-
graph, a potentially responsible party’s con-
tribution shall be considered to be de minimis
only if the President determines that each of
the following criteria are met:
‘‘(i) The quantity of material con-
taining a hazardous substance contributed
by the potentially responsible party to the
facility is minimal relative to the total
quantity of material containing hazardous
substances at the facility. The quantity of
a potentially responsible party’s contribu-
tion shall be presumed to be minimal if the
quantity is 1 percent or less of the total
quantity of material containing hazardous
substances at the facility, unless the Ad-
ministrator establishes a different thresh-
old based on site-specific factors.
‘‘(ii) The material containing a haz-
ardous substance contributed by the poten-
tially responsible party does not present
toxic or other hazardous effects that are
significantly greater than the toxic or other
hazardous effects of other material con-
taining hazardous substances at the facil-
ity.
‘‘(C) 
REDUCTION
IN
SETTLEMENT
AMOUNT BASED ON LIMITED ABILITY TO PAY.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The condition for
settlement under this subparagraph is that
the potentially responsible party is a nat-
ural person or a small business and dem-
onstrates to the President an inability or a
limited ability to pay response costs.
‘‘(ii) 
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
deter-
mining whether or not a demonstration is
made under clause (i) by a small business,
the President shall take into consideration
the ability of the small business to pay re-
sponse costs and still maintain its basic
business operations, including consider-
ation of the overall financial condition of
the small business and demonstrable con-
straints on the ability of the small business
to raise revenues.
‘‘(iii) INFORMATION.—A small busi-
ness requesting settlement under this sub-
paragraph shall promptly provide the
President with all relevant information
needed to determine the ability of the
small business to pay response costs.
‘‘(iv) ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT METH-
ODS.—If the President determines that a
small business is unable to pay its total
settlement amount at the time of settle-
ment, the President shall consider such al-
ternative payment methods as may be nec-
essary or appropriate.
‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR EXPE-
DITED SETTLEMENTS.—
‘‘(i) WAIVER OF CLAIMS.—The Presi-
dent shall require, as a condition for settle-
ment under this paragraph, that a poten-
tially responsible party waive all of the
claims (including a claim for contribution
under section 113) that the party may
have against other potentially responsible
parties for response costs incurred with re-
spect to the facility, unless the President
determines that requiring a waiver would
be unjust.
‘‘(ii) 
FAILURE
TO
COMPLY.—The
President may decline to offer a settlement
to a potentially responsible party under
this paragraph if the President determines
that the potentially responsible party has
failed to comply with any request for ac-
cess or information or an administrative
subpoena issued by the President under
this Act or has impeded or is impeding the
performance of a response action with re-
spect to the facility.
‘‘(iii) RESPONSIBILITY
TO
PROVIDE
INFORMATION AND ACCESS.—A potentially
responsible party that enters into a settle-
ment under this paragraph shall not be re-
lieved of the responsibility to provide any
information or access requested in accord-
ance with subsection (e)(3)(B) or section
104(e).’’;
(C) in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1)
(as redesignated by subparagraph (A))—
(i) 
by 
redesignating 
clauses 
(i)
through (iii) as subclauses (I) through
(III), respectively, and by moving such
subclauses and the matter following sub-
clause (III) (as so redesignated) 2 ems to
the right;
(ii) by striking ‘‘(E) The potentially
responsible party’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(E) OWNERS OF REAL PROPERTY.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The condition for
settlement this subparagraph is that the
potentially responsible party’’; and
(iii) by striking ‘‘This subparagraph
(B)’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘(ii) 
APPLICABILITY.—Clause 
(i)’’;
and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(F) BASIS OF DETERMINATION.—If the
President determines that a potentially respon-
sible party is not eligible for settlement under
this paragraph, the President shall provide the
reasons for the determination in writing to any
potentially responsible party that requests a
settlement under this paragraph.
‘‘(G) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A determina-
tion by the President under this paragraph
shall not be subject to judicial review.
‘‘(H) DEFINITION OF SMALL BUSINESS.—
In this paragraph, the term ‘small business’
means a business entity that, during its 3 tax-
able years preceding the date on which the busi-
ness entity first receives or received written no-
tification from the President of its potential li-
ability under section 107, employed on average
not more than 100 full-time individuals (not-
withstanding fluctuations resulting from sea-
sonal employment) or the equivalent thereof.’’.
(2) 
SETTLEMENT
OFFERS.—Such 
section
122(g) is further amended—
(A) by redesignating paragraph (6) as
paragraph (9); and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the
following:
‘‘(6) SETTLEMENT OFFERS.—