‘‘(I) The obviousness of the presence or
likely presence of contamination at the prop-
erty, and the ability to detect such contamina-
tion by appropriate investigation.
A record shall be considered to be ‘reasonably ascer-
tainable’ for purposes of this paragraph if a copy or
reasonable facsimile of the record is publicly avail-
able by request (within reasonable time and cost
constraints) and the record is practically reviewable.
‘‘(3) APPROPRIATE
INQUIRY.—A person shall
not be treated as having made all appropriate in-
quiry under paragraph (1) unless—
‘‘(A) the person has maintained a compila-
tion of the information reviewed and gathered
in the course of the environmental site assess-
ment;
‘‘(B) the person exercised appropriate care
with respect to hazardous substances found at
the facility by taking reasonable steps to stop
on-going releases, prevent threatened future re-
leases of hazardous substances, and prevent or
limit human or natural resource exposure to
hazardous substances previously released into
the environment; and
‘‘(C) the person provides full cooperation,
assistance, and facility access to persons au-
thorized to conduct response actions or natural
resource restoration at the facility, including
the cooperation and access necessary for the in-
stallation, integrity, operation, and maintenance
of any complete or partial response action or
natural resource restoration at the facility.’’.
(b) CROSS REFERENCE.—Section 101(35)(B) (42
U.S.C. 9601(35)(B)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘all
appropriate inquiry’’ the following: ‘‘(as specified in sec-
tion 107(o))’’.
SEC. 302. LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY FOR RESPONSE
COSTS FOR PROSPECTIVE PURCHASERS.
(a) LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.—Section 107 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9607) is further
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(p) LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY FOR PROSPECTIVE
PURCHASERS.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through
(4) of subsection (a), to the extent the liability of a person,
with respect to a release or the threat of a release from
a facility, is based solely on subsection (a)(1), the person
shall not be liable under this Act if the person—
‘‘(1) is a bona fide prospective purchaser of the
facility; and
‘‘(2) does not impede the performance of any
response action or natural resource restoration at a
facility.’’.
(b) PROSPECTIVE
PURCHASER
AND
WINDFALL
LIEN.—Section 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (as
amended by subsection (a)) is amended by adding after
subsection (p) the following new subsection:
‘‘(q) PROSPECTIVE
PURCHASER
AND
WINDFALL
LIEN.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which there
are unrecovered response costs at a facility for which
an owner of the facility is not liable by reason of
subsection (p), and the conditions described in para-
graph (3) are met, the United States shall have a
lien on the facility, or may obtain, from the appro-
priate responsible party or parties, a lien on other
property or other assurances of payment satisfactory
to the Administrator, for the unrecovered costs.
‘‘(2) AMOUNT; DURATION.—The lien—
‘‘(A) shall be for an amount not to exceed
the increase in fair market value of the prop-
erty attributable to the response action at the
time of a subsequent sale or other disposition of
the property;
‘‘(B) shall arise at the time costs are first
incurred by the United States with respect to a
response action at the facility;
‘‘(C) shall be subject to the requirements
for notice and validity specified in subsection
(l)(3); and
‘‘(D) shall continue until the earlier of sat-
isfaction of the lien or recovery of all response
costs incurred at the facility.
‘‘(3) CONDITIONS.—The conditions referred to
in paragraph (1) are the following:
‘‘(A) RESPONSE ACTION.—A response ac-
tion for which there are unrecovered costs is
carried out at the facility.
‘‘(B) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—The response
action increases the fair market value of the fa-
cility above the fair market value of the facility
that existed on the date that is 180 days before
the response action was commenced.’’.
(c) DEFINITION OF BONA FIDE PROSPECTIVE PUR-
CHASER.—Section 101 of the Comprehensive Environ-
mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of
1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(39) BONA FIDE PROSPECTIVE PURCHASER.—
The term ‘bona fide prospective purchaser’ means a
person who acquires ownership of a facility after the
date of enactment of the Community Revitalization
and Brownfield Cleanup Act of 1997, or a tenant of
such a person, who can establish each of the follow-
ing by a preponderance of the evidence:
‘‘(A) DISPOSAL PRIOR TO ACQUISITION.—
All active disposal of hazardous substances at
the facility occurred before the person acquired
the facility.
‘‘(B) INQUIRY.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The person made
all appropriate inquiry into the previous
ownership and uses of the facility in ac-
cordance with generally accepted good
commercial and customary standards and
practices.
‘‘(ii) STANDARDS.—The ASTM stand-
ards described in section 107(o)(2) or the
alternative standards issued or designated
by the President pursuant to that section
shall satisfy the requirements of this sub-
paragraph.
‘‘(iii) RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTY.—In
the case of property in residential or other
similar use at the time of purchase by a
nongovernmental or noncommercial entity,
a site inspection and title search that re-
veal no basis for further investigation shall
satisfy the requirements of this subpara-
graph.
‘‘(C) NOTICES.—The person provided all
legally required notices with respect to the dis-
covery or release of any hazardous substances
at the facility.
‘‘(D) CARE.—The person exercised appro-
priate care with respect to hazardous sub-
stances found at the facility by taking reason-
able steps to—
‘‘(i) stop ongoing releases;
‘‘(ii) prevent threatened future re-
leases of hazardous substances; and
‘‘(iii) prevent or limit human or natu-
ral resource exposure to hazardous sub-
stances previously released into the envi-
ronment.