I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1831
To provide certain relief for small businesses from liability under the Com-
prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 15, 2001
Mr. GILLMOR (for himself, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr.
SHIMKUS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr.
TAUZIN, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. OTTER, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr.
TOWNS, Mr. THUNE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. GORDON,
Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. FER-
GUSON, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. PETRI, Mr.
SANDLIN, Mrs. BONO, Mr. JOHN, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. FILNER, Mr.
WALDEN, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. MASCARA, Mrs. WILSON, Mrs.
CAPPS, Mr. BAKER, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. BASS, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr.
JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr.
GILCHREST, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BUYER, Mr. HORN, Mr.
EVANS, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. KIND, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. SHER-
WOOD, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr.
GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr.
MCHUGH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide certain relief for small businesses from liability
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com-
pensation, 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 Protection Act’’.
SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS LIABILITY RELIEF.
(a) EXEMPTIONS.—Section 107 of the Comprehen-
sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil-
ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9607) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsections:
‘‘(o) DE MICROMIS EXEMPTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), a person shall not be liable, with respect
to response costs at a facility on the National Prior-
ities List, under this Act if liability is based solely
on paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (a), and the
person, except as provided in paragraph (4) of this
subsection, can demonstrate that—
‘‘(A) the total amount of the material con-
taining hazardous substances that the person
arranged for disposal or treatment of, arranged
with a transporter for transport for disposal or
treatment of, or accepted for transport for dis-
posal or treatment, at the facility was less than
110 gallons of liquid materials or less than 200
pounds of solid materials (or such greater or
lesser amounts as the Administrator may deter-
mine by regulation); and
‘‘(B) all or part of the disposal, treatment,
or transport concerned occurred before April 1,
2001.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply in a case in which—
‘‘(A) the President determines that—
‘‘(i) the materials containing haz-
ardous substances referred to in paragraph
(1) have contributed significantly or could
contribute significantly, either individually
or in the aggregate, to the cost of the re-
sponse action or natural resource restora-
tion with respect to the facility; or
‘‘(ii) the person has failed to comply
with an information request or administra-
tive subpoena issued by the President
under this Act or has impeded or is imped-
ing, through action or inaction, the per-
formance of a response action or natural
resource restoration with respect to the fa-
cility; or
‘‘(B) a person has been convicted of a
criminal violation for the conduct to which the
exemption would apply, and that conviction has
not been vitiated on appeal or otherwise.
‘‘(3) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A determination
by the President under paragraph (2)(A) shall not
be subject to judicial review.
‘‘(4) NONGOVERNMENTAL
THIRD-PARTY
CON-
TRIBUTION ACTIONS.—In the case of a contribution
action, with respect to response costs at a facility on
the National Priorities List, brought by a party,
other than a Federal, State, or local government,
under this Act, the burden of proof shall be on the
party bringing the action to demonstrate that the
conditions described in paragraph (1)(A) and (B) of
this subsection are not met.
‘‘(p) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE EXEMPTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2) of this subsection, a person shall not be
liable, with respect to response costs at a facility on
the National Priorities List, under paragraph (3) of
subsection (a) for municipal solid waste disposed of
at a facility if the person, except as provided in
paragraph (5) of this subsection, can demonstrate
that the person is—
‘‘(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 (including a parent,
subsidiary, or affiliate of the entity) that, dur-
ing its 3 taxable years preceding the date of
transmittal of written notification from the
President of its potential liability under this
section, employed on average not more than
100 full-time individuals, or the equivalent
thereof, and that is a small business concern
(within the meaning of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.)) from which was gen-
erated all of the municipal solid waste attrib-
utable to the entity 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 of transmittal of written notifi-
cation from the President of its potential liabil-
ity under this section, employed not more than
100 paid individuals at the location from which
was generated all of the municipal solid waste
attributable to the organization with respect to
the facility.
For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘affiliate’
has the meaning of that term provided in the defini-
tion of ‘small business concern’ in regulations pro-
mulgated by the Small Business Administration in
accordance with the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
631 et seq.).
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply in a case in which the President determines
that—
‘‘(A) the municipal solid waste referred to
in paragraph (1) has contributed significantly
or could contribute significantly, either individ-
ually or in the aggregate, to the cost of the re-
sponse action or natural resource restoration
with respect to the facility;
‘‘(B) the person has failed to comply with
an information request or administrative sub-
poena issued by the President under this Act;
or
‘‘(C) the person has impeded or is imped-
ing, through action or inaction, the performance
of a response action or natural resource res-
toration with respect to the facility.
‘‘(3) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A determination
by the President under paragraph (2) shall not be
subject to judicial review.
‘‘(4) 
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); and
‘‘(ii) generated by a commercial, in-
dustrial, or institutional entity, to the ex-
tent that the waste material—
‘‘(I) is essentially the same as
waste normally generated by a house-
hold;
‘‘(II) is collected and disposed of
with other municipal solid waste as
part of normal municipal solid waste
collection services; and
‘‘(III) contains a relative quan-
tity of hazardous substances no great-
er than the relative quantity of haz-
ardous substances contained in waste
material generated by a typical single-
family household.
‘‘(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.
‘‘(5) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In the case of an ac-
tion, with respect to response costs at a facility on
the National Priorities List, brought under section
107 or 113 by—
‘‘(A) a party, other than a Federal, State,
or local government, with respect to municipal
solid waste disposed of on or after April 1,
2001; or
‘‘(B) any party with respect to municipal
solid waste disposed of before April 1, 2001, the
burden of proof shall be on the party bringing
the action to demonstrate that the conditions
described in paragraphs (1) and (4) for exemp-
tion for entities and organizations described in
paragraph (1)(B) and (C) are not met.
‘‘(6) CERTAIN ACTIONS NOT PERMITTED.—No
contribution action may be brought by a party, other
than a Federal, State, or local government, under
this Act with respect to circumstances described in
paragraph (1)(A).
‘‘(7) COSTS
AND
FEES.—A nongovernmental
entity that commences, after the date of the enact-
ment of this subsection, a contribution action under
this Act shall be liable to the defendant for all rea-
sonable costs of defending the action, including all
reasonable attorney’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.—Section 122(g) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 9622(g)) is amended by adding at
the end the following new paragraphs:
‘‘(7) REDUCTION
IN
SETTLEMENT
AMOUNT
BASED ON LIMITED ABILITY TO PAY.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The condition for set-
tlement under this paragraph is that the poten-
tially responsible party is a person who dem-
onstrates to the President an inability or a lim-
ited ability to pay response costs.
‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining
whether or not a demonstration is made under
subparagraph (A) by a person, the President
shall take into consideration the ability of the
person to pay response costs and still maintain
its basic business operations, including consid-
eration of the overall financial condition of the
person and demonstrable constraints on the
ability of the person to raise revenues.
‘‘(C) INFORMATION.—A person requesting
settlement under this paragraph shall promptly
provide the President with all relevant informa-
tion needed to determine the ability of the per-
son to pay response costs.
‘‘(D) 
ALTERNATIVE
PAYMENT
METH-
ODS.—If the President determines that a per-
son is unable to pay its total settlement amount
at the time of settlement, the President shall
consider such alternative payment methods as
may be necessary or appropriate.
‘‘(8) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR EXPEDITED
SETTLEMENTS.—
‘‘(A) WAIVER OF CLAIMS.—The President
shall require, as a condition for settlement
under this subsection, that a potentially respon-
sible party waive all of the claims (including a
claim for contribution under this Act) that the
party may have against other potentially re-
sponsible parties for response costs incurred
with respect to the facility, unless the President
determines that requiring a waiver would be un-
just.
‘‘(B) FAILURE
TO
COMPLY.—The Presi-
dent may decline to offer a settlement to a po-
tentially responsible party under this subsection
if the President determines that the potentially
responsible party has failed to comply with any
request for access or information or an adminis-
trative subpoena issued by the President under
this Act or has impeded or is impeding, through
action or inaction, the performance of a re-
sponse action with respect to the facility.
‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE INFOR-
MATION AND ACCESS.—A potentially responsible
party that enters into a settlement under this
subsection shall not be relieved of the responsi-
bility to provide any information or access re-
quested in accordance with subsection (e)(3)(B)
or section 104(e).
‘‘(9) BASIS OF DETERMINATION.—If the Presi-
dent determines that a potentially responsible party
is not eligible for settlement under this subsection,
the President shall provide the reasons for the deter-
mination in writing to the potentially responsible
party that requested a settlement under this sub-
section.
‘‘(10) NOTIFICATION.—As soon as practicable
after receipt of sufficient information to make a de-
termination, the President shall notify any person
that the President determines is eligible under para-
graph (1) of the person’s eligibility for an expedited
settlement.
‘‘(11) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A determination
by the President under paragraph (7), (8), (9), or
(10) shall not be subject to judicial review.
‘‘(12) NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT.—After a set-
tlement under this subsection becomes final with re-
spect to a facility, the President shall promptly no-
tify potentially responsible parties at the facility that
have not resolved their liability to the United States
of the settlement.’’.
SEC. 3. EFFECT ON CONCLUDED ACTIONS.
The amendments made by this Act shall not apply
to or in any way affect any settlement lodged in, or judg-
ment issued by, a United States District Court, or any
administrative settlement or order entered into or issued
by the United States or any State, before the date of the
enactment of this Act.
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