Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/17-1498_8mjp.pdf
Page Number: 4

4 

ATLANTIC RICHFIELD CO. v. CHRISTIAN 

Syllabus 

responsible parties, and EPA does not have authority to alter that def-
inition. 

The landowners also argue that §122(e)(6) cannot carry the weight
ascribed to it because it is located in the section on settlement negoti-
ations.  Settlements, however, are the heart of the Superfund statute.
Section  122(a)  of  the  Act  commands  EPA  to  proceed  by  settlement 
“[w]henever practicable and in the public interest . . . in order to expe-
dite  effective  remedial  actions  and  minimize  litigation.”    And  EPA’s 
efforts to negotiate settlement agreements and issue orders for clean-
ups account for approximately 69% of all cleanup work currently un-
derway.  Pp. 13–21. 

390 Mont. 76, 408 P. 3d 515, affirmed in part, vacated in part, and re-

manded. 

ROBERTS, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, Parts I and II–A of 
which were unanimous, Part II–B of which was joined by THOMAS, GINS-
BURG, BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, KAGAN, GORSUCH, and KAVANAUGH, JJ., and 
Part III of which was joined by GINSBURG, BREYER, ALITO, SOTOMAYOR, 
KAGAN, and  KAVANAUGH,  JJ.  ALITO,  J.,  filed  an  opinion  concurring  in
part  and  dissenting  in  part.  GORSUCH,  J.,  filed  an  opinion  concurring 
part and dissenting in part, in which THOMAS, J., joined.