Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/551/128/opinion.html
Timestamp: 2017-10-23 11:49:34
Document Index: 726233448

Matched Legal Cases: ['§107', '§9607', '§107', '§9607', '§107', '§9607', '§107', '§107', '§107', '§113', '§113', '§9613', '§107', '§113', '§886', '§107', '§9607', '§107', '§107', '§107', '§107', '§113', '§9613', '§107', '§106', '§107', '§113', '§107', '§107', '§113']

United States v. Atlantic Research Corp. (Opinion by Justice Thomas) :: 551 U.S. 128 (2007) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 551 › United States v. Atlantic Research Corp. › Opinion
Two provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)—§§107(a) and 113(f)—allow private parties to recover expenses associated with cleaning up contaminated sites. 42 U. S. C. §§9607(a), 9613(f). In this case, we must decide a question left open in Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Aviall Services, Inc., 543 U. S. 157, 161 (2004): whether §107(a) provides so-called potentially responsible parties (PRPs), 42 U. S. C. §§9607(a)(1)–(4), with a cause of action to recover costs from other PRPs. We hold that it does.
Courts have frequently grappled with whether and how PRPs may recoup CERCLA-related costs from other PRPs. The questions lie at the intersection of two statutory provisions—CERCLA §§107(a) and 113(f). Section 107(a) defines four categories of PRPs, 94 Stat. 2781, 42 U. S. C. §§9607(a)(1)–(4), and makes them liable for, among other things:
The parties’ dispute centers on what “other person[s]” may sue under §107(a)(4)(B). The Government argues that “any other person” refers to any person not identified as a PRP in §§107(a)(1)–(4).[Footnote 2] In other words, subparagraph (B) permits suit only by non-PRPs and thus bars Atlantic Research’s claim. Atlantic Research counters that subparagraph (B) takes its cue from subparagraph (A), not the earlier paragraph (1)–(4). In accord with the Court of Appeals, Atlantic Research believes that subparagraph (B) provides a cause of action to anyone except the United States, a State, or an Indian tribe—the persons listed in subparagraph (A). We agree with Atlantic Research.
Statutes must “be read as a whole.” King v. St. Vincent’s Hospital, 502 U. S. 215, 221 (1991). Applying that maxim, the language of suparagraph (B) can be understood only with reference to subparagraph (A). The provisions are adjacent and have remarkably similar structures. Each concerns certain costs that have been incurred by certain entities and that bear a specified relationship to the national contingency plan.[Footnote 3] Bolstering the structural link, the text also denotes a relationship between the two provisions. By using the phrase “other necessary costs,” subparagraph (B) refers to and differentiates the relevant costs from those listed in subparagraph (A).
Finally, permitting PRPs to seek recovery under §107(a) will not eviscerate the settlement bar set forth in §113(f)(2). That provision prohibits §113(f) contribution claims against “[a] person who has resolved its liability to the United States or a State in an administrative or judicially approved settlement … .” 42 U. S. C. §9613(f)(2). The settlement bar does not by its terms protect against cost-recovery liability under §107(a). For several reasons, we doubt this supposed loophole would discourage settlement. First, as stated above, a defendant PRP may trigger equitable apportionment by filing a §113(f) counterclaim. A district court applying traditional rules of equity would undoubtedly consider any prior settlement as part of the liability calculus. Cf. Restatement (Second) of Torts §886A(2), p. 337 (1977) (“No tortfeasor can be required to make contribution beyond his own equitable share of the liability”). Second, the settlement bar continues to provide significant protection from contribution suits by PRPs that have inequitably reimbursed the costs incurred by another party. Third, settlement carries the inherent benefit of finally resolving liability as to the United States or a State.[Footnote 8]
“The national contingency plan specifies procedures for preparing and responding to contaminations and was promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency … .” Cooper Industries Inc. v. Aviall Services, Inc., 543 U. S. 157, 161, n. 2 (2004) (citing 40 CFR pt. 300 (2004)).
Congress amended the statute in 2002 to exempt some bona fide prospective purchasers (BFPPs) from liability under §107(a). See 42 U. S. C. §9607(r)(1) (2000 ed., Supp. IV). The Government claims that these persons are non-PRPs and therefore qualify as “any other person” under its interpretation of §107(a)(4)(B). Prior to 2002, however, the statute made this small set of persons liable as PRPs. Accordingly, even if BFPPs now give some life to the Government’s interpretation of §107(a)(4)(B), it would be implausible at best to conclude that §107(a)(4)(B) lay dormant until the enactment of §107(r)(1) in 2002.
Similarly, §113(f)(3)(B) permits a PRP to seek contribution after it “has resolved its liability to the United States or a State … in an administrative or judicially approved settlement … .” 42 U. S. C. §9613(f)(3)(B).
We do not suggest that §§107(a)(4)(B) and 113(f) have no overlap at all. Key Tronic Corp. v. United States, 511 U. S. 809, 816 (1994) (stating the statutes provide “similar and somewhat overlapping remed[ies]”). For instance, we recognize that a PRP may sustain expenses pursuant to a consent decree following a suit under §106 or §107(a). See, e.g., United Technologies Corp. v. Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc., 33 F. 3d 96, 97 (CA1 1994). In such a case, the PRP does not incur costs voluntarily but does not reimburse the costs of another party. We do not decide whether these compelled costs of response are recoverable under §113(f), §107(a), or both. For our purposes, it suffices to demonstrate that costs incurred voluntarily are recoverable only by way of §107(a)(4)(B), and costs of reimbursement to another person pursuant to a legal judgment or settlement are recoverable only under §113(f). Thus, at a minimum, neither remedy swallows the other, contrary to the Government’s argument.