Opinion ID: 2967972
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Heading: The Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Text: Compensation, and Liability Act CERCLA was enacted in December 1980, and it is codified as Chapter 103 (entitled Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability) of Title 42. 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq. CERCLA was a congressional response to public concern over the 4 Under RCRA, a guarantor is any person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator [of a hazardous waste facility] under [42 U.S.C. § 6924]. Id. § 6924(t)(4). And evidence of financial responsibility, as required under 42 U.S.C. § 6924, may be established by insurance coverage. Id. § 6924(t)(1). 6 S.C. DEP’T OF HEALTH v. COMMERCE AND INDUS. INS. improper disposal of hazardous waste, and its two primary goals have been recognized as (1) the promotion of prompt and effective cleanup of hazardous waste sites, and (2) the sharing of financial responsibility among those parties who created the hazards. Aviall Servs., Inc. v. Cooper Indus., Inc., 312 F.3d 677, 681 (5th Cir. 2002). In order to attain these goals, CERCLA generally imposes strict liability on owners and operators of facilities from which hazardous substances were released, and it authorizes civil actions against certain statutorily-defined responsible parties to recover the costs incurred in cleaning up hazardous waste disposal sites. 3550 Stevens Creek Assocs. v. Barclays Bank, 915 F.2d 1355, 1357 (9th Cir. 1990). Significantly, any party incurring response costs consistent with the statutorily-mandated and EPA-created National Contingency Plan (NCP)5 is authorized to seek recovery of those costs from other potentially responsible parties by way of a CERCLA cost-recovery claim. 42 U.S.C. § 9607(a). A cost-recovery claim may be asserted under section 107 of CERCLA by a government or private entity seeking to recover from a responsible party any response costs incurred in remediating a hazardous waste facility. R.M. Hall, Jr., et al., Superfund Manual: Legal and Management Strategies 4-13 (3d ed., Gov’t Insts., Inc., 1988). Under CERCLA, the term potentially responsible party (PRP) is deemed by the EPA to be [t]he person or persons who may be held liable for hazardous substance contamination under CERCLA. PRPs may include the owners and operators, generators, transporters, and disposers of the hazardous substances. Orientation Manual, app. D. In October 1986, CERCLA was amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, which was also codified in Chapter 103 of Title 42. As a result, Chapter 103 now expressly authorizes a CERCLA cause of action for contribution. 42 U.S.C. § 9613(f). Pursuant thereto, any party incurring response costs consistent with the NCP may seek its cleanup costs from other PRPs by way of a CERCLA contribution claim. Id. 5 The NCP, codified at 40 C.F.R. Part 300, constitutes the EPA’s implementation of the CERCLA response process and provides information about the roles and responsibilities of the EPA, the various states, and private parties regarding the release of hazardous substances and the remediation of areas impacted by such a release. S.C. DEP’T OF HEALTH v. COMMERCE AND INDUS. INS. 7 Furthermore, CERCLA (Chapter 103 of Title 42), like RCRA (Chapter 82 of Title 42), contains a direct action provision. The CERCLA direct action provision authorizes a party to assert any claim authorized by § 9607 or § 9611 directly against any guarantor providing evidence of financial responsibility under CERCLA.6 42 U.S.C. § 9608(c)(2). Although the EPA has promulgated regulations giving effect to the RCRA Provision by establishing financial responsibility requirements thereunder, see 40 C.F.R. § 264.140 et seq. (establishing RCRA’s financial responsibility requirements), no financial responsibility regulations have been promulgated by the EPA to implement the CERCLA direct action provision with respect to onshore CERCLA facilities (such as the facility at issue here). CERCLA required the promulgation of regulations establishing minimum levels of financial responsibility for the operation of hazardous waste facilities under CERCLA. 42 U.S.C. § 9608(b)(1). Although the executive was mandated to promulgate those regulations not earlier than five years after December 11, 1980, id., no such regulations have been promulgated.