Opinion ID: 795431
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facial Inconsistency

Text: 63 Cooper Industries did not explicitly or implicitly overrule our precedents; indeed, the Supreme Court expressly declined to consider the very questions at issue here. See Cooper Indus., 543 U.S. at 168-71, 125 S.Ct. 577. Though it is true that our observation in Reading that § 113(f)(1) specifically permits an action for contribution to be brought `in the absence of a civil action under . . . section [107],' 115 F.3d at 1120, cannot support a cause of action for PRPs engaged in voluntary cleanups after Cooper Industries, we reject DuPont's view that this fatally undermines Reading's holding. For one thing (as explained in Part IV.B. 1.b below), our statement in Reading did not necessarily endorse a § 113(f)(1) contribution action in the absence of a preexisting civil action (and is not, therefore, clearly at odds with the Supreme Court's later instructions). But insofar as our statement can be read to recognize implicitly that possibility, it merely  reenforce[d] our conclusion that Congress intended § 113 to be the sole means for seeking contribution. Id. (emphasis added). We also relied on our precedent in New Castle County, the holdings of other Courts of Appeals, rules of statutory construction, and CERCLA's purpose following the SARA amendments, in deciding that § 113 provides the only contribution remedy under CERCLA. We conclude that, even disregarding the possible implicit reference in Reading to a § 113(f)(1) contribution action in the absence of a § 107 suit, our holding in that case was amply supported on other grounds and therefore survives Cooper Industries. 64