Opinion ID: 213952
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: CERCLA Framework

Text: Two provisions of [CERCLA] §§ 107(a) and 113(f)allow private parties to recover expenses associated with cleaning up contaminated sites. United States v. Atl. Research Corp., 551 U.S. 128, 131, 127 S.Ct. 2331, 168 L.Ed.2d 28 (2007). Though complementary, §§ 107(a) and 113(f) provide two `clearly distinct' remedies, id. at 138, 127 S.Ct. 2331, to persons in different procedural circumstances, id. at 139, 127 S.Ct. 2331 (quotation omitted). Section 107(a)(4)(B) permits a private party who has voluntarily incurred costs cleaning up a site for which it may be held liable to recover necessary response costs from another liable party through a direct recovery action. See id. at 133-34, 127 S.Ct. 2331, aff'g Atl. Research Corp. v. United States, 459 F.3d 827 (8th Cir.2006). Section 113(f), enacted after § 107 as part of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), Pub.L. No. 99-499, 100 Stat. 1613 (1986), authorizes one [potentially responsible party] to sue another for contribution in certain circumstances. Id. at 132, 127 S.Ct. 2331. Section 113(f)(1) allows a person to seek contribution from any other person who is liable or potentially liable under § 107(a) during or following a civil action under §§ 106 or 107. Section 113(f)(3)(B) authorizes [a] person who has resolved its liability to the United States or a State for some or all of a response action or for some or all of the costs of such action in an administrative or judicially approved settlement to seek contribution from any person who has not so resolved its liability. The term contribution has its traditional meaning of a tortfeasor's right to collect from others responsible for the same tort after the tortfeasor has paid more than his or her proportionate share, the shares being determined as a percentage of fault. Atl. Research, 551 U.S. at 138, 127 S.Ct. 2331 (quoting Black's Law Dictionary 353 (8th ed.2004)). The right to contribution under § 113(f)(1) is contingent upon an inequitable distribution of common liability among liable parties. Id. at 139, 127 S.Ct. 2331. The right to contribution under § 113(f) is more limited than the right to recover costs under § 107(a). See Atl. Research, 459 F.3d at 832. A person seeking contribution under § 113(f) may be subject to the equitable allocation of response costs, see § 113(f)(1), and may not recover from previously settling parties, see § 113(f)(2). Such claims are also subordinate to the rights of the United States or a State, see § 113(f)(3)(C), and subject to a shorter limitation period than cost-recovery claims, see § 113(g)(2)-(3). To ensure the continued vitality of the precise and limited right to contribution Congress set forth in § 113, we have held the right to bring a cost-recovery action under § 107 is available to parties who have incurred necessary costs of response, but have neither been sued nor settled their liability under §§ 106 or 107. Atl. Research, 459 F.3d at 835. [L]iable parties which have been subject to §§ 106 or 107 enforcement actions are still required to use § 113. Id. at 836-37. See also, Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 596 F.3d 112, 128 (2d Cir.2010) (holding that allowing a liable party whose claims fit § 113(f) to proceed under § 107(a) would in effect nullify the SARA amendment and abrogate the requirements Congress placed on contribution claims under § 113); ITT Indus., Inc. v. BorgWarner, Inc., 506 F.3d 452, 458 (6th Cir.2007) (To maintain the vitality of § 113(f), however, [potentially responsible parties] who have been subject to a civil action pursuant to §§ 106 or 107 or who have entered into a judicially or administratively approved settlement must seek contribution under § 113(f).). In affirming our decision in Atlantic Research, the Supreme Court noted the potential for overlap between §§ 107(a) and 113(f), but declined to decide whether a liable party sustaining expenses pursuant to a consent decree following a suit under §§ 106 or 107(a) could recover such compelled costs under § 107(a), § 113(f), or both. Atl. Research, 551 U.S. at 139 n. 6, 127 S.Ct. 2331. We necessarily reach that issue in these appeals, and hold that § 113(f) provides the exclusive remedy for a liable party compelled to incur response costs pursuant to an administrative or judicially approved settlement under §§ 106 or 107. See Atl. Research, 459 F.3d at 830 n. 4 (explaining our holding in Dico, Inc. v. Amoco Oil Co., 340 F.3d 525, 531 (8th Cir.2003), that a liable party cannot bring an action under § 107 remains viable for those parties which still have recourse to relief under § 113).