[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1742 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  2d Session
                                S. 1742

 To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 to exempt minor parties from liability under the 
                      Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 9, 1996

  Mr. Specter (for himself and Mr. Santorum) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 to exempt minor parties from liability under the 
                      Act, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Minor Party Liability Relief Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MINOR PARTY LIABILITY.

    Section 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9607) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``of this section'' and 
        inserting ``and the limitation in subsection (n)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(n) Minor Parties.--
            ``(1) No liability.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
        person (other than the United States or a department, agency, 
        or instrumentality of the United States) shall not be liable 
        under this section for costs or damages at a facility (other 
        than a facility that is owned by the United States and listed 
        on the National Priorities List) if--
                    ``(A) the liability of the person with respect to 
                the facility is based solely on paragraph (3) or (4) of 
                subsection (a); and
                    ``(B) the person arranged for disposal or treatment 
                of, or transport for disposal or treatment or accepted 
                for transport for disposal or treatment of--
                            ``(i) 110 gallons or less of liquid 
                        material containing a hazardous substance or 
                        pollutant or contaminant; or
                            ``(ii) 200 pounds or less of solid 
                        materials containing a hazardous substance or 
                        pollutant or contaminant;
                or such greater or lesser amount as the Administrator 
                may determine by regulation.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to a person 
        with respect to a facility if--
                    ``(A) the material of which the person arranged for 
                disposal, treatment, or transport has contributed or 
                may contribute significantly to the costs of response 
                at the facility; or
                    ``(B) the person failed to respond fully to an 
                information request or administrative subpoena by the 
                United States.''.
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