[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2485 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2485

 To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
  Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) to provide liability 
    relief for small parties, innocent landowners, and prospective 
                              purchasers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 16, 1997

  Mr. Stupak (for himself, Mr. Goodling, Mr. Hefley, and Mr. McHale) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
   Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and 
   Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
  Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) to provide liability 
    relief for small parties, innocent landowners, and prospective 
                              purchasers.

    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 ``Common Sense Superfund Liability 
Relief Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. SMALL PARTY LIABILITY RELIEF UNDER SUPERFUND.

    (a) Liability Exemption.--Section 107(a) of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
U.S.C. 9607(a)) is amended as follows:
            (1) In paragraph (4), by striking ``by such person,'' and 
        all that follows through ``shall be liable for--'' and 
        inserting in lieu thereof the following: ``by such person--
from which there is a release, or a threatened release, that causes the 
incurrence of response costs, of a hazardous substance, shall be liable 
for--''.
            (2) By designating the text beginning with ``The amounts 
        recoverable'' and ending with ``this subsection commences.'' as 
        paragraph (5) and aligning the margin of such text with 
        paragraph (4).
            (3) By adding the following new paragraph after paragraph 
        (5):
            ``(6)(A) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (4) of this 
        subsection, a person who does not impede the performance of a 
        response action or natural resource restoration at a facility 
        shall not be liable to the extent liability at such facility is 
        based solely on paragraph (3) or (4) of this subsection, and 
        the person arranged for disposal, treatment, or transport for 
        disposal or treatment, or accepted for transport for disposal 
        or treatment of only municipal solid waste or sewage sludge 
        owned or possessed by such person, and the person is--
                    ``(i) the owner, operator, or lessee of residential 
                property;
                    ``(ii) a small business; or
                    ``(iii) a small non-profit organization.
            ``(B) This paragraph shall have no effect on the liability 
        of any other person.''.
    (b) Small Business Defined.--Section 101 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
9601) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(39) Small business.--The term `small business' refers to 
        any business entity that employs no more than 100 individuals 
        and is a `small business concern' as defined under the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.).''.

SEC. 3. INNOCENT LANDOWNER PROTECTION UNDER SUPERFUND.

    (a) Environmental Site Assessment.--Section 107 of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9607) is further amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(o) Innocent Landowners.--
            ``(1) Conduct of environmental assessment.--A person who 
        has acquired real property shall have made all appropriate 
        inquiry within the meaning of subparagraph (B) of section 
        101(35) if he establishes that, within 180 days prior to the 
        time of acquisition, an environmental site assessment of the 
        real property was conducted which meets the requirements of 
        paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Definition of environmental site assessment.--For 
        purposes of this subsection, the term `environmental site 
        assessment' means an assessment conducted in accordance with 
        the standards set forth in the American Society for Testing and 
        Materials (ASTM) Standard E1527-94, titled `Standard Practice 
        for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site 
        Assessment Process' or with alternative standards issued by 
        rule by the President or promulgated or developed by others and 
        designated by rule by the President. Before issuing or 
        designating alternative standards, the President shall first 
        conduct a study of commercial and industrial practices 
        concerning environmental site assessments in the transfer of 
        real property in the United States. Any such standards issued 
        or designated by the President shall also be deemed to 
constitute commercially reasonable and generally accepted standards and 
practices for purposes of this paragraph. In issuing or designating any 
such standards, the President shall consider requirements governing 
each of the following:
                    ``(A) Interviews of owners, operators, and 
                occupants of the property to determine information 
                regarding the potential for contamination.
                    ``(B) Review of historical sources as necessary to 
                determine previous uses and occupancies of the property 
                since the property was first developed. For purposes of 
                this subclause, the term `historical sources' means any 
                of the following, if they are reasonably ascertainable: 
                recorded chain of title documents regarding the real 
                property, including all deeds, easements, leases, 
                restrictions, and covenants, aerial photographs, fire 
                insurance maps, property tax files, USGS 7.5 minutes 
                topographic maps, local street directories, building 
                department records, zoning/land use records, and any 
                other sources that identify past uses and occupancies 
                of the property.
                    ``(C) Determination of the existence of recorded 
                environmental cleanup liens against the real property 
                which have arisen pursuant to Federal, State, or local 
                statutes.
                    ``(D) Review of reasonably ascertainable Federal, 
                State, and local government records of sites or 
                facilities that are likely to cause or contribute to 
                contamination at the real property, including, as 
                appropriate, investigation reports for such sites or 
                facilities; records of activities likely to cause or 
                contribute to contamination at the real property, 
                including landfill and other disposal location records, 
                underground storage tank records, hazardous waste 
                handler and generator records and spill reporting 
                records; and such other reasonably ascertainable 
                Federal, State, and local government environmental 
                records which could reflect incidents or activities 
                which are likely to cause or contribute to 
                contamination at the real property.
                    ``(E) A visual site inspection of the real property 
                and all facilities and improvements on the real 
                property and a visual inspection of immediately 
                adjacent properties, including an investigation of any 
                hazardous substance use, storage, treatment, and 
                disposal practices on the property.
                    ``(F) Any specialized knowledge or experience on 
                the part of the landowner.
                    ``(G) The relationship of the purchase price to the 
                value of the property if uncontaminated.
                    ``(H) Commonly known or reasonably ascertainable 
                information about the property.
                    ``(I) The obviousness of the presence or likely 
                presence of contamination at the property, and the 
                ability to detect such contamination by appropriate 
                investigation.
        A record shall be considered to be `reasonably ascertainable' 
        for purposes of this paragraph if a copy or reasonable 
        facsimile of the record is publicly available by request 
        (within reasonable time and cost constraints) and the record is 
        practically reviewable.
            ``(3) Appropriate inquiry.--A person shall not be treated 
        as having made all appropriate inquiry under paragraph (1) 
        unless--
                    ``(A) the person has maintained a compilation of 
                the information reviewed and gathered in the course of 
                the environmental site assessment;
                    ``(B) the person exercised appropriate care with 
                respect to hazardous substances found at the facility 
                by taking reasonable steps to stop on-going releases, 
                prevent threatened future releases of hazardous 
                substances, and prevent or limit human or natural 
                resource exposure to hazardous substances previously 
                released into the environment; and
                    ``(C) the person provides full cooperation, 
                assistance, and facility access to persons authorized 
                to conduct response actions or natural resource 
                restoration at the facility, including the cooperation 
                and access necessary for the installation, integrity, 
                operation, and maintenance of any complete or partial 
                response action or natural resource restoration at the 
                facility.''.
    (b) Cross Reference.--Section 101(35)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
9601(35)(B)) is amended by inserting after ``all appropriate inquiry'' 
the following: ``(as specified in section 107(o))''.

SEC. 4. PROSPECTIVE PURCHASER PROTECTION UNDER SUPERFUND.

    (a) Limitations on Liability.--Section 107 of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
U.S.C. 9607) is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(p) Limitations on Liability for Prospective Purchasers.--
Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (a), to the 
extent the liability of a person, with respect to a release or the 
threat of a release from a facility, is based solely on subsection 
(a)(1), the person shall not be liable under this Act if the person--
            ``(1) is a bona fide prospective purchaser of the facility; 
        and
            ``(2) does not impede the performance of any response 
        action or natural resource restoration at a facility.''.
    (b) Prospective Purchaser and Windfall Lien.--Section 107 of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
of 1980 (as amended by subsection (a)) is further amended by adding 
after subsection (p) the following new subsection:
    ``(q) Prospective Purchaser and Windfall Lien.--
            ``(1) In general.--In any case in which there are 
        unrecovered response costs at a facility for which an owner of 
        the facility is not liable by reason of subsection (p), and the 
        conditions described in paragraph (3) are met, the United 
        States shall have a lien on the facility, or may obtain, from 
        the appropriate responsible party or parties, a lien on other 
        property or other assurances of payment satisfactory to the 
        Administrator, for the unrecovered costs.
            ``(2) Amount; duration.--The lien--
                    ``(A) shall be for an amount not to exceed the 
                increase in fair market value of the property 
                attributable to the response action at the time of a 
                subsequent sale or other disposition of the property;
                    ``(B) shall arise at the time costs are first 
                incurred by the United States with respect to a 
                response action at the facility;
                    ``(C) shall be subject to the requirements for 
                notice and validity specified in subsection (l)(3); and
                    ``(D) shall continue until the earlier of 
                satisfaction of the lien or recovery of all response 
                costs incurred at the facility.
            ``(3) Conditions.--The conditions referred to in paragraph 
        (1) are the following:
                    ``(A) Response action.--A response action for which 
                there are unrecovered costs is carried out at the 
                facility.
                    ``(B) Fair market value.--The response action 
                increases the fair market value of the facility above 
                the fair market value of the facility that existed on 
                the date that is 180 days before the response action 
                was commenced.''.
    (c) Definition of Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser.--Section 101 of 
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 
Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601) is further amended by adding at the end 
the following:
            ``(40) Bona fide prospective purchaser.--The term `bona 
        fide prospective purchaser' means a person who acquires 
        ownership of a facility after the date of enactment of this 
        paragraph, or a tenant of such a person, who can establish each 
        of the following by a preponderance of the evidence:
                    ``(A) Disposal prior to acquisition.--All active 
                disposal of hazardous substances at the facility 
                occurred before the person acquired the facility.
                    ``(B) Inquiry.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The person made all 
                        appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership 
                        and uses of the facility in accordance with 
                        generally accepted good commercial and 
                        customary standards and practices.
                            ``(ii) Standards.--The ASTM standards 
                        described in section 107(o)(2) or the 
                        alternative standards issued or designated by 
                        the President pursuant to that section shall 
                        satisfy the requirements of this subparagraph.
                            ``(iii) Residential property.--In the case 
                        of property in residential or other similar use 
                        at the time of purchase by a nongovernmental or 
                        noncommercial entity, a site inspection and 
                        title search that reveal no basis for further 
                        investigation shall satisfy the requirements of 
                        this subparagraph.
                    ``(C) Notices.--The person provided all legally 
                required notices with respect to the discovery or 
                release of any hazardous substances at the facility.
                    ``(D) Care.--The person exercised appropriate care 
                with respect to hazardous substances found at the 
                facility by taking reasonable steps to--
                            ``(i) stop ongoing releases;
                            ``(ii) prevent threatened future releases 
                        of hazardous substances; and
                            ``(iii) prevent or limit human or natural 
                        resource exposure to hazardous substances 
                        previously released into the environment.
                    ``(E) Cooperation, assistance, and access.--The 
                person provides full cooperation, assistance, and 
                facility access to such persons as are authorized to 
                conduct response actions at the facility, including the 
                cooperation and access necessary for the installation, 
                integrity, operation, and maintenance of any complete 
                or partial response action at the facility.
                    ``(F) Relationship.--The person is not liable, or 
                is not affiliated with any other person that is 
                potentially liable, for response costs at the facility, 
                through any direct or indirect familial relationship, 
                or any contractual, corporate, or financial 
                relationship other than that created by the instruments 
                by which title to the facility is conveyed or 
                financed.''.
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