Owners at the Time That Cleanup Costs are Incurred are “Current” Owners Under CERCLA, Court Says
In another recent decision on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §9601 et seq., the Ninth Circuit clarified that the “current” owner is the owner at the time that cleanup costs are incurred for purposes of imposing liability under the act. Enacted thirty years ago, CERCLA is a federal law that creates a scheme for imposing strict liability for the investigation and remediation of contaminated property.
CERCLA imposes cleanup liability on “current” owners of the contaminated property regardless of when the contamination actually occurred. For example, if a person owns a property that is contaminated with a hazardous substance, under CERCLA they are responsible to cleanup the property even if they did not cause the contamination. Past owners are only responsible if the contamination of the property occurred during their ownership.
