US Supreme Court Drastically Limits Scope of
Federal Environmental Cost Recovery Liability

The United States Supreme Court issued on December 13, 2004 an important decision in Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Aviall Services, Inc. holding that private parties which voluntarily incur response costs to clean up hazardous substances are not entitled to seek contribution from other potentially responsible parties under section 113(f)(1) of CERCLA. Virtually all courts had previously held that such parties did have the right to bring contribution claims under this provision. Significantly, however, the Court did not resolve the question of whether such parties could recover their costs from other potentially responsible parties under another provision of CERCLA, section 107. Therefore, the decision could spawn considerable litigation under section 107.

According to the Court's ruling, a party can only seek contribution under CERCLA Section 113(f) after:

1. USEPA or state authority take civil action under CERCLA Section 106 or 107 (for example, a mere directive using state water law as authority from a regional water quality control board is NOT enough);
   
2. The private party enters into an administrative settlement (such as an Administrative Order on Consent) with the USEPA or state authority.

For the full Supreme Court decision in PDF format Click here .

The case will dramatically limit remedies available to plaintiffs under the federal Superfund law and have other general impacts on federal environmental cost recovery litigation.

The information in this Bulletin was made available by:

Kenneth A. Ehrlich
Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP
1900 Avenue of the Stars, 7th Floor Los Angeles, California 90067
Telephone: (310) 785-5395 Fax: (310) 203-0567
E-mail: kae@jmbm.com Website: www.jmbm.com

Call me if you've got any questions. There are no obligations.

Ami Adini
Ami Adini & Associates, Inc.
Environmental Consultants
Underground Storage Tank Experts
323-913-4073; 323-667-2336 fax
mail@amiadini.com
www.amiadini.com

Ami Adini is a mechanical engineer, California Registered Environmental Assessor, Level II, and president of AMI ADINI & ASSOCIATES, INC. (AA&A), an environmental consulting firm specializing in all phases of environmental site assessments, rehabilitation of contaminated sites and upgrading of underground storage tank facilities. AA&A supplies practical solutions to environmental concerns using the highest standards of ethics and integrity while providing its clients with maximum return on their investments.