United States v. Atlantic Research Corporation (551 U.S. 128)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 11, 2007 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 551 U.S. 128 · 127 S. Ct. 2331
- Decided
- June 11, 2007
- Term
- October Term 2006
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. Two provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) — §§ 107(a) and 113(f) — allow private parties to recover expenses associated with cleaning up contaminated sites. 42 U. S. C. §§ 9607(a), 9613(f). In this case, we must decide a question left open in Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Aviall Services, Inc., 543 U. S. 157, 161 (2004): whether § 107(a) provides so-called potentially responsible parties (PRPs), 42 U. S. C. §§9607(a)(l)-(4), with a cause of action to recover costs from other PRPs. We hold that it does. I A Courts have frequently grappled with whether and how PRPs may recoup CERCLA-related costs from other PRPs. The questions lie at the intersection of two statutory provisions — CERCLA §§ 107(a) and 113(f). Section 107(a) defines four categories of PRPs, 94 Stat. 2781, 42 U. S. C. §§9607(a)(l)-(4), and makes them liable for, among other things: “(A) all costs of removal or remedial action incurred by the United States Government or a State or an Indian tribe not inconsistent with the national contingency plan; [and] “(B) any other necessary costs of response incurred by any other person consistent with the national contingency plan.” §§ 9607(a)(4)(A)-(B). Enacted as part of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), 100 Stat. 1613, § 113(f)…
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