On June 11, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision in United States v. Atlantic Research Corp., No. 06-562, 127 S.Ct. 2331 (2007), that effectively makes it easier for parties that voluntarily clean up contaminated properties to sue for cost recovery under the federal Superfund law, also known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. � 9601. The Supreme Court’s decision ended a controversial debate regarding whether CERCLA allows costs recovery actions by certain private parties even if they are potentially responsible parties, or PRPs, for the contamination.
CERCLA is the primary basis of recovery for the cleanup of contaminated sites. In 1986, when Congress amended CERCLA through the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, two crucial provisions of CERCLA became the potential means for recovering cleanup costs from other PRPs � Sections 107(a) and 113(f).
