[20210312]IF11790_《综合环境响应、赔偿和责任法》（CERCLA）规定的责任.pdf

https:/crsreports.congress.gov March 12, 2021Liability Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) establishes a framework to remediate certain types of contaminated sites and to hold the parties connected to those sites responsible for cleanup costs. CERCLA authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up contaminated sites subject to annual appropriations, and to compel entities that bear responsibility for all or part of the contamination at a site to perform or pay for cleanup activities. Additionally, parties that incur cleanup costs may seek to recoup those costs from other parties or from the Superfund Trust Fund. This In Focus provides an overview of the legal structures governing CERCLA liability in enforcement actions and suits by private parties. Response Actions Section 104(a) of CERCLA authorizes the President to respond to a release (or substantial threat of a release) of a hazardous substance into the environment, or of a pollutant or contaminant that may present an “imminent and substantial dang