Question

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) uses the Superfund to clean up uncontrolled hazardous waste sites and with the exception of the innocent landowner,

1) imposes strict, joint and several, and retroactive liability on potentially responsible parties.
2) releases from liability those owners of contaminated property who did not actually cause the contamination, even though the contamination was known at the time of the property purchase.
3) makes no provision for recovering Superfund expenses incurred in cleanup operations.
4) exempts the parties from responsibility for sites that contaminate neighboring properties.

Answer 1

CERCLA, through its Superfund program, imposes strict, joint, and several liabilities on responsible parties for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites. It includes provisions for cost recovery from PRPs and does offer some exemptions for innocent landowners. The Superfund program illustrates the law's goal to manage hazardous waste responsibly and protect human health and the environment.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its Superfund program play a critical role in addressing hazardous waste sites. Superfund is tasked with cleaning up locations that pose a significant risk to human health and the environment. Part of its mandate is to hold potentially responsible parties (PRPs) accountable for contamination, demonstrating the act's commitment to strict, joint, and several, as well as retroactive liability.

In response to the major environmental crises such as the Love Canal tragedy, the Superfund has been pivotal in analyzing and remediating numerous sites. However, certain aspects of the Superfund are often misunderstood or misrepresented. For example, it is not true that all property owners of contaminated sites are exempt from liability; the act provides a narrow exemption for innocent landowners.

Furthermore, contrary to some misconceptions, CERCLA does make provisions for recovering the costs of cleanups, ensuring that those responsible for hazardous waste contribute to the economic burden of remediation. The aim is to protect water quality, manage hazardous waste from cradle to grave, and encourage safe recycling of such waste materials, aligning with earlier acts such as the Clean Water Act.