Contribution Rights in the United States

Contribution Rights in Environmental Law

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, persons who clean up a hazardous waste site may sue other potentially responsible parties to force them to pay a portion of the cleanup costs. This provision of the statute eases the burden of the strict joint and several liability of the law.

A contribution action may be brought in conjunction with a cost recovery lawsuit, or it may follow one. The case law is murky on contribution, with courts often treating it as cost recovery is treated that is, the person suing for contribution must prove that their cleanup work is consistent with the National Contingency Plan.

In determining the right of contribution, the courts will evaluate the defendant’s participation in creating the hazardous waste site. To decide how much contribution is required, the court will look at the volume of waste, its toxicity, the activity that involved the defendant in the site (ownership of property or waste disposal), the degree of care exercised, and cooperation with the government.

One benefit of settling a case for Superfund cleanup with the government is contribution protection. The statute itself provides that if a potentialy “tesporfi&te” party has settled, it cannot be liable to another party for those matters addressed. Thus contribution protection can’be qmte aVctac. tive to persons who are involved in a multiparty cleanup.
Based on “Environment and the Law. A Dictionary”.