EPA Issues Guidance on CERCLA Contiguous Landowner Defense

Originally published 2nd Quarter 2004

As described in our fourth quarter 2001 newsletter, on January 11, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. The law provides the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with independent legislative authority to provide funding and technical assistance to state, tribal, and local governments for evaluation and cleanup of Brownfields properties. Among other things, the law attempts to encourage redevelopment by expanding the definition of a Brownfields site, expanding the types of entities eligible for Brownfields funding, increasing the types of grants available, and establishing independent funding authority for EPA’s Brownfields program. The law also allows EPA to fund Brownfields properties being addressed under other environmental statutes.