U.S. EPA’s New "Contiguous Property Owner" Guidance

In early 2002, Congress passed the Brownfields Revitalization Act as a bipartisan compromise piece of legislation aimed at addressing at least some of the perceived ills embodied in the far reaching Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA") or "Superfund" statute. At the heart of the Brownfields Revitalization Act lie expanded liability exemptions for categories of parties that might otherwise fall within the expansive net of liable "owners and operators" of contaminated property under CERCLA. Specifically, the new CERCLA liability protections found in the Brownfields Revitalization Act extend to "innocent landowners," a remnant of the 1986 Amendments to CERCLA, and two new categories of parties - "bona fide prospective purchasers" and "contiguous property owners." In January of this year, U.S. EPA issued new guidance seeking to shed light on the scope of the "Contiguous Property Owner" exemption. The "Contiguous Property