Does the new small business/Brownfields law recently enacted have an impact on Beede?
On January 11, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitilization Act (Public. Law. No. 107-118). This law contains several exemptions to CERCLA liability, including liability relief for “de micromis” waste contributors. At this time, we believe that this new law has little or no impact on EPA’s enforcement strategy and liability determinations at the Beede Site. While the new law exempts from liability small volume “de micromis” parties that contributed 110 gallons of hazardous waste or less to a Superfund site, EPA has already met and exceeded this requirement by promising to protect all parties that contributed 275 gallons of hazardous waste or less to Beede. The new law also codifies EPA’s practice of offering ability to pay settlements to eligible parties at Superfund sites, by providing for conditional expedited settlements with eligible persons that demonstrate an inability or limited ability to pay response costs. Consistent
