law
Superfund (CERCLA)
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), known as Superfund, is a federal law that funds and directs cleanup of hazardous waste sites. It imposes strict, joint and several, and retroactive liability on potentially responsible parties, which can include current and past owners, operators, and those who arranged for disposal. Buyers may reduce risk by doing proper environmental due diligence before purchase.
- Exam tip
- Key tested idea: liability is strict, joint and several, and retroactive, so a current owner can be liable even without causing the pollution. Innocent landowner protection usually requires appropriate inquiry, such as a Phase I environmental assessment.
- Example
- A company buys an old factory site without an environmental review and later learns the soil is contaminated by a prior owner. The new owner may be held liable for cleanup costs.
Related terms & state variants
Sources
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Last verified: 2026-10-23