What happens to a Superfund contribution claim when the contribution plaintiff—the party that spent money to clean up or to reimburse the government—collects on its insurance? Superfund practitioners have often ignored this question, but the traction it receives and the confusion it causes when someone raises it suggest that careful lawyers ought to attend to it.
Section 113 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. § 9613, provides the principal mechanisms through which responsible parties may reallocate among themselves the costs of responding to releases of hazardous substances. Section 113(f)(1) allows a contribution claim to be brought “during or after” any enforcement claim brought against the contribution plaintiff. Alternatively, Section 113(f)(3)(B) allows any person who has resolved any part of his or her responsibility to the United States or a state in a settlement approved by a court or an administrative agency to bring a contribution claim.
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