- act of God
means an unanticipated grave natural disaster or other natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable, and irresistible character, the effects of which could not have been prevented or avoided by the exercise of due care or foresight.
- Administrator
means the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
- affiliate
has the meaning of that term provided in the definition of “small business concern” in regulations promulgated by the Small Business Administration in accordance with the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.).
- alternative or innovative treatment technologies
means those technologies, including proprietary or patented methods, which permanently alter the composition of hazardous waste through chemical, biological, or physical means so as to significantly reduce the toxicity, mobility, or volume (or any combination thereof) of the hazardous waste or contaminated materials being treated.
- alternative water supplies
includes, but is not limited to, drinking water and household water supplies.
- animal waste
means feces, urine, or other excrement, digestive emission, urea, or similar substances emitted by animals (including any form of livestock, poultry, or fish).
- applicable limitations period
means the period specified in a statute of limitations during which a civil action referred to in subsection (a)(1) may be brought.
- barrel
means forty-two United States gallons at sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
- base closure law
includes the following:
- bona fide prospective purchaser
means, with respect to a facility—
- brownfield site
includes a site that—
- claim
means a demand in writing for a sum certain.
- claimant
means any person who presents a claim for compensation under this chapter.
- commencement date
means the date specified in a statute of limitations as the beginning of the applicable limitations period.
- damages
means damages for injury or loss of natural resources as set forth in section 9607(a) or 9611(b) of this title.
- disadvantaged area
means a community with an annual median household income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual median household income, as determined by the President based on the latest available decennial census.
- drinking water supply
means any raw or finished water source that is or may be used by a public water system (as defined in the Safe Drinking Water Act [42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.]) or as drinking water by one or more individuals.
- eligible entity
means—
- eligible response site
means a site that meets the definition of a brownfield site in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (39), as modified by subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this paragraph.
- environment
means (A) the navigable waters, the waters of the contiguous zone, and the ocean waters of which the natural resources are under the exclusive management authority of the United States under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act [16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.], and (B) any other surface water, ground water, drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata, or ambient air within the United States or under the jurisdiction of the United States.
- extension of credit
includes a lease finance transaction—
- facility
means (A) any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, or aircraft, or (B) any site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located;
- farm
means a site or area (including associated structures) that—
- federally permitted release
means (A) discharges in compliance with a permit under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act [33 U.S.C. 1342], (B) discharges resulting from circumstances identified and reviewed and made part of the public record with respect to a permit issued or modified under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and subject to a condition of such permit, (C) continuous or anticipated intermittent discharges from a point source, identified in a permit or permit application under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which are caused by events occurring within the scope of relevant operating or treatment systems, (D) discharges in compliance with a legally enforceable permit under section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act [33 U.S.C. 1344], (E) releases in compliance with a legally enforceable final permit issued pursuant to section 3005(a) through (d) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act [42 U.S.C. 6925(a)–(d)] from a hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility when such permit specifically identifies the hazardous substances and makes such substances subject to a standard of practice, control
- federally required commencement date
means the date the plaintiff knew (or reasonably should have known) that the personal injury or property damages referred to in subsection (a)(1) were caused or contributed to by the hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant concerned.
- fiduciary capacity
means the capacity of a person in holding title to a vessel or facility, or otherwise having control of or an interest in the vessel or facility, pursuant to the exercise of the responsibilities of the person as a fiduciary.
- financial or administrative function
includes a function such as that of a credit manager, accounts payable officer, accounts receivable officer, personnel manager, comptroller, or chief financial officer, or a similar function.
- ground water
means water in a saturated zone or stratum beneath the surface of land or water.
- guarantor
means any person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator under this chapter.
- hazardous substance
means (A) any substance designated pursuant to section 311(b)(2)(A) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act [33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(2)(A)], (B) any element, compound, mixture, solution, or substance designated pursuant to section 9602 of this title, (C) any hazardous waste having the characteristics identified under or listed pursuant to section 3001 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act [42 U.S.C. 6921] (but not including any waste the regulation of which under the Solid Waste Disposal Act [42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.] has been suspended by Act of Congress), (D) any toxic pollutant listed under section 307(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act [33 U.S.C. 1317(a)], (E) any hazardous air pollutant listed under section 112 of the Clean Air Act [42 U.S.C. 7412], and (F) any imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture with respect to which the Administrator has taken action pursuant to section 7 of the Toxic Substances Control Act [15 U.S.C. 2606].
- incineration vessel
means any vessel which carries hazardous substances for the purpose of incineration of such substances, so long as such substances or residues of such substances are on board.
- Indian tribe
means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village but not including any Alaska Native regional or village corporation, which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.
- insurance
means liability insurance which is fair and reasonably priced, as determined by the President, and which is made available at the time the contractor enters into the response action contract to provide response action.
- lender
means—
- municipal solid waste
means waste material—
- national contingency plan
means the national contingency plan published under section 311(c) 4 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or revised pursuant to section 9605 of this title.
- natural resource claim
means any claim for injury to, or destruction or loss of, natural resources.
- natural resources
means land, fish, wildlife, biota, air, water, ground water, drinking water supplies, and other such resources belonging to, managed by, held in trust by, appertaining to, or otherwise controlled by the United States (including the resources of the fishery conservation zone established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act [16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.]), any State or local government, any foreign government, any Indian tribe, or, if such resources are subject to a trust restriction on alienation, any member of an Indian tribe.
- navigable waters of the United States
means the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.
- offshore facility
means any facility of any kind located in, on, or under, any of the navigable waters of the United States, and any facility of any kind which is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and is located in, on, or under any other waters, other than a vessel or a public vessel.
- onshore facility
means any facility (including, but not limited to, motor vehicles and rolling stock) of any kind located in, on, or under, any land or nonnavigable waters within the United States.
- operational function
includes a function such as that of a facility or plant manager, operations manager, chief operating officer, or chief executive officer.
- otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the United States
means subject to the jurisdiction of the United States by virtue of United States citizenship, United States vessel documentation or numbering, or as provided by international agreement to which the United States is a party.
- owner or operator
shall mean such common carrier or other bona fide for hire carrier acting as an independent contractor during such transportation, (ii) the shipper of such hazardous substance shall not be considered to have caused or contributed to any release during such transportation which resulted solely from circumstances or conditions beyond his control.
- person
means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, United States Government, State, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a State, or any interstate body.
- pollution liability
means liability for injuries arising from the release of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants.
- private property
means all property which is not owned by a department, agency, or instrumentality of—
- purchasing group
means any group of persons which has as one of its purposes the purchase of pollution liability insurance on a group basis.
- recyclable material
means scrap paper, scrap plastic, scrap glass, scrap textiles, scrap rubber (other than whole tires), scrap metal, or spent lead-acid, spent nickel-cadmium, and other spent batteries, as well as minor amounts of material incident to or adhering to the scrap material as a result of its normal and customary use prior to becoming scrap;
- release
means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing any hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant), but excludes (A) any release which results in exposure to persons solely within a workplace, with respect to a claim which such persons may assert against the employer of such persons, (B) emissions from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle, rolling stock, aircraft, vessel, or pipeline pumping station engine, (C) release of source, byproduct, or special nuclear material from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 [42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.], if such release is subject to requirements with respect to financial protection established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under section 170 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 2210], or, for the purposes of section 9604 of this title or any other response action, any release of source byproduct, or special nuclear material from any processing site designated under section 7912(a)(1) or 7942(a) o
- remedial action
means 2 those actions consistent with permanent remedy taken instead of or in addition to removal actions in the event of a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance into the environment, to prevent or minimize the release of hazardous substances so that they do not migrate to cause substantial danger to present or future public health or welfare or the environment.
- removal
means 2 the cleanup or removal of released hazardous substances from the environment, such actions as may be necessary taken in the event of the threat of release of hazardous substances into the environment, such actions as may be necessary to monitor, assess, and evaluate the release or threat of release of hazardous substances, the disposal of removed material, or the taking of such other actions as may be necessary to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage to the public health or welfare or to the environment, which may otherwise result from a release or threat of release.
- response
means 2 remove, removal, remedy, and remedial action;,3 all such terms (including the terms “removal” and “remedial action”) include enforcement activities related thereto.
- response action contract
means any written contract or agreement entered into by a response action contractor (as defined in paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection) with— to provide any remedial action under this chapter at a facility listed on the National Priorities List, or any removal under this chapter, with respect to any release or threatened release of a hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant from the facility or to provide any evaluation, planning, engineering, surveying and mapping, design, construction, equipment, or any ancillary services thereto for such facility.
- response action contractor
means—
- risk retention group
means any corporation or other limited liability association taxable as a corporation, or as an insurance company, formed under the laws of any State—
- scrap metal
means bits and pieces of metal parts (e.g., bars, turnings, rods, sheets, wire) or metal pieces that may be combined together with bolts or soldering (e.g., radiators, scrap automobiles, railroad box cars), which when worn or superfluous can be recycled, except for scrap metals that the Administrator excludes from this definition by regulation.
- security interest
includes a right under a mortgage, deed of trust, assignment, judgment lien, pledge, security agreement, factoring agreement, or lease and any other right accruing to a person to secure the repayment of money, the performance of a duty, or any other obligation by a nonaffiliated person.
- service station dealer
means any person—
- small community
means a community with a population of not more than 15,000 individuals, as determined by the President based on the latest available decennial census.
- State
means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and any other territory or possession over which the United States has jurisdiction.
- transportation
means 2 the movement of a hazardous substance by any mode, including a hazardous liquid pipeline facility (as defined in section 60101(a) of title 49), and in the case of a hazardous substance which has been accepted for transportation by a common or contract carrier, the term “transport” or “transportation” shall include any stoppage in transit which is temporary, incidental to the transportation movement, and at the ordinary operating convenience of a common or contract carrier, and any such stoppage shall be considered as a continuity of movement and not as the storage of a hazardous substance.
- Trust Fund
means the Hazardous Substance Superfund established by section 9507 of title 26.
- vessel
means every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water.