Environmental -- 2017



Orange Cty. Water Dist. v. Sabic Innovative Plastics US, LLC   (California Supreme Court)

Erroneous expansion of California Superfund liability

The NAM filed an amicus brief urging California’s Supreme Court to review a series of cases that grant a private right of action to impose liability for environmental remediation, regardless of prior remediation efforts and regulatory action. Historically, California businesses were able to rely on state agency direction when remediating contaminated sites, potentially obtaining a “No Further Action” letter that signified the sites were safe for productive economic use; businesses would only face liability for additional remediation in exceedingly rare cases. Private liability for environmental remediation undermines the relationship between businesses and regulators and discourages proactive remediation efforts. The NAM’s brief explained that these cases will discourage both voluntary remediation and swift compliance with regulators’ Remedial Action Plans, which runs counter to the interest of California citizens and discourages cooperation between businesses and regulators. Unfortunately, the California Supreme court denied review.


Related Documents:
NAM letter  (October 13, 2017)