The Evolution of the Trust: A Creative Solution to Trustee Liability under CERCLA

The primary focus of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) is environmental cleanup. Generally, CERCLA (Superfund) imposes retroactive, strict, and joint and several liability on owners, operators, generators, and transporters. Recovery costs have been obtained from bankrupt estates, corporates officers, active stockholders, current landowners, prior landowners, foreclosing lenders, successor corporations, lessors and lessees, federal government agencies, and persons with an unused capacity to control hazardous waste. The potential liability of trustees as a responsible party for cleanup costs under CERCLA is a topic of discussion in recent scholarship. Essentially, the issues are how to implement a cleanup, allocate costs and liability among the responsible parties under Superfund, and ensure productive use of the land