CERCLA Liability After Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. v. U.S.
Reducing Cleanup Liability and Recovering Remediation Costs
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will analyze and discuss the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. v. U.S. addressing Superfund apportionment and arranger liability issues.
Outline
- Brief overview of Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. v. U.S.
- Supreme Court’s decision
- Court treatment
- Arranger liability
- Impact of the decision
- Limitations
- How are courts applying BNSF?
- Cost recovery
- Joint and several liability
- Government cost recover actions
- Unilateral 106 orders
- Increased litigation
- Coverage for orphan shares
- Impact on landowner liability
- Best practices for reducing cleanup liability and recovering remediation costs
- Minimizing CERCLA liability
- Recovering remediation costs from other PRPs
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key questions:
- How have courts applied the Burlington Northern decision?
- What is the impact of narrowed arranger liability for landowners?
- What are the key steps for recovering remediation costs from other PRPs?
Faculty

Brian D. Israel
Partner
Arnold & Porter
He specializes in environmental litigation and counseling. He represents corporations in matters involving contaminated... | Read More
He specializes in environmental litigation and counseling. He represents corporations in matters involving contaminated properties, including toxic tort lawsuits and natural resource damages claims. His counseling practice focuses on environmental issues in large corporate transactions, brownfields redevelopment and environmental management systems.
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Steven L. Leifer
Partner
Baker Botts
He handles a broad array of environmentally-related litigation, including Superfund cost recovery, toxic tort and... | Read More
He handles a broad array of environmentally-related litigation, including Superfund cost recovery, toxic tort and products liability litigation, insurance recovery actions, civil and criminal governmental enforcement proceedings and environmental bankruptcy claims. He litigates CERCLA claims against the government and private parties.
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