
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC9627]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
  CHAPTER 103--COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND 
                                LIABILITY
 
  SUBCHAPTER I--HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES RELEASES, LIABILITY, COMPENSATION
 
Sec. 9627. Recycling transactions


(a) Liability clarification

    (1) As provided in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this 
section, a person who arranged for recycling of recyclable material 
shall not be liable under sections 9607(a)(3) and 9607(a)(4) of this 
title with respect to such material.
    (2) A determination whether or not any person shall be liable under 
section 9607(a)(3) of this title or section 9607(a)(4) of this title for 
any material that is not a recyclable material as that term is used in 
subsections (b) and (c), (d), or (e) of this section shall be made, 
without regard to subsections (b), (c), (d), or (e) of this section.

(b) Recyclable material defined

    For purposes of this section, the term ``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; except that such term shall 
not include--
        (1) shipping containers of a capacity from 30 liters to 3,000 
    liters, whether intact or not, having any hazardous substance (but 
    not metal bits and pieces or hazardous substance that form an 
    integral part of the container) contained in or adhering thereto; or
        (2) any item of material that contained polychlorinated 
    biphenyls at a concentration in excess of 50 parts per million or 
    any new standard promulgated pursuant to applicable Federal laws.

(c) Transactions involving scrap paper, plastic, glass, textiles, or 
        rubber

    Transactions involving scrap paper, scrap plastic, scrap glass, 
scrap textiles, or scrap rubber (other than whole tires) shall be deemed 
to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged for the 
transaction (by selling recyclable material or otherwise arranging for 
the recycling of recyclable material) can demonstrate by a preponderance 
of the evidence that all of the following criteria were met at the time 
of the transaction:
        (1) The recyclable material met a commercial specification 
    grade.
        (2) A market existed for the recyclable material.
        (3) A substantial portion of the recyclable material was made 
    available for use as feedstock for the manufacture of a new saleable 
    product.
        (4) The recyclable material could have been a replacement or 
    substitute for a virgin raw material, or the product to be made from 
    the recyclable material could have been a replacement or substitute 
    for a product made, in whole or in part, from a virgin raw material.
        (5) For transactions occurring 90 days or more after November 
    29, 1999, the person exercised reasonable care to determine that the 
    facility where the recyclable material was handled, processed, 
    reclaimed, or otherwise managed by another person (hereinafter in 
    this section referred to as a ``consuming facility'') was in 
    compliance with substantive (not procedural or administrative) 
    provisions of any Federal, State, or local environmental law or 
    regulation, or compliance order or decree issued pursuant thereto, 
    applicable to the handling, processing, reclamation, storage, or 
    other management activities associated with recyclable material.
        (6) For purposes of this subsection, ``reasonable care'' shall 
    be determined using criteria that include (but are not limited to)--
            (A) the price paid in the recycling transaction;
            (B) the ability of the person to detect the nature of the 
        consuming facility's operations concerning its handling, 
        processing, reclamation, or other management activities 
        associated with recyclable material; and
            (C) the result of inquiries made to the appropriate Federal, 
        State, or local environmental agency (or agencies) regarding the 
        consuming facility's past and current compliance with 
        substantive (not procedural or administrative) provisions of any 
        Federal, State, or local environmental law or regulation, or 
        compliance order or decree issued pursuant thereto, applicable 
        to the handling, processing, reclamation, storage, or other 
        management activities associated with the recyclable material. 
        For the purposes of this paragraph, a requirement to obtain a 
        permit applicable to the handling, processing, reclamation, or 
        other management activity associated with the recyclable 
        materials shall be deemed to be a substantive provision.

(d) Transactions involving scrap metal

    (1) Transactions involving scrap metal shall be deemed to be 
arranging for recycling if the person who arranged for the transaction 
(by selling recyclable material or otherwise arranging for the recycling 
of recyclable material) can demonstrate by a preponderance of the 
evidence that at the time of the transaction--
        (A) the person met the criteria set forth in subsection (c) of 
    this section with respect to the scrap metal;
        (B) the person was in compliance with any applicable regulations 
    or standards regarding the storage, transport, management, or other 
    activities associated with the recycling of scrap metal that the 
    Administrator promulgates under the Solid Waste Disposal Act [42 
    U.S.C. 6901 et seq.] subsequent to November 29, 1999, and with 
    regard to transactions occurring after the effective date of such 
    regulations or standards; and
        (C) the person did not melt the scrap metal prior to the 
    transaction.

    (2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(C), melting of scrap metal does 
not include the thermal separation of 2 or more materials due to 
differences in their melting points (referred to as ``sweating'').
    (3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ``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.

(e) Transactions involving batteries

    Transactions involving spent lead-acid batteries, spent nickel-
cadmium batteries, or other spent batteries shall be deemed to be 
arranging for recycling if the person who arranged for the transaction 
(by selling recyclable material or otherwise arranging for the recycling 
of recyclable material) can demonstrate by a preponderance of the 
evidence that at the time of the transaction--
        (1) the person met the criteria set forth in subsection (c) of 
    this section with respect to the spent lead-acid batteries, spent 
    nickel-cadmium batteries, or other spent batteries, but the person 
    did not recover the valuable components of such batteries; and
        (2)(A) with respect to transactions involving lead-acid 
    batteries, the person was in compliance with applicable Federal 
    environmental regulations or standards, and any amendments thereto, 
    regarding the storage, transport, management, or other activities 
    associated with the recycling of spent lead-acid batteries;
        (B) with respect to transactions involving nickel-cadmium 
    batteries, Federal environmental regulations or standards are in 
    effect regarding the storage, transport, management, or other 
    activities associated with the recycling of spent nickel-cadmium 
    batteries, and the person was in compliance with applicable 
    regulations or standards or any amendments thereto; or
        (C) with respect to transactions involving other spent 
    batteries, Federal environmental regulations or standards are in 
    effect regarding the storage, transport, management, or other 
    activities associated with the recycling of such batteries, and the 
    person was in compliance with applicable regulations or standards or 
    any amendments thereto.

(f) Exclusions

    (1) The exemptions set forth in subsections (c), (d), and (e) of 
this section shall not apply if--
        (A) the person had an objectively reasonable basis to believe at 
    the time of the recycling transaction--
            (i) that the recyclable material would not be recycled;
            (ii) that the recyclable material would be burned as fuel, 
        or for energy recovery or incineration; or
            (iii) for transactions occurring before 90 days after 
        November 29, 1999, that the consuming facility was not in 
        compliance with a substantive (not procedural or administrative) 
        provision of any Federal, State, or local environmental law or 
        regulation, or compliance order or decree issued pursuant 
        thereto, applicable to the handling, processing, reclamation, or 
        other management activities associated with the recyclable 
        material;

        (B) the person had reason to believe that hazardous substances 
    had been added to the recyclable material for purposes other than 
    processing for recycling; or
        (C) the person failed to exercise reasonable care with respect 
    to the management and handling of the recyclable material (including 
    adhering to customary industry practices current at the time of the 
    recycling transaction designed to minimize, through source control, 
    contamination of the recyclable material by hazardous substances).

    (2) For purposes of this subsection, an objectively reasonable basis 
for belief shall be determined using criteria that include (but are not 
limited to) the size of the person's business, customary industry 
practices (including customary industry practices current at the time of 
the recycling transaction designed to minimize, through source control, 
contamination of the recyclable material by hazardous substances), the 
price paid in the recycling transaction, and the ability of the person 
to detect the nature of the consuming facility's operations concerning 
its handling, processing, reclamation, or other management activities 
associated with the recyclable material.
    (3) For purposes of this subsection, a requirement to obtain a 
permit applicable to the handling, processing, reclamation, or other 
management activities associated with recyclable material shall be 
deemed to be a substantive provision.

(g) Effect on other liability

    Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the liability of a 
person under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 9607(a) of this title.

(h) Regulations

    The Administrator has the authority, under section 9615 of this 
title, to promulgate additional regulations concerning this section.

(i) Effect on pending or concluded actions

    The exemptions provided in this section shall not affect any 
concluded judicial or administrative action or any pending judicial 
action initiated by the United States prior to November 29, 1999.

(j) Liability for attorney's fees for certain actions

    Any person who commences an action in contribution against a person 
who is not liable by operation of this section shall be liable to that 
person for all reasonable costs of defending that action, including all 
reasonable attorney's and expert witness fees.

(k) Relationship to liability under other laws

    Nothing in this section shall affect--
        (1) liability under any other Federal, State, or local statute 
    or regulation promulgated pursuant to any such statute, including 
    any requirements promulgated by the Administrator under the Solid 
    Waste Disposal Act [42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.]; or
        (2) the ability of the Administrator to promulgate regulations 
    under any other statute, including the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

(l) Limitation on statutory construction

    Nothing in this section shall be construed to--
        (1) affect any defenses or liabilities of any person to whom 
    subsection (a)(1) of this section does not apply; or
        (2) create any presumption of liability against any person to 
    whom subsection (a)(1) of this section does not apply.

(Pub. L. 96-510, title I, Sec. 127, as added Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, 
Sec. 1000(a)(9) [title VI, Sec. 6001(b)(1)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 
1536, 1501A-599.)

                       References in Text

    The Solid Waste Disposal Act, referred to in subsecs. (d)(1)(B) and 
(k), is title II of Pub. L. 89-272, Oct. 20, 1965, 79 Stat. 997, as 
amended generally by Pub. L. 94-580, Sec. 2, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 
2795, which is classified generally to chapter 82 (Sec. 6901 et seq.) of 
this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see 
Short Title note set out under section 6901 of this title and Tables.


                  Superfund Recycling Equity; Purposes

    Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(9) [title VI, Sec. 6001(a)], 
Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A-598, provided that: ``The purposes 
of this section [enacting this section] are--
        ``(1) to promote the reuse and recycling of scrap material in 
    furtherance of the goals of waste minimization and natural resource 
    conservation while protecting human health and the environment;
        ``(2) to create greater equity in the statutory treatment of 
    recycled versus virgin materials; and
        ``(3) to remove the disincentives and impediments to recycling 
    created as an unintended consequence of the 1980 Superfund liability 
    provisions.''
