No. 22-272

Livingston County Road Commission v. Gould Electronics, Inc.

Lower Court: Sixth Circuit
Docketed: 2022-09-22
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: cercla cercla-liability due-care environmental-law groundwater-contamination innocent-landowner property-liability reasonable-steps statutory-defense statutory-interpretation third-party-defense
Key Terms:
Environmental SocialSecurity Patent Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2022-12-02
Related Cases: 22-126 (Vide)
Question Presented (from Petition)

The questions for this Court are:

1. How is the term "due care" defined for purposes of the 42 U.S.C. §9607(b)(3) "third-party defense" in relation to "reasonable steps" in the substantially similar "innocent contiguous landowner defense" of 42 U.S.C. §9607(q). In other words, can two substantially similar statutory defenses have widely disparate standards of care?

2. Is an intragovernmental real estate transaction strictly for budgetary purposes a transaction contemplated by the 42 U.S.C. §9607(q) "innocent contiguous landowner defense" resulting in the defense being lost?

3. How is the "due care" standard defined for purposes of a 42 U.S.C. §9613(f) equitable allocation under the Gore factors in light of the cross-referenced due care standards set forth in 42 U.S.C. §9607(b)(3) and 42 U.S.C. §9607(q) statutory defenses?

4. Should the standards of care in the 42 U.S.C. §9607(q) "third-party defense," the 42 U.S.C. §9607(q) "innocent contiguous landowner defense," and the 42 U.S.C. §9613(f) equitable allocation through the Gore factors, be uniform, as all three concepts are substantially similar in scope and intended result?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

How is the term 'due care' defined for purposes of the 42 U.S.C. §9607(b)(3) 'third-party defense' in relation to 'reasonable steps' in the substantially similar 'innocent contiguous landowner defense' of 42 U.S.C. §9607(q)

Docket Entries

2022-12-05
Petition DENIED.
2022-11-09
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/2/2022.
2022-10-24
2022-09-07

Attorneys

Gould Electronics, Inc.
Zachary Chad LarsenClark Hill PLC, Respondent
Livingston County Road Commission
Paul Edward BurnsLaw Office of Paul E. Burns, Petitioner