The EPA should not have the authority to impose liens on private property when federal agencies or their contractors are themselves identified as Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs). This practice represents a blatant conflict of interest and misuse of power: it unfairly penalizes private landowners while shielding federal entities from the very financial responsibility they would impose on others.
Under CERCLA, the EPA’s role is to ensure that polluters pay for environmental cleanups. However, the EPA frequently sidesteps this principle when federal agencies—including the military—are among the potential contributors to contamination. By allowing the EPA to perfect liens on private property in these cases, CERCLA enforcement becomes a one-sided tool that disregards due process and burdens private owners with cleanup costs that should be borne by the actual polluters, including the government itself.
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Prohibit EPA Liens on Properties with Federal PRP Involvement
No Liens Where Federal Responsibility Exists: The EPA should be barred from imposing liens on private property when any federal agency or contractor is identified as a PRP. Federal contributions to contamination should prevent the government from financially encumbering private owners for cleanup costs.
Mandatory Cost Allocation Plan: Private landowners should be protected from paying costs attributable to federal agencies or contractors, and in many cases large corporations potentially responsible for some and/or most contamination. -
Restrict “Perfected Liens” and ban the use of “Estimated Costs”
This ensures the EPA cannot impose inflated or premature financial burdens on private property owners. -
End Practice of Long-Term, Unresolved , inaccurate and speculative Liens
If the EPA initiates a cleanup and federal agencies share responsibility, all liens on private property must be immediately lifted. This prevents private owners from being indefinitely penalized for contamination primarily caused by the federal government. -
Full Transparency and Accountability for Federal PRP Contributions
**Disclose Federal Involvement in Contamination: The EPA must fully disclose any federal agency or contractor contributions to contamination and cost-sharing. Public accountability is essential to prevent the EPA from burdening private owners while avoiding federal liability.
Allowing the EPA to impose liens on private property when the federal government is a contributing polluter (PRP) distorts CERCLA’s intent and constitutes overreach. This policy would prevent the EPA from using its enforcement authority to shift the government’s liability onto private citizens. The EPA’s practice of imposing liens in cases of federal responsibility effectively takes property value from private owners without compensation, undermining Constitutional protections against government overreach.
This policy proposes a straightforward reform: where federal agencies are PRPs, the EPA should be legally barred from imposing liens on private property. By stopping the EPA from using its powers to avoid federal accountability, this reform aligns CERCLA with principles of fairness, due process, and property rights, restoring balance and ensuring that all PRPs, including the government, pay their fair share and that the property owner is not financially subject and burdened by the US governments own malfeasance.