Chartis Specialty Ins. Co. v. United States

摘要

Insurer may not bring cost recovery claims under Section 107(a) of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act against federal government for contaminated property cleanup costs it paid directly to remediation contractors on behalf of insured property owner, because: (1) under CERCLA, insurer can only recover sums paid on behalf of insured through Section 112(c)(2) subrogation claims; (2) insurer did not incur costs subject to cost recovery under Section 107(a) where it did not undertake liability for cleanup of site and did not have any significant role in carrying out remediation efforts; and (3) doctrine of subrogation does not generally distinguish between direct payments on behalf of insured and reimbursement payments to insured.