816
Opinion of the Court
that the attorney's fees associated with that action are then "necessary costs of response" within § 107(a)(4)(B).
III
The 1986 amendments to CERCLA are the genesis of the term "enforcement activities"; we begin, therefore, by considering the statutory basis for the claim in the original CERCLA enactment and the SARA provisions' effect on it. In its original form CERCLA contained no express provision authorizing a private party that had incurred cleanup costs to seek contribution from other PRP's. In numerous cases, however, District Courts interpreted the statute—particularly the § 107 provisions outlining the liabilities and defenses of persons against whom the Government may assert claims—to impliedly authorize such a cause of action.7
The 1986 amendments included a provision—CERCLA § 113(f)—that expressly created a cause of action for contribution. See 42 U. S. C. § 9613(f). Other SARA provisions, moreover, appeared to endorse the judicial decisions recognizing a cause of action under § 107 by presupposing that such an action existed. An amendment to § 107 itself, for example, refers to "amounts recoverable in an action under this section." 42 U. S. C. § 9607(a)(4)(D). The new contribution section also contains a reference to a "civil action . . . under section 9607(a)." 42 U. S. C. § 9613(f)(1). Thus the statute now expressly authorizes a cause of action for contribution in § 113 and impliedly authorizes a similar and somewhat overlapping remedy in § 107.
7 In Walls v. Waste Resource Corp., 761 F. 2d 311 (CA6 1985), Judge Merritt noted that District Courts "have been virtually unanimous" in holding that § 107(a)(4)(B) creates a private right of action for the recovery of necessary response costs. Id., at 318 (citing Bulk Distribution Centers, Inc. v. Monsanto Co., 589 F. Supp. 1437, 1442-1444 (SD Fla. 1984); Jones v. Inmont Corp., 584 F. Supp. 1425, 1428 (SD Ohio 1984); Philadelphia v. Stepan Chemical Co., 544 F. Supp. 1135 (ED Pa. 1982); Pinole Point Properties, Inc. v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 596 F. Supp. 283, 293 (ND Cal. 1984)).
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