Chapter 7: Lender Liability
Lenders face several risks in connection with loans that are secured by contaminated property. This chapter covers the evolution of lender liability under CERCLA, the Lender Liability Law, and the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 (Brownfields Act). The chapter also covers a variety of techniques that lenders can use to reduce their exposure to environmental liability.
§ 7.1 Overview
§ 7.2 CERCLA Liability: United States v. Fleet Factors Corp.
§ 7.3 Asset Conservation, Lender Liability, and Deposit Insurance Protection Act of 1996
§ 7.3.1 Participating in Management
§ 7.3.2 Underground Storage Tanks
§ 7.4 Brownfields Act of 2002 and Bona Fide Prospective Purchasers
§ 7.5 Colorado Protection Against Lender Liability
§ 7.6 Techniques to Reduce Lender Liability
§ 7.6.1 Environmental Due Diligence
§ 7.6.2 Loan Documentation
§ 7.6.3 Colorado’s Voluntary Cleanup Program
§ 7.6.4 Environmental Insurance
STEPHEN A. BAIN, ESQ.
Welborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley, P.C.
Stephen A. Bain is a shareholder with Welborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley, P.C. in Denver. Steve’s practice focuses on environmental and natural resources law, including representation of oil and gas companies. After practicing environmental law with Holland & Hart in Denver for five years, he and his wife moved to the Black Triangle region of the Czech Republic for two years to work as environmental management consultants for the Czech Ministry of Environment. Steve joined Welborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley’s office in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1997, where he worked on oil, mining and environmental issues, before returning to Denver in 1999. He has spoken on a variety of environmental topics and taught international petroleum law as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Steve has a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a law degree from Cornell Law School.
