Editors' Summary: The far-reaching effects of the nation's hazardous waste laws have become legendary. Manufacturers, insurers, bankers, senior corporate managers, and even cleanup contractors now worry about their liability under CERCLA. For the most part, Congress has left CERCLA's liability provisions intact since first enacting them in 1980. But Congress did make some changes in its 1986 amendments to CERCLA, and the meaning of some of these changes is only now emerging.

In this Article, the author analyzes one of the most important of such changes, the innocent purchaser defense. Congress enacted protections for some buyers of land, but the line between who is and who is not covered can be hard to discern. This Article reviews the CERCLA innocent purchaser provisions, traces the case law, summarizes the Environmental Protection Agency's policy on the issue, and tracks curent proposals in Congress to amend this part of CERCLA. Finally, the author reviews strategies for lawyers working in the high-stakes world of uncertain CERCLA liability.