Title 40

SECTION 307.20

307.20 Who may present claims.

§ 307.20 Who may present claims.

(a) Subject to the provisions of this subpart, claims for the costs of response actions may be asserted against the Fund by any person other than the United States Government, States, and political subdivisions thereof, except to the extent the claimant is otherwise compensated for the loss. States and political subdivisions may assert such claims if they are potentially responsible parties subject to an agreement reached pursuant to section 122(b)(1) of CERCLA.

(b) Claims presented by an individual must be signed by that individual. If, because of death, disability, or other reasons satisfactory to EPA, the foregoing requirement cannot be fulfilled, the claim may be filed by a duly authorized agent, executor, administrator, or other legal representative. A claim presented by an entity or an authorized agent, executor, administrator, or other legal representative must be presented in the name of the claimant. The claim must be signed by the authorized agent, executor, administrator, or other legal representative (including the title or legal capacity of the person signing) and be accompanied by evidence of the authority to present a claim on behalf of the claimant as authorized agent, executor, administrator, or other legal representative.

(c) A claim for response costs as to which any release from liability was executed between the claimant and a potentially responsible party may be presented against the Fund to the extent that the claimant obtained EPA's approval prior to executing such release and provided that the other requirements of this part are met.

(d) A foreign claimant may present a response claim to the Fund, to the same extent that a United States claimant may assert a claim, if:

(1) The requirements of § 307.21 and § 307.22 are met; and

(2) The release of a hazardous substance occurred in the navigable waters of the United States, including the territorial sea, or in or on the territorial sea or adjacent shoreline of a foreign country of which the claimant is a resident; and

(3) The claimant is not otherwise compensated for the loss; and

(4) The hazardous substance was released from a facility or from a vessel located adjacent to or within the navigable waters or was discharged in connection with activities conducted under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), or the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.); and

(5) Recovery is authorized by a treaty or an executive agreement between the United States and the foreign country involved, or if the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and other appropriate officials, certifies that such country provides a comparable remedy for United States claimants.

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