TO THE OFFICER IN CHARGE OF SUPERVISION AT EACH FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
Overview Banking organizations are increasingly becoming exposed to liability associated with the clean-up of hazardous substance contamination pursuant to the federal superfund statute.1 The superfund statute is the primary federal law dealing with hazardous substance contamination. However, there are numerous other federal statutes, as well as state statutes, that establish environmental liability that could place banking organizations at risk. While the superfund statute was enacted a decade ago, it has been only since the mid-1980s that court actions have resulted in some banking organizations being held liable for the clean-up of hazardous substance contamination. In this connection, recent court decisions have had a wide array of interpretations as to whether banking organizations are owners or operators of contaminated facilities, and thereby liable under the superfund statute for clean-up costs. This has led to uncertainty on the part of banking organizations as to how to best protect themselves from environmental liability. Banking organizations may encounter losses arising from environmental liability in several ways. Of greatest concern are situations where banking organizations may be held directly liable for cleaning-up hazardous substance contamination. However, the more common situation has been where banking organizations have elected to abandon their rights to contaminated real property collateral because clean-up costs exceed balances owed by borrowers. Risk of credit losses can also arise where the credit quality of individual borrowers deteriorates markedly as a result of being required to clean-up hazardous substance contamination. In this case, significant clean-up costs borne by the borrower could threaten the borrower's solvency and jeopardize the banking organization's ultimate collection of outstanding loans to that borrower. Therefore, even advances to borrowers to fund operations or to acquire manufacturing or transportation equipment could be adversely impacted by environmental liability regardless of the fact that no real property collateral is involved. Banking Organizations' Environmental Policies and Procedures Banking organizations should have in place adequate safeguards and controls to limit their exposure to potential environmental liability. Loan policies and procedures should address methods for identifying potential environmental problems relating to credit requests as well as existing loans. The loan policy should describe an appropriate degree of due diligence investigation required for credit requests. Borrowers in high-risk industries or localities should be held to a more stringent due diligence investigation than borrowers in low-risk industries or localities. In addition to establishing procedures for granting credit, procedures should be developed and applied to portfolio analysis, credit monitoring, loan workout situations, and--prior to taking title to real property--foreclosures. At the same time, banking organizations must be careful that the actions undertaken to make, administer, and collect loans--including assessing and controlling environmental liability--cannot be construed as taking an active role in participating in the management or day-to-day operations of the borrower's business, which could lead to potential liability under CERCLA. Banking organizations should take steps to avoid or mitigate potential environmental liability by:
Examination Procedures Examiners should review a banking organization's loan policies and procedures to ensure that they incorporate adequate safeguards and controls to minimize potential environmental liability. When reviewing individual credits, examiners should determine that the loan policy has been complied with, particularly where the borrower's activities or industry are associated with hazardous substances or environmental liability. In addition, for situations involving potential environmental liability arising from a banking organization's nonlending activities, examiners should verify that similar policies and procedures are in place.2 Enclosed is a brief discussion paper (suitable for distribution) on environmental liability, including its impact on the activities of banking organizations. The paper is intended to provide examiners and bankers with an overview of the issues surrounding environmental liability, and to assist them in evaluating the measures taken by banking organizations to identify and minimize potential environmental liability. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed revised regulations (Federal Register Notice 56 FR 28798, 6/24/91) providing further guidance on the secured lender exemption under the superfund statue. The proposed regulation is designed to provide secured lenders with a more specific exemption from environmental liability including a better definition of the scope of the exemption and a definition of active participation in management. Additionally, bills are pending in Congress which would further define the scope and requirements of the secured lender exemption. Board staff will issue further guidance on the proposed regulation or legislation and their impact on lender liability once these proposals are final. In the interim, questions or comments about the foregoing should be directed to Stanley Rediger, Supervisory Financial Analyst (202-452-2629), or Bill Spaniel, Senior Financial Analyst (202-452-3469).
Deputy Associate Director ENCLOSURES ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED BELOW
Background In 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA") was enacted in response to the growing problem of improper handling and disposal of hazardous substances. CERCLA authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to clean-up hazardous waste sites and to recover costs associated with the clean-up from entities specified in the statute. The relevant provisions of CERCLA, the so-called "superfund" statute, as it pertains to banking organizations, indicate which persons or entities are subject to liability for clean-up costs of hazardous substance contamination. These include ". . . the owner and operator of a vessel or a facility, (or) any person who at the time of disposal of any hazardous substance owned or operated any facility at which such hazardous substances were disposed of . . . ."3 A person or entity that transports or arranges to transport hazardous substances can also be held liable for cleaning-up contamination under the superfund statute. The liability imposed by the superfund statute is strict liability which means the government does not have to prove that the owners or operators had knowledge of or caused the hazardous substance contamination. Moreover, liability is joint and several, which allows the government to seek recovery of the entire cost of the clean-up from any individual party that is liable for those clean-up costs under CERCLA. In this connection, CERCLA does not limit the bringing of such actions to the EPA, but permits such actions to be brought by third parties. CERCLA provides a secured creditor exemption in the definition of "owner and operator" by stating that these terms do not include ". . . a person, who, without participating in the management of a vessel or facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect his security interest in the vessel or facility."4 However, this exception has not provided banking organizations with an effective "safe harbor" because recent court decisions have worked to limit the application of this exemption. Specifically, courts have held that actions by lenders to protect their security interests may result in the banking organization "participating in the management" of a vessel or facility, thereby voiding the exemption. Additionally, once the title to a foreclosed property passes to the banking organization, courts have held that the exemption no longer applies and that the banking organization is liable under the superfund statute as an "owner" of the property. Under some circumstances, CERCLA may exempt landowners who acquire property without the knowledge of preexisting conditions (the so-called "innocent landowner defense"). However, the courts have applied a stringent standard to qualify for this defense. Because little guidance is provided by the statute as to what constitutes the appropriate timing and degree of "due diligence" to successfully employ this defense, banking organizations should exercise caution before relying on it. The superfund statute is the primary federal law dealing with the clean-up of hazardous substance contamination. However, there are numerous other federal statutes as well as state statutes that establish environmental liability that could place banking organizations at risk. For example, underground storage tanks are also covered by separate federal legislation.5 Overview of Environmental Hazards Environmental risk can be characterized as adverse consequences resulting from having generated or handled hazardous substances, or otherwise having been associated with the aftermath of subsequent contamination. The following discussion highlights some common environmental hazards, but by no means covers all environmental hazards. Hazardous substance contamination is most often associated with industrial or manufacturing processes that involve chemicals or solvents in the manufacturing process or as waste products. For years, these types of hazardous substances were disposed of in land fills, or just dumped on industrial sites. Hazardous substances are also found in many other lines of business. The following examples demonstrate the diverse sources of potential hazardous substance contamination which should be of concern to banking organizations:
The real estate industry has taken the brunt of the adverse affects of hazardous waste contamination. In addition to having land contaminated with toxic substances, construction methods for major construction projects, such as commercial buildings, have utilized materials that have been subsequently determined to be hazardous, resulting in significant declines in their value. For example, asbestos was commonly used in commercial construction from the 1950s to the late 1970s. Asbestos has since been found to be a health hazard and now must meet certain federal and, in many instances, state requirements for costly removal or abatement (enclosing or otherwise sealing off). Another common source of hazardous substance contamination is underground storage tanks. Leaks in these tanks not only contaminate the surrounding ground, but often flow into ground water and travel far away from the original contamination site. As contamination spreads to other sites, clean-up costs escalate. Impact on Banking Organizations Clearly, the greatest risk to banking organizations of the superfund statute and other environmental liability statutes is the possibility of being held solely liable for costly environmental clean-ups. If a banking organization is found to be a responsible party under CERCLA the banking organization may find itself responsible for cleaning-up a contaminated site at a cost that far exceeds any outstanding loan balance. This risk of loss results from an interpretation of the superfund statute as providing for joint and several liability. Any responsible party, including the banking organization, could be forced to pay the full cost of any clean-up. Of course, the banking organization may attempt to recover such costs from the borrower, or the owner if different than the borrower, provided that the borrower or owner continues in existence and is solvent. Banking organizations may be held liable for the clean-up of hazardous substance contamination in situations where the banking organization:
Another risk to banking organizations resulting from environmental liability stems from borrowers being operators, generators, or transporters of hazardous substances. Banking organizations must be aware that a borrower's solvency can be threatened by being found liable for cleaning-up hazardous substance contamination. Therefore, ultimate collection of loans to fund operations, or to acquire manufacturing or transportation equipment can be jeopardized by the borrower's generating or handling hazardous substances in an improper manner. Further, some bankruptcy courts have required clean-up of hazardous substance contamination prior to distribution of a debtor's estate to secured creditors. Borrowers may have existing subsidiaries or may be involved in merger and acquisition activity that may place the borrower at risk for the activities of others that result in environmental liability. Some courts have held that for the purposes of determining liability under the superfund statute, the corporate veil may not protect parent companies that participate in the day-to-day operations of their subsidiaries from environmental liability and court imposed clean-up costs. Additionally, borrowers can be held liable for contamination which occurred prior to their owning or using real estate. Protection Against Environmental Liability Banking organizations have numerous ways to identify and minimize their exposure to environmental liability. Because environmental liability is relatively recent, procedures used to safeguard against such liability are evolving. The following discussion briefly describes methods currently being employed by banking organizations and others to minimize potential environmental liability. Banking organizations should have in place adequate safeguards and controls to limit their exposure to potential environmental liability. Loan policies and procedures should address methods for identifying potential environmental problems relating to credit requests as well as existing loans. The loan policy should describe an appropriate degree of due diligence investigation required for credit requests. Borrowers in high-risk industries or localities should be held to a more stringent due diligence investigation than borrowers in low-risk industries or localities. In addition to establishing procedures for granting credit, procedures should be developed and applied to portfolio analysis, credit monitoring, loan workout situations, and--prior to taking title to real property--foreclosures. Banking organizations may avoid or mitigate potential environmental liability by having sound policies and procedures designed to identify, assess and control environmental liability. At the same time, banking organizations must be careful that any lending policies and procedures, but especially those undertaken to assess and control environmental liability, cannot be construed as taking an active role in participating in the management or day-to-day operations of the borrower's business. Activities which could be considered active participation in the management of the borrower's business, and therefore subject the bank to potential liability, include, but are not limited to:
These considerations are especially important when the banking organization is actively involved in loan workouts or debt restructuring. The first step in identifying and minimizing environmental risk is for banking organizations to perform environmental reviews. Such reviews may be performed by loan officers or others, and typically identify past practices and uses of the facility and property, evaluate regulatory compliance, if applicable, and identify potential future problems. This is accomplished by interviewing persons familiar with present and past uses of the facility and property, reviewing relevant records and documents, and visiting and inspecting the site. Where the environmental review reveals possible hazardous substance contamination, an environmental assessment or audit may be required. Environmental assessments are made by personnel trained in identifying potential environmental hazards and provide a more through review and inspection of the facility and property. Environmental audits differ markedly from environmental assessments in that independent environmental engineers are employed to investigate, in greater detail, those factors listed previously, and actually test for hazardous substance contamination. Such testing might require collecting and analyzing air samples, surface soil samples, subsurface soil samples, or drilling wells to sample ground water. Other measures used by some banking organizations to assist in identifying and minimizing environmental liability include: obtaining indemnities from borrowers for any clean-up costs incurred by the banking organization, and including affirmative covenants in loan agreements (and attendant default provisions) requiring the borrower to comply with all applicable environmental regulations. Although these measures may provide some aid in identifying and minimizing potential environmental liability, they are not a substitute for environmental reviews, assessments and audits, because their effectiveness is dependent upon the financial strength of the borrower.
Conclusion Potential environmental liability can touch on a great number of loans to borrowers in many industries or localities. Moreover, nonlending activities as well as corporate affiliations can lead to environmental liability depending upon the nature of the these activities and the degree of participation that the parent exercises in the operations of its subsidiaries. Such liability can result in losses arising from hazardous substance contamination because banking organizations are held directly liable for costly court ordered clean-ups. Additionally, the banking organization's ability to collect the loans it makes may be hampered by significant declines in collateral value, or the inability of a borrower to meet debt payments after paying for costly clean-ups of hazardous substance contamination. Banking organizations must understand the nature of environmental liability arising from hazardous substance contamination. Additionally, they should take prudential steps to identify and minimize their potential environmental liability. Indeed, the common thread to environmental liability is the existence of hazardous substances, not types of borrowers, lines of business, or real property.
Footnotes 1. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA"). Return to text 2. A banking organization's policies and procedures relating to environmental liability should apply to nonlending situations where appropriate. For example, banking organizations engaged in trust activities or contemplating a merger or acquisition should evaluate the possibility of existing or subsequent environmental liability arising from these activities. Return to text 3. CERCLA, Section 107(a). Return to text 4. CERCLA, Section 101(20)(A). Return to text 5. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1986 (RCRA). Return to text |
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