What does pollution liability insurance cover—and what should Texas businesses review?

By Mark Melliand, owner, Melliand Insurance Agency · 13 years as an independent agent · Published October 28, 2026

The short answer

Pollution liability insurance is a specialized coverage. It may respond to bodily injury, property damage, cleanup costs and defense arising from pollution, but only as the policy defines those terms.

There are different types. Contractors pollution liability is built around the work a contractor performs. Site (premises) pollution liability is built around scheduled locations. They aren’t interchangeable.

The forms reviewed differ on what counts as pollution, which locations and operations are covered, how cleanup is defined, known conditions, transportation and disposal, and timing and reporting.

Not every Texas business needs pollution insurance, and buying it doesn’t automatically satisfy a contract, permit, financial-responsibility rule or cleanup obligation. Compliance and contract questions belong with qualified environmental and legal advisers.

The forms reviewed

Chubb, Contractors Pollution Liability Insurance Policy, Occurrence-Based Liability Coverage, PF-46763 (04/15). A U.S. contractors pollution policy form.
Berkley, Site Specific Pollution Liability, SSP 6001 06 18. A site pollution policy form that includes claims-made and reported coverage.
For comparison: ISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 04 13 (© Insurance Services Office, 2012), as hosted by Argo Group.

These are illustrative forms, not confirmed current Texas offerings. Declarations and endorsements weren’t reviewed, so limits, retentions, scheduled operations and locations, and added or removed coverages aren’t known. Contractor and site provisions are attributed separately below. Your policy’s wording controls.

Contractors pollution vs. site pollution

Contractors pollution liability

The Chubb form’s coverages apply only to the extent they are identified on the declarations (Chubb PF-46763).
Its contractors liability coverage applies to claims arising from a “pollution condition” or “site environmental condition,” and only when the bodily injury, property damage or environmental damage occurs during the policy period and results from “covered operations,” “completed operations” or “transportation” (Chubb PF-46763).
“Covered operations” are the operations identified in the declarations, performed at a work site by or on behalf of the named insured, including related coordination of waste disposal or recycling at a non-owned disposal site (Chubb PF-46763).
Coverage applies only to covered operations and transportation performed, and claims made, within the United States (Chubb PF-46763).

Site pollution liability

The Berkley form’s coverage parts apply only if scheduled on the declarations (Berkley SSP 6001).
Its Coverages A (first-party cleanup) and B (third-party claims) apply to pollution conditions “on, at, under or migrating from” a covered location, meaning a location listed in the declarations or a schedule endorsement (Berkley SSP 6001).
Coverage C addresses third-party claims arising from qualifying non-owned disposal sites, and Coverage D addresses qualifying transportation by a carrier to or from covered locations, each with its own conditions (Berkley SSP 6001).

What that means for you

A contractor working at customers’ sites and a business with its own locations may need different forms. Check which operations, locations and coverage parts are scheduled, and whether each project or site you care about is included.

What counts as “pollution”

Both forms define the term broadly but specifically.

The Chubb form’s “pollution condition” includes the discharge, dispersal, release, escape, migration or seepage of irritants, contaminants or pollutants, with a list of examples. Its separate “site environmental condition” includes fungi at a work site and legionella (Chubb PF-46763).
The Berkley form’s “pollution condition” includes similar releases, and also lists fungus on buildings, certain illegally abandoned materials and methamphetamine residue, in amounts above naturally present levels (Berkley SSP 6001).

Don’t assume every unwanted substance or condition qualifies. Check the definition in your form.

Sudden or gradual events: neither form uses the word “sudden” in these definitions, and both include terms such as seepage and migration (Chubb; Berkley). Timing still depends on each form’s trigger, dates and known-condition provisions, described below.

What the reviewed forms may pay

The Chubb form’s contractors liability coverage pays “loss,” including judgments and settlements for bodily injury, property damage or remediation costs, and associated legal defense expense. Its loss definition includes certain civil fines and penalties only where insurable and connected to covered injury, damage or remediation costs, and the form excludes criminal fines and penalties (Chubb PF-46763).
The Berkley form has four scheduled coverage parts: first-party cleanup costs at a covered location; third-party claims for cleanup costs, bodily injury or property damage from a covered location; third-party claims from qualifying non-owned disposal sites; and third-party claims from contingent transportation (Berkley SSP 6001).

Cleanup: whose property, what’s required, and emergencies

Required versus voluntary: the Chubb form’s “remediation costs” are limited to the extent required by applicable law (Chubb PF-46763). The Berkley form’s “cleanup costs” are tied to environmental laws, rules, regulations or orders, and to certain voluntary cleanup programs where conditions exceed actionable levels (Berkley SSP 6001). Work beyond what’s required may not qualify.
Your site versus others’ property: the Berkley form’s Coverage A addresses cleanup at the insured’s covered location, and its third-party coverages address claims by others. It excludes property damage to the insured’s own property, but not cleanup costs, including restoration costs (Berkley SSP 6001).
Emergencies: the Chubb form provides separate emergency response coverage. The pollution condition must be first discovered during the policy period, and the emergency claim must be reported within the form’s permitted reporting window, which can extend briefly past expiration. Emergency response costs have additional, shorter timing and reporting requirements of their own (Chubb PF-46763). The Berkley form defines “emergency expenses” as qualifying cleanup costs to address an imminent and substantial threat, with prompt notice required (Berkley SSP 6001). Longer-term remediation is subject to the general cleanup terms and consent requirements.
Consent and contractors: the Berkley form prohibits voluntary payments without consent, except first aid and emergency expenses, and requires written approval of the contractors or consultants the insured selects for investigation or remediation (Berkley SSP 6001). The Chubb form requires consent before retaining consultants or incurring certain costs, except emergency response costs (Chubb PF-46763).

Existing conditions and new conditions

The Berkley form requires pollution conditions to first commence on or after the retroactive date. It excludes known pollution conditions that weren’t disclosed in writing before inception, a material change in use or operations at a covered location unless endorsed, and new conditions that begin after a covered location is sold, given away or abandoned (Berkley SSP 6001).
The Chubb form excludes conditions that existed before the policy period if a responsible person knew or reasonably could have foreseen they could give rise to a loss, and conditions reported to a prior insurer. It has an exception for exacerbation of a condition that is the subject of covered operations (Chubb PF-46763).

Disclose known conditions and prior environmental reports as the application requires.

Contractor exposures

In the Chubb form, covered operations include work performed by or on behalf of the named insured; “completed operations” are defined; and work sites include locations where covered operations are performed, including certain temporarily rented or leased property (Chubb PF-46763).
It excludes professional services but excepts pollution conditions that result from covered operations, and excludes products liability but excepts claims from installing building components as part of covered operations (Chubb PF-46763).

Ask how subcontractors, additional insureds and completed operations are treated in your policy.

Transportation and disposal

Each of these needs applicable coverage. Don’t assume one policy covers all of them.

In the Chubb form, “transportation” means moving waste or related materials by any conveyance, including loading and unloading, within, to or from a work site, or from a work site to a non-owned disposal site. Its vehicles exclusion doesn’t apply to pollution conditions resulting from transportation (Chubb PF-46763).
The Berkley form’s contingent transportation coverage applies to transportation by a “carrier,” meaning a properly licensed third party engaged to transport property for hire, not the insured (Berkley SSP 6001).
Both forms define “non-owned disposal site” with conditions, such as being properly licensed or permitted and not listed on the federal National Priorities List. The Chubb form excludes pollution conditions at facilities that don’t meet that definition (Chubb; Berkley).

Special substances and activities

The reviewed forms address some of these, and differently:

Mold and fungi: included in the Chubb form’s “site environmental condition” and the Berkley form’s “pollution condition,” as defined (Chubb; Berkley).
Asbestos: the Berkley form excludes it, except cleanup costs directly and solely attributable to asbestos in soil or groundwater, and cleanup costs from inadvertent disturbance at a covered location during the policy period, but not disturbance during an asbestos abatement, removal or repair project or any building renovation project (Berkley SSP 6001).
Lead-based paint: the Berkley form excludes it, with similar soil-or-groundwater and inadvertent-disturbance exceptions; that disturbance exception doesn’t apply during a lead-based paint abatement or removal project or a building renovation project (Berkley SSP 6001).
Underground storage tanks: the Berkley form excludes pollution conditions migrating from underground storage tanks unless the tanks are listed on a storage tank endorsement (subject to its terms), were removed before inception in accordance with applicable regulations, sit entirely on or above the floor of an enclosed underground area such as a basement, with piping not run underground, or were unknown to any responsible insured at inception. For Coverages A and B, the exclusion also doesn’t apply to conditions migrating onto a covered location from a tank that isn’t on a covered location (Berkley SSP 6001).
PFAS: neither reviewed form addresses PFAS by name. Ask how your policy treats it.

Business interruption and other first-party losses

The Berkley form excludes the insured’s loss of use, lost income and consequential business losses unless endorsed (Berkley SSP 6001). Treat business interruption from a pollution event as a separate coverage question. See our business income guide.

Limits, retentions, defense and reporting

Defense

The Chubb form gives the insurer the right and, subject to the self-insured retention obligation, the duty to defend covered claims. The insurer selects counsel, but that selection requires the insured’s consent, which isn’t to be unreasonably withheld; the form separately addresses independent counsel where the insured is legally entitled to it, including limits on the rates paid (Chubb PF-46763).
If the insurer recommends a settlement that meets the form’s stated conditions and the insured refuses it, the insurer’s duty to defend ends and its payment is limited (Chubb PF-46763). Not every rejected settlement triggers this; the conditions matter.
The Berkley form provides a right and duty to defend covered third-party claims (Berkley SSP 6001).
In both forms, defense costs erode the limits and the self-insured retention (Chubb; Berkley).

Retentions: the Chubb form applies the single largest applicable retention across triggered coverage parts for the same condition, subject to stated exceptions (Chubb PF-46763).

Timing and reporting

The Chubb form’s contractors liability coverage is occurrence-based: the bodily injury, property damage or environmental damage must occur during the policy period. Its emergency response coverage requires first discovery during the policy period and reporting within its permitted window (Chubb PF-46763).
The Berkley form’s coverages are written on a discovery or claims-made-and-reported basis, with reporting during the policy period or any applicable extended reporting period, and a retroactive date (Berkley SSP 6001).
The Berkley form’s extended reporting periods differ. The automatic period gives extra time to report claims first made during the policy period. The optional period, if purchased, applies to claims first made and reported during that period from pollution conditions that began before the policy ended. The renewal period applies to certain claims made or conditions discovered shortly before expiration when the policy is renewed. Each has conditions (Berkley SSP 6001).
The Berkley form also says notice of a pollution condition or cleanup costs isn’t notice of a claim (Berkley SSP 6001).

For how claims-made dates and extended reporting work, see our guide to claims-made coverage, retroactive dates and extended reporting periods.

Insurance notice isn’t regulatory reporting

Notifying your insurer doesn’t replace notifying authorities when the law requires it. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality publishes separate guidance on reporting spills, discharges and releases, and notes that reportable quantities depend on the substance released and where it was released (TCEQ). Ask your environmental adviser what your operations require.

How pollution coverage relates to other policies

General liability: the reviewed ISO CGL form contains a broad pollution exclusion with specified exceptions, for example certain building heating-equipment fumes, hostile fire and certain mobile equipment fluids. The reviewed ISO form also excludes specified pollution-response costs and governmental claims, subject to an exception for property-damage liability the insured would have without those requirements or governmental claims (ISO CG 00 01 04 13). Endorsements can change this. See our general liability guide.
Commercial property: property policies address damage to your own property. Ask how your property policy treats pollutant cleanup and contamination. See our commercial property guide.
Commercial auto: the Chubb form excludes pollution from vehicle use except as part of covered transportation (Chubb PF-46763). Ask how your auto policy and any pollution endorsement address spills during hauling. See our commercial auto guide.
Umbrella and excess: ask whether pollution is excluded or limited. See our umbrella vs. excess guide.
Professional liability for environmental services: the Chubb form excludes professional services such as consulting, assessment and design, except for pollution conditions from covered operations (Chubb PF-46763). Environmental consultants should ask about professional liability separately. See our professional liability guide.

Contracts, permits and financial responsibility: the Berkley form excludes obligations to meet financial assurance or financial responsibility requirements, including bond requirements, unless endorsed (Berkley SSP 6001). Confirm what a contract, permit or rule actually requires.

Exposure, coverage and questions

Exposure	Coverage to review	Questions to ask
Work at customer sites	Contractors pollution liability	Are these operations scheduled? Are completed operations included?
Your own locations	Site or premises pollution liability	Is each location scheduled? What’s the retroactive date?
Historical contamination	Known-conditions, retroactive-date and disclosure provisions	What was disclosed, and what’s excluded?
Hauling waste or materials	Transportation provisions and auto coverage	Who’s hauling, and is it covered?
Disposal facilities	Non-owned disposal site provisions	Does the facility meet the definition?
Mold, asbestos, lead, tanks, PFAS	Definitions, exclusions and endorsements	How does the form treat each substance or activity?
Business interruption	Business income or a pollution endorsement	Is any first-party income loss covered?
Contract or permit requirements	The requirement itself	Does the policy meet it, and who should confirm that?

Three examples to talk through

These hypotheticals are review questions, not predictions. The outcome in any real situation depends on the policy wording, the facts and the law.

1. A contractor’s work releases a substance at a customer’s property

Were the operations scheduled?
Does the substance meet the pollution definition?
Is there an emergency response requirement?
Does the customer’s contract require additional-insured status?

2. Contamination is discovered at a business location

Is the location scheduled?
Did the condition begin after the retroactive date?
Was it known or disclosed?
Is cleanup required by law, and who must be notified?

3. A spill occurs during transportation or at a disposal facility

Who was hauling?
Does the transportation or contingent-transportation wording apply?
Does the facility meet the non-owned disposal site definition?
What do the auto policy and regulatory reporting rules require?

Checklist

Operations, sites and project scope
Substances handled and storage arrangements, including tanks
Prior site use, known conditions and available environmental reports
Transportation, subcontractors and disposal arrangements
Existing policies and endorsements: GL, property, auto, umbrella, professional
Contract requirements
Requested limits and defense treatment
Reporting instructions and relevant dates: retroactive date, policy period, extended reporting

Keep sensitive information protected

Don’t send environmental site reports, claim files or security details through a website form or ordinary email. Ask what’s actually needed, and arrange an appropriate secure way to provide it.

Sources

Chubb, Contractors Pollution Liability Insurance Policy, Occurrence-Based Liability Coverage, PF-46763 (04/15), hosted on chubb.com. Illustrative; declarations and endorsements not reviewed.
Berkley, Site Specific Pollution Liability, SSP 6001 06 18, hosted on berkleyenvironmental.com. Illustrative; declarations and endorsements not reviewed.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Spills, Discharges, and Releases.

About Melliand Insurance Agency

Melliand Insurance Agency is an independently operated insurance agency affiliated with Premier Group Insurance (PGI), a nationwide agency network.

If you’d like help reviewing pollution liability coverage, call (972) 346-4666 or email melliandinsurance@gmail.com, Monday–Friday, 8 AM–5 PM Central.

This article provides general information only. It is not legal, environmental or compliance advice and is not a statement of coverage. Coverage depends on the policy’s declarations, forms and endorsements, which vary by insurer. The forms described are illustrative examples identified by form and edition and are not confirmed current Texas offerings. Questions about environmental compliance, reporting obligations, liability allocation or contract interpretation should go to qualified environmental and legal advisers. Requesting a quote or completing an application does not bind coverage.