superlien
superlien. A government’s lien that is imposed on a property whose condition violates environmental and public-health and public-safety rules and that has priority over all other liens, so that the government can recover public funds spent on cleanup operations. • A statutory lien is superior to all existing liens and all later-filed liens on the same property. Superliens are sometimes granted to a state’s environmental-protection agency. Several states — including Arkansas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Tennessee — have enacted statutes creating superliens on property owned by a party responsible for environmental cleanup. See LIEN.