New York's Climate Superfund Act Forces Polluters To Fund State Climate Adaptation Projects

With the incoming Trump administration poised for an attack on federal environmental regulations, states are quickly emerging with actions on climate change. On December 26, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the "Climate Change Superfund Act" (the "Climate Superfund Act" or the "Act"), which seeks to impose retroactive fees on fossil fuel producers for their disproportionately large contributions to negative climate change impacts.

New York is the second state after Vermont to pass a state "Climate Superfund" law. Multiple other states, including California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, have proposed similar legislation. These laws borrow the "Superfund" moniker from the long-established federal environmental remediation law, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA"). One key aspect of CERCLA was its creation of a special excise tax on chemical and petroleum companies, which was discontinued in