New York Amends Newly Instituted Climate Change Superfund Act

On Friday, February 28, 2025, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law Senate Bill 824 amending New York's Climate Change Superfund Act (Act) just two months after the Act had itself been signed into law in December 2024. As previously reported in a Duane Morris Alert, the Act, which seeks to hold major fossil fuel companies financially accountable for alleged contributions to climate change, has been met with a lawsuit filed by a coalition of state attorneys general and industry groups asserting various causes of action under both federal and New York state law. The amendment to the Act has prompted a new lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of New York State, the American Petroleum Institute, and the National Mining Association (U.S. Chamber Coalition) in the Southern District of New York which asserts, among other things, that the U.S. Constitution precludes the Act and that the Act is preempted by the Clean Air Act.