New York Legislature Passes Climate Change Superfund Act - Engineering News-Record

New York Legislature Passes Climate Change Superfund Act | Engineering News-Record

The New York State Assembly passed the Climate Change Superfund Act last week to require fossil fuel companies to pay for project costs associated with climate mitigation.

Awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul's signature, the bill, which passed on June 8, creates a 25-year fund to be financed by fossil fuel companies, according to the New York Public Interest Research Group, which supported the bill’s passage.

New York's Superfund Act is the second state in the country to create a climate superfund behind Vermont, which passed its law on May 31, according to Vermont Public. Other states considering similar superfund bills include California, Massachusetts and Maryland.

“This is peanuts to these companies,” Anne Rabe, environmental policy director for NYPIRG, told Spectrum News. “It requires big oil payers to pay $3 billion a year for 25 years in a row, that’s $75 billion for climate damage repair, resilience and protection.”

NYPIRG says one third of the $3 billion in annual funding will be earmarked for disadvantaged communities that suffer the worst impacts due to climate change.

"The historic legislative approval of the Climate Change Superfund Act is a huge step toward ensuring that 'big oil' contributes to the mounting costs of climate catastrophe," NYPIRG told Common Dreams, a nonprofit news organization. "Of course, the bill cannot become law without Gov. Hochul's approval, but the act helps protect taxpayers and allows revenues to be made available to contribute toward necessary—but expensive—resiliency projects."

The superfund legislation was passed by the state Senate in May. Passage of the bill in the assembly's last week of session came amid criticism of Gov. Hochul's congestion pricing reversal that would leave $15 billion in funding for transit projects in question and growing grassroots support for the superfund act, another landmark piece of legislation.

"Now, Gov. Hochul, fresh off a spineless congestion pricing reversal that scandalized New Yorkers, needs to get back to work to make this landmark legislation the law of the land," said Eric Weltman, senior New York organizer for the nonprofit Food & Water Watch in a statement. "It's time to make polluters pay, and it's time Gov. Hochul acted as the climate leader she promised the Pope she would be."