ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND
SOLID WASTE COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 4696
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 10, 2025
The Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste
Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments
Assembly Bill No. 4696.
This bill, as amended by the committee, would be known as the
"Climate Superfund Act," would establish that certain fossil fuel
companies are liable for certain damages caused to the State and its
residents by the harmful effects of climate change. The bill would also
establish a program in the Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) to collect compensatory payments from the fossil fuel
companies and distribute them, in the form of grants, to climate
change adaptation and resilience projects.
Specifically, the bill would apply to fossil fuel companies that fall
under the definition of "responsible party" established in the bill,
namely an entity or a successor in interest to an entity that was
engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining
crude oil and is determined by the DEP to be responsible for more than
one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions between January
1, 1995 (the year on which the first United Nations Conference of
Parties climate change conference was held) and the last day of the
calendar year on which the bill takes effect.
The bill would require the State Treasurer to prepare and submit to
the Legislature, within two years of the bill's enactment, an assessment
of the damages to the State and its residents that have resulted from
greenhouse gas emissions since 1995. The bill would establish that
each responsible party is strictly liable for the damages, and would
require each responsible party to make compensatory damages to the
State. In addition, responsible parties that are in a "controlled group"
under certain federal laws specified in the bill (e.g. a parent
corporation with one or more subsidiary corporations) would be jointly
and severally liable for the damages. The DEP would then be required
to calculate the proportional share of damages attributable to each
responsible party, based on the proportion of total greenhouse gas
emissions for which the party is responsible. The DEP would be
required to collect compensatory payments from each responsible 2
party that are equal to the party's proportional share of the damages.
The bill would establish various provisions regarding the collection
and payment of these compensatory payments, as enumerated in
section 5 of the bill.
The bill would require the DEP to deposit the compensatory
payments into the "Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program Fund,"
established under section 6 of the bill. The DEP would also be
required to develop and implement a grant program to distribute the
funds collected to climate change adaptation and resilience projects.
The DEP would also be permitted to use moneys in the fund to
administer the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program, which is
established by the bill. The bill would require the DEP to issue annual
reports on the program beginning five years after the bill's enactment.
Finally, the bill would require the DEP to adopt rules and regulations
to implement the bill's provisions no later than two years after the
State Treasurer produces the assessment of damages required by the
bill.
As amended and reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No.
4696 is identical to Senate Bill No. 3545 (1R).
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS :
The committee amendments make a technical change to the bill.