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As previously reported in earlier forecasts, New York enacted the Climate Change Superfund Act (CCSA) in December 2024, adding ECL Article 76 and establishing a climate-change adaptation cost-recovery program administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). Grounded in a "polluter pays" framework, the CCSA authorizes NYSDEC to issue cost-recovery demands to "responsible parties," generally large fossil-fuel extractors or refiners whose attributed greenhouse gas emissions exceed one billion tons during the covered period, based on statutory emissions-attribution formulas.
Amendments to the CCSA, effective February 28, 2025, expanded the covered period to 2000-2024, revised attribution and administrative review provisions, delayed the timing for demand notices and payments, and extended NYSDEC's deadline to promulgate implementing regulations to mid-2027.
As anticipated, the CCSA has prompted extensive litigation. In February 2025, a coalition of 22 states and four industry groups filed suit in federal court, alleging that the CCSA is unconstitutional, preempted by federal law, impermissibly retroactive, and violative of the Commerce Clause. A parallel challenge by major trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute, was filed later that month and consolidated with the multistate action. In May 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a separate federal action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and has moved for summary judgment. As of early 2026, no court has issued a merits decision, and all challenges remain pending.
The key issues to watch in 2026 are threshold judicial decisions and whether NYSDEC proceeds with formal rulemaking to implement the CCSA amid ongoing litigation.
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