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S 588

Criminal Coercive Control

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Stephen Goldfinch

Creates a Climate Change Adaptation Superfund funded by cost recovery from fossil-fuel entities for historic emissions to finance resilience projects.

Referred to Committee on Judiciary
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · S 588

Summary — S 588 (Senate Docket No. 588): Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Act / Climate Change Adaptation Superfund

Note: the bill text provided establishes a “Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Act” (creating a climate change adaptation “Superfund”). Some metadata supplied with the request (title referencing a Nassau deer-management pilot and an overlapping sponsors list that includes federal senators) appears inconsistent with the bill text. This summary is based on the bill text in the docketed Massachusetts Senate document (No. 588).

Purpose

Create a statewide Climate Change Adaptation Superfund to recover costs of climate adaptation and resilience from fossil-fuel businesses for historical greenhouse gas emissions, and to use those recovered funds to pay for projects that avoid, reduce, repair, or adapt to climate change impacts.

Key provisions

  • Establishes a new statutory chapter (proposed Chapter 21P: Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Act) to create and govern the Climate Change Adaptation Superfund.
  • Definitions:
    • “Covered period”: January 1, 1995 through December 31, 2024.
    • “Covered entity”: any person or organization that holds or held an ownership interest in a fossil fuel business during the covered period.
    • “Covered emissions”: greenhouse gases released from the use of fossil fuels extracted by a covered entity, measured in metric tons CO2-equivalent.
    • “Fossil fuel”, “coal”, “crude oil”, and “controlled group” are explicitly defined; entities in a controlled group are jointly and severally liable.
    • “Environmental justice population” is defined with income, race, language, and other criteria; the secretary may designate neighborhoods or portions as EJ populations under specified rules.
  • Cost recovery mechanism:
    • The department (Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs or designee) may issue “cost recovery demands” against responsible parties (covered entities) for payments into the Fund, to cover adaptation and recovery costs.
    • The “applicable payment date” is July 1 of the calendar year following enactment.
  • Uses of the Fund (examples listed):
    • Upgrading stormwater drainage, roads, bridges, transit, electrical grid; building nature-based coastal/flood protections; relocating or retrofitting vulnerable sewage treatment plants; heat mitigation (green spaces, urban forestry); energy-efficiency and weatherization; medical and public-health programs related to climate impacts; responding to toxic algae blooms, loss of agricultural topsoil, and threats to forests/fisheries; supporting microgrids and resilient energy systems.

Who would be affected

  • Primary financial responsibility is placed on “covered entities” — fossil fuel businesses (and members of their controlled groups) that had ownership interest during 1995–2024. These entities would face cost recovery demands tied to their historical extracted fuel emissions.
  • Beneficiaries include municipalities, communities (particularly environmental justice populations), households, public infrastructure, and ecosystems that receive adaptation and resilience investments from Fund disbursements.

Administration, timing & procedure

  • Administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (or a designated subsidiary).
  • Payment triggers and calculation methods are referenced but the provided text is truncated—full details on calculation, notice, appeals, enforcement, and distribution rules are not present in the excerpt.
  • The bill was filed in the Senate (Massachusetts docket No. 588) and referred to Committees on Environment and Natural Resources and Finance. A hearing was scheduled (per docket) for 09/02/2025. Legislative status indicates referral and related docket activity.

Missing or uncertain elements

  • The excerpt is truncated: detailed formulas for assessing liability, the process for issuing and contesting cost recovery demands, precise distribution/priority rules for Fund expenditures, oversight and auditing provisions, and any caps or exemptions are not visible in the supplied text.
  • Metadata inconsistencies (title and sponsor lists) suggest portions of the record may be merged or mistaken; consult the official legislative website or bill text for authoritative final language and sponsorship.

If you want, I can:
- Pull together the likely mechanisms for calculating covered emissions and potential financial impact scenarios, or
- Track the bill’s committee materials and amendments as they become available.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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