H 872 Massachusetts House · 193rd Legislature (2023-2024)

An Act establishing a climate change superfund and promoting polluter responsibility

This bill creates a new Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Act to establish a superfund that recovers costs from entities responsible for climate pollution. It defines "climate change adaptive infrastructure projects" broadly to include measures like coastal protection, stormwater upgrades, and energy efficiency improvements for both public and private buildings. Under the proposed law, polluters would be required to pay into this fund to help finance these resilience projects, shifting the financial burden of climate adaptation from taxpayers to those contributing to the problem. The legislation also sets specific definitions for terms like "applicable payment date" and "controlled group" to ensure consistent application of the funding rules.
Bill status passed 3 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2023
Committee Review
Feb 2023
Senate Passage
Feb 2023
Governor
Introduced Feb 16, 2023 Last action Apr 16, 2024
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate. No roll call record of that vote is available.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
1
Committee
1
Feb 16, 2023
Upper · Passed
Senate concurred
upper
Feb 16, 2023
Committee
Referred to the committee on Environment and Natural Resources
lower
1 primary · 39 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Steve Owens
Steve Owens
DDemocratic
MA
29th Middlesex
Co
Photo of Bill Driscoll
Bill Driscoll
DDemocratic
MA
Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol
Co
Photo of Brian Murray
Brian Murray
DDemocratic
MA
10th Worcester
Co
Photo of Carmine Gentile
Carmine Gentile
DDemocratic
MA
13th Middlesex
Co
Photo of Christine Barber
Christine Barber
DDemocratic
MA
34th Middlesex
Co
Photo of Dave Robertson
Dave Robertson
DDemocratic
MA
19th Middlesex
Co
Photo of Dave Rogers
Dave Rogers
DDemocratic
MA
24th Middlesex
Co
Photo of David LeBoeuf
David LeBoeuf
DDemocratic
MA
17th Worcester
Co
Photo of David Linsky
David Linsky
DDemocratic
MA
5th Middlesex
Co
Photo of Dylan Fernandes
Dylan Fernandes
DDemocratic
MA
Plymouth and Barnstable
Co
Photo of Erika Uyterhoeven
Erika Uyterhoeven
DDemocratic
MA
27th Middlesex