Trenton, NJ — On Monday afternoon, the New Jersey State Assembly Environment Committee approved the NJ Climate Superfund Act (A4696) by a vote of 5-2, clearing a key hurdle in the bill’s path to becoming law.

Over 100 New Jerseyans — joined by Senator Andrew Zwicker, Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill and Assemblyman John Allen, alongside many of the state’s largest advocacy groups — rallied in Trenton in support of the bill, which will make New Jersey more affordable and resilient by requiring corporate polluters to pay for the damages caused by climate change.

“Climate Superfund is a win-win for consumers and the economy. A fraction of the largest responsible parties pay a fraction of their profits for a fraction of the damage they’ve caused. It shifts the costs off the backs of taxpayers and ratepayers and the funds go directly into New Jersey’s economy creating good jobs, reducing air pollution and making towns more resilient. #JerseyStrong,” said prime Senate Sponsor John McKeon (D-Essex).

“Central Jersey taxpayers and flood victims need a break. We’re in an affordability crisis and climate change is a significant contributing factor. This bill ensures those that have benefited the most and reaped billions from emitting the pollutants causing the damage pay more of their fair share of the costs and needed mitigation,” said Senate co-sponsor and Legislative Oversight Chair Andrew Zwicker, Ph.D. (D-South Brunswick).

“As the prime sponsor of the New Jersey Climate Superfund Act, I’m fighting to make sure corporate polluters — not New Jersey families — pay for the damage caused by climate change,” said Assemblyman John Allen. “Our communities are on the frontlines of climate disasters, facing catastrophic floods, deadly heat waves, and billions in damages. The question is simple: who pays for the mess — big oil companies making record profits or everyday New Jerseyans struggling to get by? This bill puts the responsibility where it belongs—on the corporations that caused this crisis—and delivers the resources we need to protect our communities and our future. It’s time to stand up, fight back, and make polluters pay.”

The New Jersey Climate Superfund Act, a top priority for the state’s environmental movement, empowers the state to collect on the damages caused by climate change by large fossil fuel corporations that do business within our borders. New Jersey is experiencing an increasing number of severe weather events driven by climate change, with costs often exceeding $1 billion dollars. Funding would go towards a wide array of resilience, adaptation and infrastructure projects that will ensure fossil fuel companies, not NJ taxpayers, are responsible for cleaning up the mess the industry has made.

The bill, modeled after laws passed in New York and Vermont, has 26 legislative cosponsors across the Assembly and Senate. The Senate version passed out of its Environment Committee in December. 12 municipalities statewide have passed resolutions in support of the bill over the past two months, with many more expected in the weeks and months ahead.

“Across our state, communities are desperately seeking relief from rising costs. As climate-fueled storms grow more severe each year, the financial burden only continues to grow,” said Matt Smith, New Jersey State Director at Food & Water Watch. “State leaders must decide: impose endless cleanup costs on our communities or make the corporations responsible pay their fair share. The choice is simple — polluters pay, or we do.”

“As a municipal official, I am responsible for keeping our residents safe from harm, making smart fiscal choices, keeping our communities affordable, as well as adopting policies that improve the quality of life in our town and make us more resilient for what is ahead. We cannot do it without the Climate Superfund Act,” stated Ben Forest, Red Bank Municipal Councilman. “Our Red Bank resolution, one of the first of nearly a dozen others, is sending a strong and clear message to our state legislators and Governor that they must act decisively and swiftly when it comes to turning the Climate Superfund Act into law like New York did in December of last year.” 

“This is about affordability and environmental justice. Newark residents are paying every day for the pollution the oil and gas industry has profited from for decades. Isn’t it about time the largest corporate polluters pay for some of the damage to our lungs and property instead of sticking it to taxpayers, ratepayers and consumers?” said Kim Gaddy, Executive Director of South Ward Environmental Alliance. “The Legislature needs to pass the Climate Superfund Act before more extreme weather and bad air arrives this summer.”

“We have seen firsthand the impact climate change has on our communities, from catastrophic flooding and storms to extreme heat and horrific wildfires. Fossil Fuel companies responsible for fueling extreme weather disasters should cover the cost of the damage.We cannot continue to pay Big Oil’s tab for their negligence. The NJ Climate Superfund Act is an essential tool that will hold fossil fuel companies accountable while providing a long-term funding mechanism to pay for climate damages and resilience projects in New Jersey,” said Taylor McFarland, Conservation Program Manager for the Sierra Club’s New Jersey Chapter. “It’s time for New Jersey to step up to these fossil fuel companies. It’s time to hold polluters accountable because we are done paying for their mess!”

“The ‘Climate Superfund’ bill is fundamentally about fairness: The mega-corporations who have polluted our communities and are driving climate change should be forced to pay for the damage they are causing,” said Antoinette Miles, State Director of the New Jersey Working Families Party. “This legislation will also provide New Jersey with critically needed funding to help protect working families from the impacts of cuts that Donald Trump, Elon Musk and their billionaire friends are pursuing at the federal level. It’s time we make big companies pay their fair share so we can provide the services that hard-working New Jersey families deserve.”

“New Jersey championed the creation of the Superfund program to clean up our toxic sites more than 40 years ago; it’s time that we have a Superfund program for our climate disasters. We are not going to see more federal funding to mitigate climate impacts – it’s time for New Jersey to hold our largest climate polluters accountable to protect our communities from extreme weather events,” said Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey.

“Climate polluters think they can continue to reap endless profits without consequence while families, businesses, towns, the environment and our health suffer. We say no more to giving these polluters a free pass,” said Amy Goldsmith, NJ State Director at Clean Water Action. “It’s time for NJ to return to its polluter pay principles of 45 years ago and set a new national precedent for holding polluters accountable for their wrongdoing in policy and action. The times are different, but the issues of justice are the same. It is time for NJ to lead again by setting the bar high with the passage of Climate Superfund.”

“Another climate disaster is coming. We all know it. It’s not a question of if — it’s a question of when. And when that disaster hits, who pays? Not the oil companies. Not the billionaires. It’s us. It’s working people. It’s Black and Brown communities, frontline communities, the people who did nothing to cause this crisis but are forced to bear the brunt of it,” said Ben Dziobek, Executive Director of Climate Revolution Action Network. “If they make the mess, they clean it up. If they poison communities, they pay to fix them. We will fight. And we will pass the Climate Superfund Act.”