Bill > SB982

This bill authorizes the California Attorney General to file civil lawsuits against "responsible parties," defined as large companies (with at least $500 million in market capitalization or annual revenue) involved in extracting, producing, manufacturing, or selling fossil fuel products, that have done business in California. The purpose of these lawsuits is to recover losses incurred by the California FAIR Plan Association (a state-backed insurance program for high-risk properties) due to climate-attributable damage, which means harm to property or economic interests caused by extreme weather events like wildfires or floods where climate change was a significant factor. The bill also allows for the recovery of costs borne by insurance policyholders, such as increased premiums or reduced coverage, resulting from these climate disasters. Importantly, responsible parties would be held strictly liable, meaning they can be held responsible for damages regardless of fault. Any money recovered, excluding restitution to individuals, would go into a new Attorney General Climate Disaster Fund, to be used for investigations, lawsuits, and enforcement related to climate disasters, after legislative appropriation. The bill also outlines a specific order for distributing recovered funds, prioritizing restitution to policyholders, then payments to the FAIR Plan, followed by contributions to a grant program for community resilience, and finally covering legal costs. This new legal avenue is intended to supplement, not replace, existing legal remedies and does not affect other laws or constitutional protections.

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https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB982