On August 31, 2026, in two lawsuits brought by 22 states, business and trade associations, and a coal producer, the federal district court for the Northern District of New York ruled that federal law preempts New York State’s Climate Change Superfund Act (the Act). The Act established a $75 billion Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Program to fund adaptation projects in the state, to be funded by companies that engaged in fossil fuel extraction or crude oil refining from 2000 to 2024 and that are responsible for more than one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions during that covered period. The court rejected the New York defendants’ contention that the plaintiffs lacked standing, finding that the plaintiffs showed that the coal producer and certain members of the plaintiff associations had shown that they “may legitimately fear receipt of a cost recovery demand” under the Act. In reaching this conclusion, the court considered the Act’s text and its legislative history, including an October 2023 memorandum that identified the coal producer and plaintiff association members as companies against which New York could enforce an assessment under the Act. On the merits of the plaintiffs’ preemption claim, the court rejected New York’s efforts to distinguish the Act’s statutory scheme for compensation from New York City’s state law common law claims in <a href="https://www.climatecasechart.com/collections/city-of-new-york-v-chevron-corp_010f">City of New York v. Chevron Corp.</a>, in which the Second Circuit held that federal law preempted the City’s claims against fossil fuel companies for climate change-related damages. The district court further concluded that it was not necessary to determine whether the Constitution and federal common law would preempt the Act because “[e]ven if the federal interests ‘incompatible with the application of state law’ that preempted the City’s nuisance claims in City of New York do not, by themselves, justify preemption in this case,” the Climate Change Superfund Act would be preempted by the Clean Air Act. The court found that the Act was not entitled to a presumption against preemption because the statute regulated in an area governed by federal law “in the first place.” Citing City of New York, the district court further concluded that the Clean Air Act’s savings clause did not authorize the “type of state-law claims” the Climate Change Superfund Act codified. The district court also concluded that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) rescission of the 2009 endangerment finding for greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act did not affect the preemption analysis, agreeing with plaintiffs that the “critical point” was that Congress delegated to EPA the decision whether to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. The court also concluded that the foreign affairs preemption doctrine would bar any cost recovery demand under the Climate Change Superfund Act against a foreign producer. The court denied as moot motions by the plaintiffs and defendants to strike various declarations and expert affidavits. The court found it was not necessary to resolve these motions in order to resolve the motions for summary judgment on the preemption issue.

Challenges to the constitutionality of New York's Climate Change Superfund Act.

West Virginia v. James

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New York Federal Court Ruled that Clean Air Act and Foreign Affairs Doctrine Preempt New York’s Climate Superfund Law

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Direct investments by the governments using public funds. This can be to support climate initiatives or integrate climate into other projects.

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

Work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for all, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity.

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

New York Federal Court Ruled that Clean Air Act and Foreign Affairs Doctrine Preempt New York’s Climate Superfund Law

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance