PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-12] · D–NY
Legislative record
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Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Jun 3, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-07 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The bill would charge qualifying large fossil fuel extractors and oil refiners a combined $1 trillion, divided according to their attributed carbon dioxide emissions above a threshold. Payments would support a federal climate fund, with spending subject to appropriations laws, for disaster response, adaptation, and community protection. It would also preserve other legal liability and state and local climate policies. These are proposed changes, not established law in the supplied record.
the tax under this section shall be equal to an amount that bears the same ratio to $1,000,000,000,000
the covered carbon dioxide emissions attributable to such person (determined in metric tons), as determined by the Secretary based on product-related carbon dioxide emissions of such person, over (ii) 1,000,000,000 metric tons.
extracting any fossil fuel, or (ii) refining any crude oil
Amounts in the fund shall be available, as provided in appropriations Acts
investments in climate resilience, adaptation, disaster response, and environmental justice
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to relieve any person from liability at common law or under any State or Federal law.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to preempt or supersede any State or local law, regulation, policy, or program
2025-02-07: Introduced in House
The proposed short title is the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act of 2025.
This Act may be cited as the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act of 2025.
The bill's findings present climate protection as requiring major public investment and call for greater fossil fuel industry contributions. They also state that the assessments are not intended to determine fault or limit others' ability to seek accountability. These are legislative findings and statements of intent.
the protective measures necessary to respond to the adverse effects of climate change in the United States will require trillions of dollars of new investment during the decade after the date of enactment of this Act
the fossil fuel industry must now increase their contribution to government expenditures to protect the Nation from climate disaster
this Act and assessments under the amendments made by this Act are not intended— (A) to be a determination of fault; or (B) to have any impact on the ability of any person or other government to hold polluters accountable for harms caused.
The proposed tax would cover entities meeting all three conditions: a specified U.S. connection during the enactment-to-December 31, 2025 period; fossil fuel extraction or crude oil refining during the covered period; and Treasury-attributed emissions exceeding one billion metric tons. Successors to qualifying entities would also be covered.
The term assessable person means— (A) any person that is described in paragraph (2), or (B) any successor in interest to a person described in paragraph (2).
(A) is a United States person or is engaged in a trade or business within the United States during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2025, (B) during any part of the covered period, was engaged in the trade or business of— (i) extracting any fossil fuel, or (ii) refining any crude oil, and (C) is determined by the Secretary to be responsible for more than 1,000,000,000 metric tons of covered carbon dioxide emissions.
Entities grouped together under specified tax-code employer rules would be treated as one taxpayer, with a modified rule for foreign corporations. Each liable group member could be held responsible for the group's entire tax, a rule called joint and several liability.
all persons treated as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414 shall be treated as a single assessable person.
Inclusion of foreign corporations For purposes of subparagraph (A), in applying subsections (a) and (b) of section 52 to this section, section 1563 shall be applied without regard to subsection (b)(2)(C) thereof.
all such persons shall be jointly and severally liable for payment of such tax.
Treasury would divide a total $1 trillion tax among covered taxpayers. Each taxpayer's share would equal its attributed emissions above one billion metric tons divided by the combined above-threshold emissions of all covered taxpayers.
the tax under this section shall be equal to an amount that bears the same ratio to $1,000,000,000,000 as— (A) the assessable person's applicable share of covered carbon dioxide emissions taken into account under this section, bears to (B) the aggregate applicable shares of covered carbon dioxide emissions of all assessable persons taken into account under this section.
the excess (if any) of— (i) the covered carbon dioxide emissions attributable to such person (determined in metric tons), as determined by the Secretary based on product-related carbon dioxide emissions of such person, over (ii) 1,000,000,000 metric tons.
The emissions calculation would cover January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2023. Covered fossil fuels would include coal, crude oil, and fuel gases; the definitions expressly include oil sands, shale oil, natural gas liquids, natural gas, and shale gas.
The term covered period means the period that— (A) began on January 1, 2000, and (B) ended on December 31, 2023.
The term fossil fuel means coal, crude oil, and fuel gases.
The term crude oil means oil or petroleum of any kind and in any form, including bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, conventional and unconventional oil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, condensates, and related fossil fuel liquids.
The term fuel gases means natural gas, associated natural gas, conventional and unconventional gas, shale gas, and related methane gas production.
The bill would assign fixed carbon dioxide amounts to fuel quantities: 942.5 metric tons per million pounds of coal, 432,180 metric tons per million barrels of crude oil, and 54,440 metric tons per billion cubic feet of fuel gases.
(A) an amount equivalent to 942.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide shall be treated as released for every 1,000,000 pounds of coal, (B) an amount equivalent to 432,180 metric tons of carbon dioxide shall be treated as released for every 1,000,000 barrels of crude oil, and (C) an amount equivalent to 54,440 metric tons of carbon dioxide shall be treated as released for every 1,000,000,000 cubic feet of fuel gases.
Treasury could adjust a refiner's attributed emissions if the refiner proves that some emissions came from crude oil extracted by another covered taxpayer and were already counted for that extractor. This adjustment would also apply to qualifying successors.
The Secretary may adjust the amount determined under subparagraph (A)(i) with respect to an assessable person who is described in subsection (c)(2)(B)(ii) (or who is a successor in interest to a person described in such subsection) if such person establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary that a portion of such amount was— (i) attributable to the extraction of crude oil by another assessable person who is described in subsection (c)(2)(B)(i) (or a successor in interest to a person described in such subsection), and (ii) taken into account in determining such amount for such other assessable person.
Payment would be due September 30, 2026. A taxpayer could elect by that date to pay in nine annual installments: 20 percent initially, followed by eight payments of 10 percent on the same date in successive years.
The term applicable payment date means September 30, 2026.
An assessable person may elect to pay the tax under this section in 9 annual installments of the following amounts: (A) 20 percent of the tax under this section in the case of the first installment. (B) 10 percent of the tax under this section in each of the following 8 installments.
the first installment shall be paid on the applicable payment date and each succeeding installment shall be paid on the same date as the applicable payment date for each calendar year following the calendar year with respect to which the preceding installment was made.
Any election under paragraph (1) shall be made not later than the applicable payment date
Remaining installments would become due early following a late-payment tax addition, liquidation, sale of substantially all assets, business closure, or a similar event. In bankruptcy or a similar proceeding, the due date would be the day before filing. An asset sale would avoid acceleration if the buyer agreed with Treasury to assume the remaining installments.
If there is an addition to tax for failure to timely pay any installment required under this subsection, a liquidation or sale of substantially all the assets of the assessable person (including in a title 11 or similar case), a cessation of business by the assessable person, or any similar circumstance, then the unpaid portion of all remaining installments shall be due on the date of such event (or in the case of a title 11 or similar case, the day before the petition is filed).
The preceding sentence shall not apply to the sale of substantially all the assets of an assessable person to a buyer if such buyer enters into an agreement with the Secretary under which such buyer is liable for the remaining installments due under this subsection in the same manner as if such buyer were the assessable person.
An assessed tax shortfall would generally be divided among the installments. Amounts assigned to future installments would be collected with those payments; amounts assigned to installments already due would be payable upon Treasury's notice and demand. The text excludes shortfalls caused by negligence, intentional disregard of rules, or tax-evasion fraud from this treatment.
the deficiency shall be prorated to the installments payable under paragraph (1). The part of the deficiency so prorated to any installment the date for payment of which has not arrived shall be collected at the same time as, and as a part of, such installment. The part of the deficiency so prorated to any installment the date for payment of which has arrived shall be paid upon notice and demand from the Secretary.
This subsection shall not apply if the deficiency is due to negligence, to intentional disregard of rules and regulations, or to fraud with intent to evade tax.
For credit or refund requests, an installment would not count as a liability before its due date. The bill also specifies how installments would be treated under several tax-code provisions governing estimated taxes and overpayments; the referenced provisions are not reproduced.
Installments not to prevent credit or refund of overpayments or increase estimated taxes
no installment of such tax shall— (i) in the case of a request for credit or refund, be taken into account as a liability for purposes of determining whether an overpayment exists for purposes of section 6402 before the date on which such installment is due, or (ii) for purposes of sections 6425, 6654, and 6655, be treated as a tax imposed by section 1, section 11, or subchapter L of chapter 1, and (B) the first sentence of section 6403 shall not apply with respect to any such installment.
Under a provision headed “No deduction,” the bill would add this tax to Internal Revenue Code section 275(a). The existing section is not reproduced in the bundle.
(b) No deduction Section 275(a) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (7) Taxes imposed by subchapter E of chapter 38.
Treasury would have to issue regulations needed to implement the tax within 18 months after the tax section's enactment.
Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out this section.
The bill would create the Polluters Pay Climate Fund in the U.S. Treasury and appropriate to it amounts equal to receipts from the new tax. Spending from the fund would still depend on appropriations laws.
There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund, to be known as the Polluters Pay Climate Fund
There are hereby appropriated to the Fund amounts equivalent to the taxes received in the Treasury under section 4691.
Amounts in the fund shall be available, as provided in appropriations Acts, for the purpose of making expenditures to carry out the purposes of section 4(b) of the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act of 2025.
Treasury would administer fund uses in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant agencies. Eligible purposes would include disaster recovery and risk reduction, climate and disaster planning, infrastructure adapted to climate hazards, and improved climate and extreme-weather prediction.
The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall use amounts in the Fund for the purposes of furthering a comprehensive and equitable Federal response to climate change impacts
(i) climate-related disaster recovery and mitigation support; (ii) climate change adaptation support through climate and disaster planning assistance, funding for climate-resilient infrastructure, and improved climate and extreme weather prediction capabilities
Other eligible uses would strengthen energy, food, transportation, and water systems against climate impacts. They would include energy efficiency, electricity-grid resilience, distributed electricity generation, climate-resilient farming, ecosystem conservation and restoration, wildfire management, and public health measures addressing extreme heat.
(iii) initiatives that increase the climate resilience of energy systems through energy efficiency, grid resilience, and distributed electricity generation initiatives; (iv) initiatives that increase the climate resilience of the food system through support for climate-resilient farming practices; (v) initiatives that increase the climate resilience of the transportation system through planning and climate change adaptation support
(vi) initiatives that increase the climate resilience of ecosystems through conservation, restoration, and wildfire management activities; (vii) support for climate-related public health initiatives, including efforts to address extreme heat; and (viii) initiatives that increase the climate resiliency of drinking water and stormwater infrastructure.
Each fiscal year, to the greatest extent practicable and subject to the fund's appropriations requirement, Treasury would provide at least $15 billion for Federal Emergency Management Agency climate-disaster response and resilience programs. At least $3 billion of that amount would support the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.
Amounts in the fund shall be available, as provided in appropriations Acts
each fiscal year and to the greatest extent practicable, the Secretary shall use amounts in the Fund— (i) to provide funding of not less than $15,000,000,000 to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for response and resilience programs of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address climate-related disasters, including hurricanes, flooding, extreme heat, and wildfires, of which not less than $3,000,000,000 shall be used to carry out the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program under section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133)
Under the same annual, practicability, and appropriations qualifications, Treasury would provide at least $6 billion for grants and technical assistance under Clean Air Act section 138. The Environmental Protection Agency administrator could determine the appropriate amounts for grants and technical assistance.
Amounts in the fund shall be available, as provided in appropriations Acts
each fiscal year and to the greatest extent practicable, the Secretary shall use amounts in the Fund
to provide funding of not less than $6,000,000,000 for grants and technical assistance under section 138 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7438), subject to the condition that the Administrator may determine the appropriate amounts to be used for those grants and that technical assistance.
Forty percent of annual appropriations from the fund would have to support investments benefiting environmental justice communities. The bill defines these as communities with significant representation of people of color, low-income people, or Tribal and Indigenous communities that face, or risk facing, greater adverse health or environmental effects than other communities.
Of the amounts appropriated from the Fund each fiscal year, 40 percent shall be used for investments that benefit environmental justice communities.
The term environmental justice community means a community with significant representation of communities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal and Indigenous communities that experiences, or is at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse human health or environmental effects as compared to other communities.
For awards beyond the specified program amounts, Treasury and the relevant agencies would establish selection criteria. Those criteria would give highest priority to activities the agencies determine would do the most to achieve the fund's stated purposes.
For the purpose of determining how to award amounts appropriated from the Fund in excess of the amounts required to be used under subparagraph (B), the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall establish selection criteria, which shall give the highest priority to projects or other activities that are most impactful in achieving the purposes described in subparagraph (A), as determined by the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator and the heads of other relevant agencies.
Paying the proposed tax would not relieve anyone of liability under federal law, state law, or common law—the body of law developed through court decisions.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to relieve any person from liability at common law or under any State or Federal law.
The bill would provide that it, the Clean Air Act, and federal common law do not override or restrict state or local legal remedies for fossil fuel climate deception, climate-related injury, or failure to prevent climate harm. This protection would extend to claims by people and state, local, and Tribal governments, including requests for compensation or court orders.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act, the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), or Federal common law preempts, displaces, or restricts any right or remedy of any person, State, unit of local government, or Tribal government under any State or local law (including common law)
(1) deception concerning the effects of fossil fuel on climate change; (2) damage or injury resulting from the role of fossil fuel in contributing to climate change; or (3) the failure to avoid damage or injury related to climate change, including claims for nuisance, trespass, design defect, negligence, failure to warn, or deceptive or unfair practices and claims for injunctive, declaratory, monetary, or other relief.
The bill would not require repayment of properly used climate-fund money because a court awarded damages on the covered climate claims. It also would not permit those funds to be used as evidence in such litigation or to reduce a damages award.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall— (1) require the repayment of any funds made available from the Polluter Pays Climate Change Fund established under section 9512 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and used pursuant to section 4(b) as a result of any award of damages imposed by a court of law relating to any causes of action or allegations described in subsection (b); or (2) permit the use of any such funds— (A) as evidence in such an action or allegation; or (B) to offset any award of damages in such an action or allegation.
The bill would preserve state and local laws, regulations, policies, and programs. Its examples include greenhouse-gas limits, emissions monitoring and records, recovery of climate adaptation and resilience costs, and investigations.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to preempt or supersede any State or local law, regulation, policy, or program, including laws, regulations, polices, and programs that— (1) limit, set, or enforce standards for greenhouse gas emissions; (2) monitor, report, and keep records of greenhouse gas emissions; (3) provide cost recovery for climate adaptation, mitigation, or resilience; or (4) conduct or support investigations.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated June 3, 2026, records introduction in the House on February 7, 2025 and referral that day to Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce for matters within their respective jurisdictions.
Source snapshot updated 2026-06-03T08:07:45Z.
2025-02-07: Introduced in House
2025-02-07: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-07. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or separate appropriations policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion applies only to that version and does not establish attachment history or the contents of other materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No earmark was identified in the complete supplied introduced text under the particular-recipient or particular-place definition. Program allocations alone do not establish earmark status. This conclusion is limited to this version; accompanying disclosure and committee materials are absent.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow special benefit was identified in the complete supplied introduced text under the requested definition. Broad program beneficiaries, generally available remedies, and routine tax administration do not alone qualify. This conclusion applies only to the supplied version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jun 3, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI