I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9573 

To impose an assessment related to fossil fuel emissions, to establish the 

Polluters Pay Climate Fund, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Ms. CHU, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. JOHNSON

of Georgia, Mr. CARSON, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. BALINT, Mr. JACKSON of 

North Carolina, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, 

Mr. RASKIN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, and Ms. BUSH) introduced the following bill; which was 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 BILL 

To impose an assessment related to fossil fuel emissions, 

to establish the Polluters Pay Climate Fund, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Polluters Pay Climate 

5 Fund Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) climate change, resulting primarily from the 

4 combustion of fossil fuels, is an immediate, grave 

5 threat to the communities, environment, and econ6 omy of the United States; 

7 (2) severe consequences of climate change have 

8 already materialized in the United States, including 

9 rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, extreme 

10 weather events, flooding, heat waves, loss of bio11 diversity, and other climate change-driven ecosystem 

12 threats; 

13 (3) the Federal Government jointly with States 

14 and localities must develop and implement protective 

15 measures to counteract the adverse effects of climate 

16 change, protect communities, and build resilience to 

17 extreme weather; 

18 (4) the government response must include pro19 tections for communities that are most vulnerable to 

20 climate change impacts, especially communities of 

21 color, low-income communities, and Tribal and In22 digenous communities that are also more likely to 

23 have experienced systemic disinvestment and be 

24 overburdened by fossil fuel pollution; 

25 (5) the protective measures necessary to re26 spond to the adverse effects of climate change in the 


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1 United States will require trillions of dollars of new 

2 investment during the decade after the date of en3 actment of this Act; 

4 (6) climate change related extreme weather 

5 events, such as those described in paragraph (2), 

6 cost the United States at least $150,000,000,000 

7 each year and disproportionately affect underserved 

8 and overburdened communities, according to the 

9 Fifth National Climate Assessment; 

10 (7) the $100,000,000,000 each year that fossil 

11 fuel companies are collectively assessed for the Pol12 luters Pay Climate Fund established in this Act rep13 resents only a small portion of the total cost to the 

14 Federal Government to respond to climate change 

15 related extreme weather events and make needed cli16 mate change adaptation and resilience investments; 

17 (8) peer-reviewed research can now determine 

18 with great accuracy the share of carbon dioxide re19 leased into the atmosphere by the operations and 

20 products of specific fossil fuel companies, which is 

21 what informs the formulas to determine carbon diox22 ide emissions that are used in the amendments made 

23 by this Act; 


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1 (9) the fossil fuel industry has been aware of 

2 the central role that their product plays in causing 

3 climate change since before the year 2000; 

4 (10) the fossil fuel industry must now increase 

5 their contribution to government expenditures to 

6 protect the Nation from climate disaster; and 

7 (11) this Act and assessments under the 

8 amendments made by this Act are not intended— 

9 (A) to be a determination of fault; or 

10 (B) to have any impact on the ability of 

11 any person or other government to hold pol12 luters accountable for harms caused. 

13 SEC. 3. TAX RELATING TO CURRENT STOCK OF GREEN14 HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 38 of the Internal Rev16 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following new subchapter: 

18 ‘‘Subchapter E—Certain Fossil Fuel 

19 Emissions 

‘‘Sec. 4691. Imposition of tax. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 4691. IMPOSITION OF TAX. 

21 ‘‘(a) IMPOSITION.—Each assessable person shall pay 

22 to the Secretary not later than the applicable payment 

23 date a tax in an amount determined under subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each as2 sessable person, the tax under this section shall be 

3 equal to an amount that bears the same ratio to 

4 $1,000,000,000,000 as— 

5 ‘‘(A) the assessable person’s applicable 

6 share of covered carbon dioxide emissions taken 

7 into account under this section, bears to 

8 ‘‘(B) the aggregate applicable shares of 

9 covered carbon dioxide emissions of all assess10 able persons taken into account under this sec11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF APPLICABLE

13 SHARE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The applicable share 

15 of covered carbon dioxide emissions taken into 

16 account under this section for any assessable 

17 person shall be the excess (if any) of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the covered carbon dioxide emis19 sions attributable to such person (deter20 mined in metric tons), as determined by 

21 the Secretary based on product-related car22 bon dioxide emissions of such person, over 

23 ‘‘(ii) 1,000,000,000 metric tons. 

24 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary may 

25 adjust the amount determined under subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Sep 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9573.IH H9573

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1 graph (A)(i) with respect to an assessable per2 son who is described in subsection (c)(3)(B)(ii) 

3 (or who is a successor in interest to a person 

4 described in such subsection) if such person es5 tablishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary 

6 that a portion of such amount was— 

7 ‘‘(i) attributable to the extraction of 

8 crude oil by another assessable person who 

9 is described in subsection (c)(3)(B)(i) (or a 

10 successor in interest to a person described 

11 in such subsection), and 

12 ‘‘(ii) taken into account in deter13 mining such amount for such other assess14 able person. 

15 ‘‘(c) ASSESSABLE PERSON.—For purposes of this 

16 section— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘assessable per18 son’ means— 

19 ‘‘(A) any person that is described in para20 graph (2), or 

21 ‘‘(B) any successor in interest to a person 

22 described in paragraph (2). 

23 ‘‘(2) PERSON DESCRIBED.—A person is de24 scribed in this paragraph if such person— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is a United States person or is en2 gaged in a trade or business within the United 

3 States during the period beginning on the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act and ending on De5 cember 31, 2024, 

6 ‘‘(B) during any part of the covered pe7 riod, was engaged in the trade or business of— 

8 ‘‘(i) extracting any fossil fuel, or 

9 ‘‘(ii) refining any crude oil, and 

10 ‘‘(C) is determined by the Secretary to be 

11 responsible for more than 1,000,000,000 metric 

12 tons of covered carbon dioxide emissions. 

13 ‘‘(3) CONTROLLED GROUPS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

15 subsection, all persons treated as a single em16 ployer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 

17 or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414 shall be 

18 treated as a single assessable person. 

19 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF FOREIGN CORPORA20 TIONS.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), in 

21 applying subsections (a) and (b) of section 52 

22 to this section, section 1563 shall be applied 

23 without regard to subsection (b)(2)(C) thereof. 

24 ‘‘(4) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—If more 

25 than one person is liable for payment of the tax 


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1 under subsection (a) with respect to a single assess2 able person by reason of the application of para3 graph (3), all such persons shall be jointly and sev4 erally liable for payment of such tax. 

5 ‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS AND RULES.—For pur6 poses of this section— 

7 ‘‘(1) APPLICABLE PAYMENT DATE.—The term 

8 ‘applicable payment date’ means September 30, 

9 2025. 

10 ‘‘(2) COVERED CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS.— 

11 The term ‘covered carbon dioxide emissions’ means, 

12 with respect to any person, the total quantity of car13 bon dioxide released into the atmosphere during the 

14 covered period by reason such person engaging in 

15 the trade or business of extracting fossil fuels or of 

16 refining crude oil. 

17 ‘‘(3) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe18 riod’ means the period that— 

19 ‘‘(A) began on January 1, 2000, and 

20 ‘‘(B) ended on December 31, 2022. 

21 ‘‘(4) FOSSIL FUEL.—The term ‘fossil fuel’ 

22 means coal, crude oil, and fuel gases. 

23 ‘‘(5) COAL.—The term ‘coal’ means anthracite, 

24 bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite coal. 


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1 ‘‘(6) CRUDE OIL.—The term ‘crude oil’ means 

2 oil or petroleum of any kind and in any form, includ3 ing bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, conventional and 

4 unconventional oil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, con5 densates, and related fossil fuel liquids. 

6 ‘‘(7) FUEL GASES.—The term ‘fuel gases’ 

7 means natural gas, associated natural gas, conven8 tional and unconventional gas, shale gas, and related 

9 methane gas production. 

10 ‘‘(8) DETERMINATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE

11 EMISSIONS.—In determining the amount of carbon 

12 dioxide emissions with respect to any assessable per13 son— 

14 ‘‘(A) an amount equivalent to 942.5 metric 

15 tons of carbon dioxide shall be treated as re16 leased for every 1,000,000 pounds of coal, 

17 ‘‘(B) an amount equivalent to 432,180 

18 metric tons of carbon dioxide shall be treated as 

19 released for every 1,000,000 barrels of crude 

20 oil, and 

21 ‘‘(C) an amount equivalent to 54,440 met22 ric tons of carbon dioxide shall be treated as re23 leased for every 1,000,000,000 cubic feet of fuel 

24 gases. 


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1 ‘‘(e) ELECTION TO PAY LIABILITY IN INSTALL2 MENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An assessable person may 

4 elect to pay the tax under this section in 9 annual 

5 installments of the following amounts: 

6 ‘‘(A) 20 percent of the tax under this sec7 tion in the case of the first installment. 

8 ‘‘(B) 10 percent of the tax under this sec9 tion in each of the following 8 installments. 

10 ‘‘(2) DATE FOR PAYMENT OF INSTALLMENTS.— 

11 If an election is made under paragraph (1), the first 

12 installment shall be paid on the applicable payment 

13 date and each succeeding installment shall be paid 

14 on the same date as the applicable payment date for 

15 each calendar year following the calendar year with 

16 respect to which the preceding installment was 

17 made. 

18 ‘‘(3) ACCELERATION OF PAYMENT.—If there is 

19 an addition to tax for failure to timely pay any in20 stallment required under this subsection, a liquida21 tion or sale of substantially all the assets of the as22 sessable person (including in a title 11 or similar 

23 case), a cessation of business by the assessable per24 son, or any similar circumstance, then the unpaid 

25 portion of all remaining installments shall be due on 


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1 the date of such event (or in the case of a title 11 

2 or similar case, the day before the petition is filed). 

3 The preceding sentence shall not apply to the sale 

4 of substantially all the assets of an assessable person 

5 to a buyer if such buyer enters into an agreement 

6 with the Secretary under which such buyer is liable 

7 for the remaining installments due under this sub8 section in the same manner as if such buyer were 

9 the assessable person. 

10 ‘‘(4) PRORATION OF DEFICIENCY TO INSTALL11 MENTS.—If an election is made under paragraph (1) 

12 to pay the tax under this section in installments and 

13 a deficiency has been assessed with respect to such 

14 tax, the deficiency shall be prorated to the install15 ments payable under paragraph (1). The part of the 

16 deficiency so prorated to any installment the date 

17 for payment of which has not arrived shall be col18 lected at the same time as, and as a part of, such 

19 installment. The part of the deficiency so prorated 

20 to any installment the date for payment of which 

21 has arrived shall be paid upon notice and demand 

22 from the Secretary. This subsection shall not apply 

23 if the deficiency is due to negligence, to intentional 

24 disregard of rules and regulations, or to fraud with 

25 intent to evade tax. 


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1 ‘‘(5) ELECTION.—Any election under paragraph 

2 (1) shall be made not later than the applicable pay3 ment date and shall be made in such manner as the 

4 Secretary shall provide. 

5 ‘‘(6) INSTALLMENTS NOT TO PREVENT CREDIT

6 OR REFUND OF OVERPAYMENTS OR INCREASE ESTI7 MATED TAXES.—If an election is made under para8 graph (1) to pay the tax under this section in in9 stallments— 

10 ‘‘(A) no installment of such tax shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) in the case of a request for credit 

12 or refund, be taken into account as a li13 ability for purposes of determining whether 

14 an overpayment exists for purposes of sec15 tion 6402 before the date on which such 

16 installment is due, or 

17 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of sections 6425, 

18 6654, and 6655, be treated as a tax im19 posed by section 1, section 11, or sub20 chapter L of chapter 1, and 

21 ‘‘(B) the first sentence of section 6403 

22 shall not apply with respect to any such install23 ment. 

24 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after 

25 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 


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1 promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out 

2 this section.’’. 

3 (b) NO DEDUCTION.—Section 275(a) of such Code 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new para5 graph: 

6 ‘‘(7) Taxes imposed by subchapter E of chapter 

7 38.’’. 

8 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sub9 chapters for chapter 38 of such Code is amended by add10 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER E—CERTAIN FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS’’. 

11 SEC. 4. POLLUTERS PAY CLIMATE FUND. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 

14 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

15 adding at the end the following new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 9512. POLLUTERS PAY CLIMATE FUND. 

17 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

18 Treasury of the United States a trust fund, to be known 

19 as the ‘Polluters Pay Climate Fund’ (hereinafter in this 

20 section referred to as the ‘Fund’), consisting of amounts 

21 as are appropriated or credited to such Trust Fund as 

22 provided in this section and section 9602(b). 

23 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS.—There are hereby appropriated to 

24 the Fund amounts equivalent to the taxes received in the 

25 Treasury under section 4691. 


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1 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM THE FUND.—Amounts in 

2 the fund shall be available, as provided in appropriations 

3 Acts, for the purpose of making expenditures to carry out 

4 the purposes of section 4(b) of the Polluters Pay Climate 

5 Fund Act of 2024.’’. 

6 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec7 tions for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

9 item: 

‘‘Sec. 9512. Polluters Pay Climate Fund.’’. 

10 (b) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

11 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 (A) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Admin13 istrator’’ means the Administrator of the Envi14 ronmental Protection Agency. 

15 (B) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMU16 NITY.—The term ‘‘environmental justice com17 munity’’ means a community with significant 

18 representation of communities of color, low-in19 come communities, or Tribal and Indigenous 

20 communities that experiences, or is at risk of 

21 experiencing, higher or more adverse human 

22 health or environmental effects as compared to 

23 other communities. 

24 (C) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 

25 Polluters Pay Climate Fund established under 


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1 section 9512 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

2 1986. 

3 (D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

4 means the Secretary of the Treasury. 

5 (2) USE OF FUND AMOUNTS.— 

6 (A) GENERAL PURPOSES.—The Secretary, 

7 in consultation with the Administrator and the 

8 heads of other relevant agencies, shall use 

9 amounts in the Fund for the purposes of fur10 thering a comprehensive and equitable Federal 

11 response to climate change impacts through in12 vestments in climate resilience, adaptation, dis13 aster response, and environmental justice, in14 cluding— 

15 (i) climate-related disaster recovery 

16 and mitigation support; 

17 (ii) climate change adaptation support 

18 through climate and disaster planning as19 sistance, funding for climate-resilient infra20 structure, and improved climate and ex21 treme weather prediction capabilities; 

22 (iii) initiatives that increase the cli23 mate resilience of energy systems through 

24 energy efficiency, grid resilience, and dis25 tributed electricity generation initiatives; 


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1 (iv) initiatives that increase the cli2 mate resilience of the food system through 

3 support for climate-resilient farming prac4 tices; 

5 (v) initiatives that increase the cli6 mate resilience of the transportation sys7 tem through planning and climate change 

8 adaptation support; 

9 (vi) initiatives that increase the cli10 mate resilience of ecosystems through con11 servation, restoration, and wildfire man12 agement activities; 

13 (vii) support for climate-related public 

14 health initiatives, including efforts to ad15 dress extreme heat; and 

16 (viii) initiatives that increase the cli17 mate resiliency of drinking water and 

18 stormwater infrastructure. 

19 (B) SPECIFIED USES.—In carrying out 

20 subparagraph (A) each fiscal year and to the 

21 greatest extent practicable, the Secretary shall 

22 use amounts in the Fund— 

23 (i) to provide funding of not less than 

24 $15,000,000,000 to the Federal Emer25 gency Management Agency for response 


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1 and resilience programs of the Federal 

2 Emergency Management Agency to ad3 dress climate-related disasters, including 

4 hurricanes, flooding, extreme heat, and 

5 wildfires, of which not less than 

6 $3,000,000,000 shall be used to carry out 

7 the Building Resilient Infrastructure and 

8 Communities program under section 203 

9 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

10 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 5133); and 

12 (ii) to provide funding of not less than 

13 $6,000,000,000 for grants and technical 

14 assistance under section 138 of the Clean 

15 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7438), subject to the 

16 condition that the Administrator may de17 termine the appropriate amounts to be 

18 used for those grants and that technical 

19 assistance. 

20 (C) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SET

21 ASIDE.—Of the amounts appropriated from the 

22 Fund each fiscal year, 40 percent shall be used 

23 for investments that benefit environmental jus24 tice communities. 


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1 (D) SELECTION.—For the purpose of de2 termining how to award amounts appropriated 

3 from the Fund in excess of the amounts re4 quired to be used under subparagraph (B), the 

5 Secretary, in coordination with the Adminis6 trator and the heads of other relevant agencies, 

7 shall establish selection criteria, which shall give 

8 the highest priority to projects or other activi9 ties that are most impactful in achieving the 

10 purposes described in subparagraph (A), as de11 termined by the Secretary, in coordination with 

12 the Administrator and the heads of other rel13 evant agencies. 

14 SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF REMEDIES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act or the amend16 ments made by this Act shall be construed to relieve any 

17 person from liability at common law or under any State 

18 or Federal law. 

19 (b) EFFECT ON CLAIMS RELATED TO CLIMATE

20 CHANGE.—Nothing in this Act or the amendments made 

21 by this Act, the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), 

22 or Federal common law preempts, displaces, or restricts 

23 any right or remedy of any person, State, unit of local 

24 government, or Tribal government under any State or 


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1 local law (including common law) relating to an allegation 

2 of— 

3 (1) deception concerning the effects of fossil 

4 fuel on climate change; 

5 (2) damage or injury resulting from the role of 

6 fossil fuel in contributing to climate change; or 

7 (3) the failure to avoid damage or injury re8 lated to climate change, including claims for nui9 sance, trespass, design defect, negligence, failure to 

10 warn, or deceptive or unfair practices and claims for 

11 injunctive, declaratory, monetary, or other relief. 

12 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

13 or the amendments made by this Act shall— 

14 (1) require the repayment of any funds made 

15 available from the Polluters Pay Climate Fund es16 tablished under section 9512 of the Internal Rev17 enue Code of 1986 and used pursuant to section 

18 4(b) as a result of any award of damages imposed 

19 by a court of law relating to any causes of action or 

20 allegations described in subsection (b); or 

21 (2) permit the use of any such funds— 

22 (A) as evidence in such an action or allega23 tion; or 

24 (B) to offset any award of damages in 

25 such an action or allegation. 


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1 SEC. 6. NON-PREEMPTION OF AUTHORITIES. 

2 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

3 Act shall be construed to preempt or supersede any State 

4 or local law, regulation, policy, or program, including laws, 

5 regulations, polices, and programs that— 

6 (1) limit, set, or enforce standards for green7 house gas emissions; 

8 (2) monitor, report, and keep records of green9 house gas emissions; 

10 (3) provide cost recovery for climate adaptation, 

11 mitigation, or resilience; or 

12 (4) conduct or support investigations. 

Æ 


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