§ 598. Liability of responsible parties
(a)(1) A responsible party shall be strictly liable for a share of the costs of climate change
adaptation projects and all qualifying expenditures supported by the Fund.
(2) For purposes of this section, entities in a controlled group:
(A) shall be treated by the Agency as a single entity for the purposes of identifying
responsible parties; and
(B) are jointly and severally liable for payment of any cost recovery demand owed by any
entity in the controlled group.
(b) With respect to each responsible party, the cost recovery demand shall be equal to
an amount that bears the same ratio to the cost to the State of Vermont and its residents,
as calculated by the State Treasurer pursuant to section 599c of this title, from covered greenhouse gas emissions as the responsible party’s applicable share
of covered greenhouse gas emissions bears to the aggregate applicable shares of covered
greenhouse gas emissions.
(c) If a responsible party owns a minority interest of 10 percent or more in another entity,
the responsible party’s applicable share of covered greenhouse gas emissions shall
be increased by the applicable share of covered greenhouse gas emissions for the entity
in which the responsible party holds a minority interest multiplied by the percentage
of the minority interest held by the responsible party.
(d) The Agency shall use the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Emissions Factors
for Greenhouse Gas Inventories as applied to the fossil fuel volume data for the purpose
of determining the amount of covered greenhouse gas emissions attributable to any
entity from the fossil fuels attributable to the entity.
(e) The Agency may adjust the cost recovery demand amount of a responsible party who refined
petroleum products or who is a successor in interest to an entity that refines petroleum
products if the responsible party establishes to the satisfaction of the Agency that:
(1) a portion of the cost recovery demand amount was attributable to the refining of crude
oil extracted by another responsible party; and
(2) the crude oil extracted by the other entity was accounted for when the Agency determined
the cost recovery demand amount for the other entity or a successor in interest of
the other entity.
(f) The Agency shall issue the cost recovery demands required under this section not later
than six months following the adoption of the rules required under subdivision 599a(b)(2) of this title.
(g)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, a responsible party shall
pay the cost recovery demand amount in full not later than six months following the
Secretary’s issuance of the cost recovery demand.
(2)(A) A responsible party may elect to pay the cost recovery demand amount in nine annual
installments in accordance with this subdivision (2).
(B) The first installment shall be paid not later than six months following the Secretary’s
issuance of the cost recovery demand and shall be equal to 20 percent of the total
cost recovery demand amount.
(C) Each subsequent installment shall be paid one year from the initial payment each subsequent
year and shall be equal to 10 percent of the total cost recovery demand amount. The
Secretary may charge reasonable interest on each installment payment or a payment
delayed for any other reason and, at the Secretary’s discretion, may adjust the amount
of a subsequent installment payment or a payment delayed for any other reason to reflect
increases or decreases in the Consumer Price Index.
(D)(i) The unpaid balance of all remaining installments shall become due immediately if:
(I) the responsible party fails to pay any installment in a timely manner, as specified
in Agency rules;
(II) except as provided in subdivision (ii) of this subdivision (g)(2)(D), there is a liquidation
or sale of substantially all the assets of the responsible party; or
(III) the responsible party ceases to do business.
(ii) In the case of a sale of substantially all the assets of a responsible party, the
remaining installments shall not become due immediately if the buyer enters into an
agreement with the Agency under which the buyer assumes liability for the remaining
installments due under this subdivision (2) in the same manner as if the buyer were
the responsible party.
(h) The Agency shall deposit cost recovery payments collected under this chapter to the
Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program Fund established under section 599 of this title.
(i) A responsible party aggrieved by the issuance of a notice of cost recovery demand
shall exhaust administrative remedies by filing a request for reconsideration with
the Secretary within 30 days following issuance of the notice of cost recovery demand.
A request for reconsideration shall state the grounds for the request and include
supporting documentation. The Secretary shall notify the responsible party of the
final decision by issuing a subsequent notice of cost recovery demand. A responsible
party aggrieved by the issuance of a final notice of cost recovery demand may bring
an action pursuant to Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure in the Civil
Division of the Superior Court of Washington County.
(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or diminish in any way any
other remedies available to a person, as that term is defined in 1 V.S.A. § 128, at common law or under statute. (Added 2023, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2024; amended 2025, No. 47, § 23, eff. June 5, 2025.)