EXTREME WEATHER RECOVERY ACT

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB3594

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HB3594 - 104th General Assembly

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB3594

Introduced 2/18/2025, by Rep. Kam Buckner

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Extreme Weather Recovery Act. Creates a private cause of
action for a harmed party against a responsible party in which the amount
in controversy is $10,000 or more. Authorizes a harmed party who has
suffered damages in that amount that is alleged to have been caused by
climate disaster or extreme weather attributable to climate changes or
both to sue a responsible party. The Act's covered period is from 1965 to
the effective date of the Act. Prohibits the State or unit of local
government or an agent or employee of these governmental units from
commencing an action under the Act. Makes legislative findings. Makes
definitions. Creates a 3-year statute of limitation in which a harmed
party must file or commence an action under the Act. Authorizes the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency to adopt rules implementing the Act.
Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
LRB104 07136 JRC 17173 b

A BILL FOR

HB3594
LRB104 07136 JRC 17173 b
1

AN ACT concerning civil law.

2

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3
represented in the General Assembly:

4

Section 1.
Short title.
This Act may be cited as the
5
Extreme Weather Recovery Act.

6

Section 5.
Findings; intent; purpose.
7

(a) The General Assembly finds that:
8

(i) climate disasters, extreme weather attributable to
9

climate change, and harms resulting from long-term changes
10

to the climate system pose a threat to the health, safety,
11

and security of all residents of, and visitors to,
12

Illinois;
13

(ii) climate change poses many costly risks to
14

Illinois residents, including an increase in precipitation
15

and severe storms, hotter temperatures, and intensified
16

drought;
17

(iii) average annual precipitation in Illinois has
18

increased by 12% to 15%; and extreme precipitation events
19

(days with more than 2 inches of precipitation) have
20

increased by 40% since the beginning of the 20th century,
21

resulting in more frequent flooding;
22

(iv) insurance companies lost money on policies
23

associated with property insurance in Illinois in 2023,

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due mostly to damage from severe storms;
2

(v) the average temperature in Illinois is predicted
3

to increase by up to 9°F by 2100 under a moderate climate
4

scenario (RCP4.5); the average daily temperature has
5

already increased by 1 to 2°F in most areas of the State;
6

and the average nighttime temperature has increased by
7

more than 3°F over the last 120 years;
8

(vi) warmer temperatures will change the composition
9

of Illinois forests and decrease agricultural yields of
10

corn, soybeans, and other crops;
11

(vii) heat stress caused by climate change is likely
12

to reduce corn yields by 23% to 34% in Illinois by the
13

middle of this century;
14

(viii) all Illinoisans are at risk of concrete and
15

particularized injuries caused by the increasing
16

prevalence and intensity of climate disasters, extreme
17

weather attributable to climate change, and harms
18

resulting from long-term changes to the climate system;
19

(ix) Illinois has a compelling State interest in
20

protecting its citizens from climate disasters, extreme
21

weather attributable to climate change, and harms
22

resulting from long-term changes to the climate system;
23

(x) the cost and impact of climate disasters, extreme
24

weather attributable to climate change, and harms
25

resulting from long-term changes to the climate system
26

continue to increase, straining public resources in this

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State; and
2

(xi) impacts in Illinois causally connected to
3

responsible parties' qualified products and actions during
4

the covered period include, but are not limited to:
5

(A) damage to public property and infrastructure,
6

as well as adjacent private property and
7

infrastructure;
8

(B) natural resource damages to public and private
9

resources;
10

(C) increased risk, hours, and compensation to
11

emergency responders faced with increasingly frequent
12

and severe events;
13

(D) significant and costly health and safety
14

upgrades to public buildings before generally accepted
15

amortization and depreciation timelines, resulting in
16

additional taxpayer expenses now and into the future;
17

(E) significant and costly occupational
18

productivity losses and costs from workplace health
19

and safety regulations that are increasingly necessary
20

and required to protect employers and employees from
21

increased risks and hazards related to climate change
22

and extreme weather attributable to climate change;
23

(F) canceled school days because of climate
24

disasters and extreme weather attributable to climate
25

change, resulting in educational harms to students
26

that have long-lasting impacts on workforce, business,

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and economic development; and
2

(G) increasing public and private health costs
3

stemming from indoor and outdoor pollution,
4

contamination, and exposure to toxic materials,
5

whether in combination or occurring separately,
6

exacerbated by the impacts of climate disasters and
7

extreme weather attributable to climate change;
8

(xii) a judicial forum is necessary for Illinoisans to
9

redress the harm that responsible parties have caused and
10

continue to cause through climate disasters, extreme
11

weather attributable to climate change, and harms
12

resulting from long-term changes to the climate system
13

fueled by their products and actions. Illinois has a
14

compelling State interest in empowering citizens to
15

recover, recoup, or rebuild the value of lost, damaged,
16

and destroyed property, as well as the full extent of
17

non-economic, compensatory, and punitive damages allowable
18

under this State's laws and constitution;
19

(xiii) the courts of this State are the appropriate
20

venue to provide additional relief to harmed parties as
21

deemed necessary or proper in the course of legal
22

proceedings brought under the authority of this Act;
23

(xiv) this State has a compelling interest in
24

preserving public resources for traditional public
25

purposes. It is not the desire of this State to continue
26

paying for increased damages to harmed parties caused by

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the profit-seeking actions and omissions of responsible
2

parties' qualified products and actions;
3

(xv) climate disasters, extreme weather attributable
4

to climate change, and harms resulting from long-term
5

changes to the climate system are not acts of God,
6

unforeseeable, or otherwise classified as a force majeure
7

event eligible for litigation limitations or defenses,
8

except as explicitly and unambiguously provided;
9

(xvi) decades of intentional lies, misinformation, and
10

disinformation, and misrepresentations by responsible
11

parties about the connection between qualified products
12

and climate change has directly and causally contributed
13

to concrete and particularized injuries in this State from
14

climate disasters, extreme weather attributable to climate
15

change, and harms resulting from long-term changes to the
16

climate system. Continued lies, misinformation, and
17

disinformation, and misrepresentations pose a threat to
18

the health, safety, and security of all residents of, and
19

visitors to, this State. Responsible parties have
20

long-known the dangers of their qualified products but
21

continued to deny and lie for profit. Hiding, obfuscating,
22

and denying information to consumers, elected officials,
23

and regulators alike harmed and continues to harm
24

Illinoisans. This State has a compelling interest in
25

protecting consumers from lies, misinformation, and
26

disinformation in the marketplace, and encouraging factual

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and truthful information on climate disasters, extreme
2

weather attributable to climate change, harms resulting
3

from long-term changes to the climate system, and the
4

qualified products and actions of responsible parties. The
5

General Assembly further finds and declares that:
6

(A) responsible parties have engaged in a
7

decades-long project to protect their profits with a
8

coordinated effort to deceive the public about the
9

reality of the climate crisis;
10

(B) documents unveiled by litigation and
11

investigative journalists demonstrate that as early as
12

the 1950s, responsible parties became aware of the
13

potentially catastrophic impact of their products.
14

Even in the face of research conducted by their own
15

scientists affirming the impacts of their business,
16

responsible parties outright denied that climate
17

change was real, spread disinformation to cast doubt
18

on the science, and fought regulatory action against
19

qualified products;
20

(C) the 1970s and 1980s saw the development of a
21

clear scientific consensus that increasing CO
2

22

concentration in the atmosphere would contribute to
23

global warming and that the heightened CO
2
emissions
24

were attributable to fossil fuels. These facts were
25

supported by fossil-fuel industry scientists like
26

Exxon's James F. Black, who provided these findings in

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a 1977 presentation and a 1978 briefing of Exxon
2

management. In 1979, W.L. Ferrall outlined that an
3

internal Exxon study concluded that the "present trend
4

of fossil-fuel consumption will cause dramatic
5

environmental effects before the year 2050." In 1982,
6

R.W. Cohen summarized that Exxon's climate modeling
7

research was "consistent with the published prediction
8

of more complex climate models" and "in accord with
9

the scientific consensus on the effect of increased
10

atmospheric CO
2
on climate." A 1988 Shell report
11

echoed the Exxon warnings and acknowledged the need to
12

consider policy changes. The report provided that "the
13

potential implications for the world are... so large
14

that policy options need to be considered much
15

earlier" and that research should be "directed more to
16

the analysis of policy and energy options than to
17

studies of what we will be facing exactly";
18

(D) despite acknowledging that increased CO
2

19

concentrations because of fossil-fuel combustion posed
20

a considerable threat, responsible parties decided not
21

to take steps to prevent the risks of climate change.
22

Instead, they stopped funding major climate research,
23

and launched campaigns to discredit climate science
24

and delay actions perceived as contrary to their
25

business interests. These responsible parties carried
26

out these campaigns by:

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(1) developing public relations strategies
2

that were contradictory to their knowledge and
3

scientific insights;
4

(2) engaging in public communications
5

campaigns to promote doubt and downplay the
6

threats of climate change; and
7

(3) funding individuals, organizations, and
8

research aimed at discrediting the growing body of
9

publicly available climate science.
10

(E) from 1970 to 2020 the oil and gas industry
11

responsible parties made nearly $2.8 billion a day and
12

$1 trillion a year in profit;
13

(F) responsible parties currently advertise
14

"green" efforts to the public that mask the lack of
15

real investment in resiliency and energy-source
16

transition and the continued prioritization of the
17

extraction, refinement, and distribution of qualified
18

products;
19

(G) a December 2022 report by the Oversight
20

Committee in Congress also revealed internal documents
21

from senior leaders in responsible parties that
22

explicitly reject taking accountability for the
23

greenhouse gas emissions associated with their
24

products;
25

(H) by their conduct and impact, responsible
26

parties have intentionally obfuscated the truth about

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climate change and outright deceived the public to
2

continue dependence on their qualified products;
3

(xvii) intentional lies, misinformation, and
4

disinformation, and misrepresentations by responsible
5

parties about the connection between qualified products
6

they sell or sold and climate change is not political
7

speech, but fundamentally commercial activity with
8

incidental political impact; and
9

(xviii) that responsible parties must be accountable
10

to harmed parties. The General Assembly hereby explicitly
11

authorizes a cause of action to harmed parties, including
12

individuals, businesses, and associations. This State has
13

a sovereign and compelling State interest in providing a
14

forum for individuals, businesses, and associations
15

sustaining injuries and harms caused by responsible
16

parties' deceptive behavior and linked to the harms of
17

responsible parties' products and actions. It is the
18

intent of this State to provide a judicial forum for the
19

efficient, just, and equitable resolution of harmed
20

parties' claims for damages stemming from climate
21

disasters, extreme weather attributable to climate change,
22

and harms resulting from long-term changes to the climate
23

system, as defined herein, against responsible parties.
24

(b) It is the purpose of this Act to create a new cause of
25
action independent of existing law. Nothing in this Act may be
26
construed to limit in any way the enforceability of existing

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LRB104 07136 JRC 17173 b
1
laws concerning consumer protection, climate, environment,
2
energy, or natural resources.

3

Section 10.
Definitions.
As used in this Act:
4

(a) "Amount in controversy" means the damages claimed or
5
relief demanded by the injured party or parties in a lawsuit.
6

(b) "Extreme event attribution science" means research
7
aimed at understanding how human-induced changes in the global
8
climate system affect the probability, severity, and other
9
characteristics of extreme weather events such as hurricanes
10
and heat waves. This may include, but not be limited to,
11
determining the likelihood of the particular event happening
12
today compared to how it might have unfolded without
13
human-caused increase in concentration of greenhouse gases in
14
the atmosphere.
15

(c) "Climate disaster" means an event that meets any of
16
the following threshold qualifications and is determined by
17
impact attribution science or extreme event attribution
18
science to be substantially worsened (at least statistically
19
significant) or caused by climate change from responsible
20
parties' products or extreme weather attributable to climate
21
change from responsible parties' products:
22

(i) a "major disaster" as defined by the Federal
23

Emergency Management Agency in July of 2024, without
24

recognition of any changes to that definition that may
25

occur at a later time by subsequent agency administration,

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1

or removal of the definition from the public domain or
2

Code of Federal Regulations;
3

(ii) "any natural catastrophe" (including any
4

hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, wind-driven water,
5

tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption,
6

landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or drought), or,
7

regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion, in any
8

part of the United States, which in the determination of
9

the President causes damage of sufficient severity and
10

magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance under this
11

Act to supplement the efforts and available resources of
12

states, local governments, and disaster relief
13

organizations in alleviating the damage, loss, hardship,
14

or suffering caused thereby. This includes, but is not
15

limited to, the definition of a natural catastrophe in the
16

Stafford Act such as any hurricane, tornado, storm, high
17

water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake,
18

volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or
19

drought or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood or
20

explosion, in any part of the United States, which in the
21

determination of the President causes damage of sufficient
22

severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster
23

assistance under this the Stafford Act to supplement the
24

efforts and available resources of local and state
25

governments and disaster relief organizations in
26

alleviating the damage, loss, hardship or suffering caused

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thereby;
2

(iii) a "catastrophic incident" as defined by the
3

Federal Emergency Management Agency in July of 2024 (not
4

including events linked to terrorism), without recognition
5

of any changes to that definition that may occur at a later
6

time by a later agency administration or removal of the
7

definition from the public domain or Code of Federal
8

Regulations;
9

(iv) any natural or man-made incident that results in
10

extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or
11

disruption severely affecting the population,
12

infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, or
13

government functions. A catastrophic event could result in
14

sustained national impacts over a prolonged period of
15

time; almost immediately exceeds resources normally
16

available to local, state, tribal, and private sector
17

authorities in the impacted area; and significantly
18

interrupts governmental operations and emergency services
19

to such an extent that national security could be
20

threatened;
21

(v) any event that does qualify, or would have
22

qualified, for inclusion on the National Centers for
23

Environmental Information's "Billion-Dollar Weather and
24

Climate Disasters" program and data list as it existed in
25

July of 2024, without recognition of any changes weakening
26

the agency program that may occur at a later time by

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subsequent agency administration or abolition of the
2

program, National Centers for Environmental Information,
3

or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
4

and
5

(vi) a gubernatorial proclamation that a disaster
6

exists under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.
7

(d) "Covered period" means the period from January 1, 1965
8
to the effective date of this Act.
9

(e) "Extreme weather attributable to climate change" means
10
weather, climate, or environmental conditions including, but
11
not limited to, temperature, precipitation, drought, or
12
flooding that are consistent with impacts or events that are
13
attributable to climate change and where the intensity,
14
magnitude, location, timing, or extent of the event lie
15
outside the historical distribution of measurements for that
16
type of event or impact for a particular place and time of
17
year. These events include those that "extreme event
18
attribution science" determines were made more likely or
19
severe by climate change.
20

(f) "Generally accepted amortization and depreciation
21
timelines" means methods used and encouraged by the Internal
22
Revenue Service and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
23

(g) "Gross negligence" means negligence that is materially
24
greater than the mere absence of reasonable care under the
25
circumstances and that is characterized by indifference to or
26
reckless disregard of the rights of others.

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(h) "Harmed parties" means any person, business, or
2
association harmed or suffering damages in the amount of at
3
least $10,000 as a result of a climate disaster or extreme
4
weather attributable to climate change.
5

(i) "Impact attribution science" means research aimed at
6
understanding how global climate change affects human and
7
natural systems, including but not limited to localized
8
physical impacts, such as floods, droughts, and sea level
9
rise, and the corresponding effects on infrastructure, public
10
health, ecosystems, agriculture, and economies.
11

(j) "Long-term changes to the climate system" includes,
12
but is not limited to: increases in average temperature;
13
disruptions to ocean chemistry, circulation, and temperature;
14
sea level rise; variation in precipitation; saltwater
15
intrusion into drinking water; sunny day flooding; decreased
16
snowpack and seasonal water availability; drought; and species
17
mortality and extinction.
18

(k) "Market-share liability" means liability that is
19
imposed severally on each member of an industry, based on each
20
member's share of the market or respective percentage of the
21
qualified product placed on the market.
22

(l) "Qualified product" means a fossil-fuel product
23
including, but not limited to:
24

(i) Crude petroleum oil and all other hydrocarbons,
25

regardless of gravity, that are produced at the wellhead
26

in liquid form by ordinary production methods;

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(ii) Natural, manufactured, mixed, and byproduct
2

hydrocarbon gas; or
3

(iii) Refined crude oil, crude tops, topped crude,
4

processed crude, processed crude petroleum, residue from
5

crude petroleum, cracking stock, uncracked fuel oil, fuel
6

oil, treated crude oil, residuum, gas oil, casinghead
7

gasoline, natural-gas gasoline, kerosene, benzine, wash
8

oil, waste oil, blended gasoline, lubricating oil, and
9

blends or mixtures of oil with one or more liquid products
10

or byproducts derived from oil or gas.
11

(m) "Responsible party" means a firm, corporation,
12
company, partnership, society, joint stock company or any
13
other entity or association that emitted or caused to be
14
emitted through the extracting, storing, transporting,
15
refining, importing, exporting, producing, manufacturing,
16
distributing, compounding, marketing, or offering for
17
wholesale or retail sale, a qualified product with total
18
greenhouse gas emissions of at least one billion metric tons
19
of carbon dioxide equivalent during the covered period. It
20
does not include any public utility, public authority, or the
21
State and its political subdivisions.
22

(n) "Statute of limitation" means that an action under
23
this Act must be commended within 3 years after the cause of
24
action accrued.
25

(o) "Strict liability" means liability that does not
26
depend on actual negligence or intent to harm, but that is

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based on the breach of an absolute duty to make something safe.

2

Section 15.
Civil action enforcement.
3

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the requirements of
4
this Act shall be enforced exclusively through the civil
5
actions described in this Act.
6

(b) Any person, other than an officer or employee of a
7
State or local governmental entity in this State, may bring a
8
civil action against any responsible party for climate
9
disasters or extreme weather attributable to climate change or
10
both as defined in this Act when the following conditions are
11
met:
12

(i) The person qualifies as a harmed party.
13

(ii) During any part of the covered period, the
14

responsible party did business in Illinois, was registered
15

to do business in Illinois, was appointed an agent of the
16

State, or otherwise had sufficient contacts with the State
17

to give the State jurisdiction over the responsible party
18

under Illinois law.
19

(iii) The statute of limitations for the action has
20

not expired.
21

(iv) The amount in controversy is at least $10,000.
22

Plaintiff allegations of the amount in controversy at the
23

pleading stage must be given judicial deference. Multiple
24

plaintiffs (regardless of association in a class action)
25

must be allowed to aggregate claims without common injury

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caused by climate disasters or extreme weather
2

attributable to climate change to reach the amount in
3

controversy threshold. The courts of this State are
4

encouraged to process these actions with simplified
5

procedural rules, streamlined enforcements, and other
6

remedied mechanisms.
7

(c) No enforcement of this Act may be taken or threatened
8
by the State, a political subdivision of the State, or an
9
executive or administrative officer or employee of the State
10
or a political subdivision, or a unit of local government or an
11
attorney representing any one of these governmental entities.
12

(d) Responsible parties are jointly and severally liable
13
to the plaintiffs for strict liability if they are a harmed
14
party.
15

(e) Harmed parties may commence an action against
16
responsible parties for recovery of damages in any one of the
17
following counties:
18

(i) the county in which all or a substantial part of
19

the events giving rise to the action occurred;
20

(ii) the county of residence for any one of the
21

natural person defendants at the time the cause of action
22

accrued;
23

(iii) the county of the principal office in this State
24

of any one of the defendants that is not a natural person;
25

or
26

(iv) the county of residence for any plaintiff if the

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1

plaintiff is a natural person residing in the State.
2

Notwithstanding any other law, if a civil action is
3
brought under this Act in one of the venues in this Section16,
4
the action may not be transferred to a different venue,
5
including federal court, without the written consent of all
6
parties.
7

(g) The fact that harmed parties bring legal action
8
against responsible parties under this Act may not be an
9
independent basis for enforcement of any other law of this
10
State; or the denial, revocation, suspension, or withholding
11
of any right or privilege conferred by the law of the State or
12
a political subdivision of the State, or a threat to do the
13
same.
14

(h) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to do any of the
15
following:
16

(i) Limit the enforceability of any other laws that
17

regulate or prohibit any conduct relating to climate
18

disasters, extreme weather, greenhouse gas emissions, or
19

consumer protection.
20

(ii) Replace legally mandated disaster recovery funds,
21

designated disaster recovery funds established by
22

legislation or administrative rule, contractually
23

obligated, or court-ordered insurance claim payouts.
24

(i) If a claimant prevails in an action brought under this
25
Section, the court shall award all of the following:
26

(i) The full extent of non-economic, compensatory, and

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punitive damages allowable under Illinois law and
2

Constitution.
3

(ii) Compensatory damages in an amount of not less
4

than the fair market value of recovering, recouping,
5

rebuilding, or remediating the value of lost, damaged, and
6

destroyed property.
7

(iii) Compensatory damages in an amount not less than
8

the cost of injuries to harmed parties including medical
9

care, mental and behavioral health care, past and present
10

pain and suffering, or emotional distress.
11

(j) Notwithstanding any other law, a cause of action under
12
this Section shall be extinguished unless the action is
13
commenced no later than 3 years after the cause of action
14
accrues.
15

(k) The connection of a climate disaster, extreme weather
16
attributable to climate change, or harms resulting from
17
long-term changes to the climate system to alleged injuries
18
shall be deemed an injury in fact for all residents of, and
19
visitors to, Illinois. Any such person shall have standing to
20
bring a civil action under this Act.
21

(l) Notwithstanding any other law, none of the following
22
is a defense to an action brought under this Act:
23

(i) A defendant's ignorance or mistake of law.
24

(ii) A defendant's belief that the requirements of
25

this Act are unconstitutional or were unconstitutional.
26

(iii) A defendant's reliance on any court decision

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1

that has been overruled on appeal or by a subsequent
2

court, even if that court decision had not been overruled
3

when the defendant engaged in conduct that violates this
4

Act.
5

(iv) A defendant's reliance on any State or federal
6

court decision that is not binding on the court in which
7

the action has been brought.
8

(v) Nonmutual issue preclusion or nonmutual claim
9

preclusion.
10

(vi) Any claim that the enforcement of this Act or the
11

imposition of civil liability against the defendant will
12

violate a constitutional right of a third party.
13

(vii) A defendant's assertion that this Act proscribes
14

conduct that is separately prohibited by any other law of
15

Illinois.
16

(viii) Any claim that defendants' or responsible
17

parties' qualified products were not misused, or were not
18

intended to be misused, in an unlawful manner.
19

(ix) A defendant's assertion that State or federal
20

laws relating to qualified products and responsible
21

parties' operations displace, abrogate, or supersede the
22

actions authorized under this Act, the authority of the
23

courts of Illinois to provide a forum for the action, or
24

the authority of the courts of Illinois to provide a
25

remedy to harmed parties.
26

(x) A defendant's assertion that choice-of-law and

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choice-of-forum clauses govern the action, regardless of
2

whether such clauses apply to harmed parties by basis of
3

consumer transactions.
4

(xi) A defendant's assertion that the plaintiff or
5

plaintiffs assumed a risk of harm through the use of their
6

products.
7

(xii) A defendant's forum non conveniens assertion so
8

long as the jurisdictional requirements of this Act are
9

satisfied.
10

(m) An action brought under this Section may be resolved
11
by settlement through mediation or arbitration upon written
12
consent of both parties; however, mediation or arbitration may
13
not be mandated by Illinois courts.
14

(n) This Act shall not be construed to impose liability on
15
any speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment to the
16
United States Constitution, as made applicable to the states
17
through the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States
18
Constitution, or by the Illinois Constitution.
19

(o) Notwithstanding any other law, the State, a State
20
official or a unit of local government or an attorney
21
representing any one of these governmental entities may not
22
intervene in an action brought under this Section. However,
23
this subsection does not prohibit a person described by this
24
subsection from filing an amicus curiae brief in the action.
25

(p) Notwithstanding any other law, a court may not award
26
attorney's fees or costs to a defendant in an action brought

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1
under this Section, unless the plaintiff was represented by
2
counsel in the action and plaintiff's counsel is found by the
3
court or the entity enforcing the rules of professional
4
conduct of attorney to be in violation of the rules of
5
professional conduct.
6

(q) An action under this Section may not be brought
7
against the federal government, State, or political
8
subdivision of the State, or an employee of one of those
9
governmental units on the basis of acts or omissions in the
10
course of discharge of official duties.

11

Section 20.
Offsets to damages and defenses to liability.
12

(a) All of the following are offsets to damages:
13

(i) Payments made to a harmed party under a contract
14

of insurance. Insurers have the right to commence a
15

subrogation action against responsible parties for
16

recovery of payments made to harmed parties under a
17

contract of insurance regardless of whether the insured
18

has been made whole.
19

(ii) Evidence that a harmed party fully recovered from
20

a public body for alleged injuries.
21

(b) All of the following are affirmative defenses to an
22
action commenced under this Act:
23

(i) Evidence of intentional destruction of property or
24

intentional worsening of damage to reach the amount in
25

controversy threshold.

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1

(ii) Evidence of gross negligence by the harmed party.
2

(iii) The defendant has the burden of proving an
3

affirmative defense under this subsection by a
4

preponderance of the evidence.

5

Section 25.
Fee and cost shifting from challenges to
6
enforcement.
7

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, any person, including
8
an entity, attorney, or law firm, who seeks declaratory or
9
injunctive relief to prevent this State, a political
10
subdivision, a governmental entity or public official in this
11
State, or a person in this State from enforcing any portion of
12
this statute, State rules of civil procedure, or any other
13
related law that promotes consumer protection and remedies to
14
injuries from climate disasters, extreme weather attributable
15
to climate change, and harms resulting from long-term changes
16
to the climate system, or that represents any litigant seeking
17
that relief, is jointly and severally liable to pay the
18
attorney's fees and costs of the prevailing party.
19

(b) For purposes of this Section, a party is considered a
20
prevailing party if a court does either of the following:
21

(i) Dismisses any claim or cause of action brought by
22

the party seeking the declaratory or injunctive relief
23

described by this Section, regardless of the reason for
24

the dismissal.
25

(ii) Enters judgment in favor of the party opposing

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1

the declaratory or injunctive relief described by this
2

Section on any claim or cause of action.
3

(c) Regardless of whether a prevailing party sought to
4
recover attorney's fees or costs in the underlying action, a
5
prevailing party under this Section may bring a civil action
6
to recover attorney's fees and costs against a person,
7
including an entity, attorney, or law firm, that sought
8
declaratory or injunctive relief described by this Section no
9
later than the third anniversary of the date on which, as
10
applicable:
11

(i) The dismissal or judgment described by this
12

Section becomes final upon the conclusion of appellate
13

review.
14

(ii) The time for seeking appellate review expires.
15

(d) None of the following are a defense to an action
16
brought under this Section:
17

(i) A prevailing party under this Section failed to
18

seek recovery of attorney's fees or costs in the
19

underlying action.
20

(ii) The court in the underlying action declined to
21

recognize or enforce the requirements of this Section.
22

(iii) The court in the underlying action held that any
23

provision of this Section is invalid, unconstitutional, or
24

preempted by federal law, notwithstanding the doctrines of
25

issue or claim preclusion.

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1

Section 30.
Limitations of the Act.
This Act may not be
2
construed to do any of the following:
3

(a) Authorize the commencement of an action under this
4

Act against an entity that is not a responsible party.
5

(b) Authorize the commencement of an action under this
6

Act when the amount in controversy requirements are not
7

met.
8

(c) Wholly or partly repeal, either expressly or by
9

implication, any other statute that regulates or prohibits
10

any conduct relating to climate disasters, extreme weather
11

attributable to climate change, and harms resulting from
12

long-term changes to the climate system.

13

Section 35.
Sovereign, governmental, and official
14
immunity.
15

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the State has sovereign
16
immunity, a political subdivision of the State has
17
governmental immunity, and each officer and employee of this
18
State or a political subdivision has official immunity in any
19
action, claim, or counterclaim or any type of legal or
20
equitable action that challenges the validity of any provision
21
or application of this Act on constitutional grounds or
22
otherwise.
23

(b) A provision of State law may not be construed to waive
24
or abrogate an immunity described by this Section unless it
25
expressly waives immunity under this Section.

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1

Section 40.
Severability.
2

(a) It is the intent of the General Assembly that every
3
provision in this Act and every application of the provisions
4
in this Act are severable from each other.
5

(b) If any application of any provision in this Act is
6
found by a court to be invalid or unconstitutional, the
7
remaining applications of that provision to all other persons
8
and circumstances shall be severed and shall not be affected.
9
All constitutionally valid applications of this Act shall be
10
severed from any applications that a court finds to be
11
invalid, leaving the valid applications in force, because it
12
is the General Assembly's intent that the valid applications
13
be allowed to stand alone. Even if a reviewing court finds a
14
provision of this Act to impose an unconstitutional burden in
15
a large or substantial fraction of relevant cases, the
16
applications that do not present an unconstitutional burden
17
shall be severed from the remaining applications and shall
18
remain in force, and shall be treated as if the General
19
Assembly had enacted a statute limited to the persons, group
20
of persons, or circumstances for which the statute's
21
application does not present an unconstitutional burden.
22

(c) If any court declares or finds a provision of this Act
23
facially unconstitutional, when discrete applications of that
24
provision can be enforced against a person, group of persons,
25
or circumstances without violating the United States

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1
Constitution and the Illinois Constitution, those applications
2
shall be severed from all remaining applications of the
3
provision, and the provision shall be interpreted as if the
4
General Assembly had enacted a provision limited to the
5
persons, group of persons, or circumstances for which the
6
provision's application will not violate the United States
7
Constitution and the Illinois Constitution.
8

(d) The General Assembly further declares that it would
9
have enacted this Act and each provision regardless of the
10
fact that any provision or application of this Act were to be
11
declared unconstitutional or to represent an unconstitutional
12
burden.
13

(e) If any provision of this Act is found by any court to
14
be unconstitutionally vague, then the applications of that
15
provision that do not present constitutional vagueness
16
problems shall be severed and remain in force.
17

(f) A court may not decline to enforce the severability
18
requirements of this Section on the ground that severance
19
would rewrite the statute or involve the court in legislative
20
or lawmaking activity. A court that declines to enforce or
21
enjoins a State official from enforcing a statutory provision
22
of this Act does not rewrite a statute, as the statute
23
continues to contain the same words as before the court's
24
decision.
25

(g) A statute that provides financial benefits to victims
26
or survivors of climate disasters, extreme weather

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1
attributable to climate change, or harms resulting from
2
long-term changes to the climate system or results in the
3
collection of damages by the State for damage to consumers and
4
State interests, may not be construed to repeal any other
5
statute that addresses climate disasters, extreme weather
6
attributable to climate change, and harms resulting from
7
long-term changes to the climate system, either wholly or
8
partly, unless the later-enacted statute explicitly states
9
that it is repealing the other statute.
10

(h) Every statute that provides financial benefits to
11
victims or survivors of climate disasters, extreme weather
12
attributable to climate change, and harms resulting from
13
long-term changes to the climate system or results in the
14
collection of damages by the State for damage to consumers and
15
State interests from climate disasters, extreme weather
16
attributable to climate change, and harms resulting from
17
long-term changes to the climate system, is severable in each
18
of its applications to every person and circumstance. If any
19
statute that provides financial benefits to victims or
20
survivors of climate disasters, extreme weather attributable
21
to climate change, and harms resulting from long-term changes
22
to the climate system, or results in the collection of damages
23
by the State for damage to consumers and State interests from
24
climate disasters, extreme weather attributable to climate
25
change, and harms resulting from long-term changes to the
26
climate system, is found by any court to be unconstitutional,

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1
either on its face or as applied, then all applications of that
2
statute that do not violate the United States Constitution and
3
the Illinois Constitution shall be severed from the
4
unconstitutional applications and shall remain enforceable,
5
notwithstanding any other law, and the statute shall be
6
interpreted as if containing language limiting the statute's
7
application to the persons, group of persons, or circumstances
8
for which the statute's application will not violate the
9
United States Constitution and the Illinois Constitution.

10

Section 45.
Savings.
11

(a) All existing litigation filed in State courts under
12
the statutes of this State may not be expressly or impliedly
13
preempted, displaced, mooted, or dismissed upon any other
14
prudential consideration arguably arising from this Act.
15

(b) To the extent that any aspect of every and all existing
16
litigation filed in the courts of this State is reviewed for
17
the application of this Act, it is severable in each of its
18
applications to every person and circumstance. If any statute
19
that provides financial benefits to victims or survivors of
20
climate disasters, extreme weather attributable to climate
21
change, and harms resulting from long-term changes to the
22
climate system, or results in the collection of damages by the
23
State for damage to consumers and State interests from climate
24
disasters, extreme weather attributable to climate change, and
25
harms resulting from long-term changes to the climate system,

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1
is found by any court to be unconstitutional, either on its
2
face or as applied, then all applications of that statute that
3
do not violate the United States Constitution and the Illinois
4
Constitution shall be severed from the unconstitutional
5
applications and shall remain enforceable, notwithstanding any
6
other law, and the statute shall be interpreted as if
7
containing language limiting the statute's application to the
8
persons, group of persons, or circumstances for which the
9
statute's application will not violate the United States
10
Constitution and the Illinois Constitution.
11

(c) The remedies provided in this Act are in addition to
12
any other remedy available to a person or the State at common
13
law or under statute. This Act may not be interpreted to
14
prevent a person or the State from pursuing a civil action or
15
any other remedy available at common law or under statute.
16

(d) This Act does not do any of the following:
17

(i) Relieve the liability of an entity for damages
18

resulting from climate change as provided by law.
19

(ii) Preempt, displace, or restrict any rights or
20

remedies of a person, the State, units of local
21

government, or tribal government under law relating to a
22

past, present, or future allegation of any of the
23

following:
24

(A) Deception concerning the effects of fossil
25

fuels on climate change.
26

(B) Damage or injury resulting from the role of

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1

fossil fuels in contributing to climate change.
2

(C) Failure to avoid damage or injury related to
3

climate change, including claims for nuisance,
4

trespass, design defect, negligence, failure to warn,
5

or deceptive or unfair practices and claims for
6

injunctive, declaratory, monetary, or other relief.
7

(e) This Act does not preempt, supersede, or displace any
8
State law or local ordinance, regulation, policy, or program
9
that does any of the following:
10

(i) Limit, set, or enforce standards for emissions of
11

greenhouse gases.
12

(ii) Monitor, report, or keep records of emissions of
13

greenhouse gases.
14

(iii) Collect revenue through fees or levy taxes.
15

(iv) Conduct or support investigations.

16

Section 99.
Effective date.
This Act takes effect upon
17
becoming law.

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