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A New Era of Climate Accountability: State Climate Superfund Laws Gain Momentum

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As climate adaptation and mitigation costs escalate, a wave of state climate superfund legislation is emerging across the United...

We are Morrison Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger.Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

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As climate adaptation and mitigation costs escalate, a wave of state climate superfund legislation is emerging across the United States. This novel approach to climate accountability, pioneered by Vermont and New York, imposes retrospective financial responsibilities on major carbon emitters to fund state climate resilience projects. Payment obligations under New York and Vermont’s laws will be established in 2026 and 2027, respectively.Five other states are now considering similar legislation, and Oregon is additionally considering creating a private cause of action against emitters for individuals harmed by extreme weather events. This trend of state superfund laws signals a growing interest by states to regulate climate issues at a time when the federal administration has indicated its intent to reduce regulation and enforcement in this area. While legal challenges may delay the implementation of these state laws or reduce their scope, states are unlikely to abandon their commitment to regulating emissions. Companies, particularly in the energy sector or high-emitting industries, must prepare for a patchwork of potentially overlapping and inconsistent regulations and financial obligations related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsRead the full <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/topics/a-new-era-of-climate-accountability-state-climate-superfund-laws-gain-momentum" target="_blank">blog post</a>.

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Drawing on his considerable experience in environmental health, William (Bill) focuses his practice on environmental and consumer protection law, with an emphasis on climate-related goals and claims, hazardous substances, mass torts, and consumer product safety. Bill started his career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Regional Counsel in San Francisco, and he currently leads the firm’s environmental practice.Bill routinely advises clients in connection with their carbon reduction and climate-related goals and claims (including carbon neutral and net zero carbon commitments) and helps clients substantiate their claims and avoid greenwashing claims. He frequently advises clients in connection with the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides, state consumer protection statutes, and a broad range of sustainability and chemical disclosure laws. He defends clients in environmental and consumer class action litigation in courts throughout the country and is highly regarded for his ability to coordinate technical, legal, and communications teams to counsel clients through crises. He has tried cases in state and federal courts for a variety of complex and multidistrict litigation matters, including product liability claims and environmental and land use disputes.Bill represents the firm’s clients in nearly every aspect of environmental regulation and supports the firm’s global transactional practices in all areas of U.S. environmental law. He is also a member of the firm’s ESG + Sustainability Steering Committee.<h5>Environmental Litigation and Regulatory</h5>Bill has represented the firm’s clients before a broad range of environmental regulatory agencies in rulemaking proceedings, permit applications, and appeals and enforcement actions. Bill heads MoFo’s environmental due diligence teams and serves as the lead on transactional negotiations involving environmental liability risks, including significant experience in cross-border transactions.<h5>Consumer Class Action, False Advertising, and Product Liability</h5>Bill has broad experience in consumer class action and false advertising litigation, especially concerning claims of health or environmental benefits. He has also advised numerous well known life sciences, technology, and consumer product companies on consumer disclosures and warnings, including compliance with U.S. and European requirements governing product safety.<h5>More About Bill</h5>Before entering private practice, Bill clerked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX Office of Regional Counsel, where he assisted in the prosecution and resolution of cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice for violation of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.Bill received his J.D. with honors from the Georgetown University Law Center and completed the Law and Public Health program sponsored by Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Through this program, he earned a master’s in public health, as well as specialty certification in environmental health risk assessment from the Johns Hopkins Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute. At Georgetown, he was an executive editor of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Journal and received the CALI Award for Excellence in International Environmental Law. In 2000, he studied law at the Universidad de Mendoza, in Mendoza, Argentina, as an international law fellow. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

William F. Tarantino

Partner

Krista deBoer’s practice involves the full range of environmental, climate, and green claims issues.As a partner in MoFo’s Complex Litigation + Advisement practice group, Krista represents clients in environmental and toxic tort litigation, Proposition 65 litigation, and consumer class actions involving hazardous material exposures and claims of health and environmental benefits. She is recommended by The Legal 500 for toxic tort defense (2022-2024). Krista has broad experience in Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and California Hazardous Substance Account Act (HSAA) litigation, multi-party allocation and cost recovery proceedings, natural resource damages claims, and contaminated site cleanup, often involving parallel agency enforcement, where she is skilled at developing integrated strategies to maximize outcomes in both actions.Krista also assists clients with regulatory approvals, compliance, and risk mitigation under federal and state environmental laws, including Department of Energy and California Energy Commission regulations, California Air Resources Board regulations, Federal Trade Commission Green Guides, hazardous waste management regulation, and climate disclosure laws. She has defended and negotiated favorable settlements for clients in enforcement actions brought by the Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission, and California Regional Water Quality Control Boards. In addition, Krista leads environmental due diligence for clients in a range of corporate and real estate transactions involving environmental liability risks and advises on matters involving development of carbon-capture projects and transacting in carbon offsets.Krista has represented and advised aerospace and defense, internet marketplace, food and beverage, importer logistics, healthcare, manufacturing, residential development, energy, transportation, and retail companies.Beyond advocating for clients, Krista also has experience as a mediator and has taught negotiation, advanced negotiation, and difficult conversations seminars to organizations in the United States and abroad, including with the Harvard Negotiation Institute and as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School. Krista has a passion for working with clients to design dispute systems and develop persuasive negotiation and communication strategies aimed at achieving optimal outcomes, both within organizations and across the table.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Krista practiced at a boutique environmental law firm serving clients in California, Washington, and Oregon, and at an international law firm, where she was a member of the firm’s general litigation and mass tort and environmental practice groups.Krista received her J.D. from Harvard Law School cum laude. At Harvard Law School she was awarded the Dean’s Scholar Prize for her work in the Environmental Law & Policy Clinic and was the president and founding member of the HLS Food Law Society. Krista earned her master’s in education from Antioch University and had a previous career as a public high school teacher. She earned her bachelor’s with honors, magna cum laude, from the University of Washington.

Krista deBoer

Alice Carli is an associate in MoFo’s Complex Litigation + Advisement Group in the Los Angeles office. Alice's practice focuses on environmental law and regulatory matters across the food, agriculture, sustainability, and energy sectors. She supports clients in regulatory enforcement, compliance, and due diligence matters.Alice earned her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, earning induction into the Order of the Coif. While at UCLA, she won first place in the Skye Donald Moot Court Competition and received multiple Masin Family Academic Excellence Awards in topics such as Energy Law, Land Use and Regulation, and Administrative Law. Alice also served as the chief managing editor of the Journal of Environmental Law and Policy and supported policy development for the Climate Overshoot Commission through UCLA’s International Climate Change Law and Policy Clinic. Additionally, she externed for the Honorable Ronald Lew at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, preparing legal memoranda and orders.Alice has diverse experience across a variety of environmental and sustainability issues. She has authored a forthcoming publication on plant biotechnology regulation and conducted extensive research on the economic and regulatory dynamics of renewable energy development in the United States.Prior to law school, Alice owned a small business providing food and nutrition education for students K–12. Alice holds a B.A. cum laude in public health from the University of Washington. She will clerk with Judge Stanley Blumenfeld in the Central District Court of California beginning in August 2025.