Section 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 the emission of covered greenhouse gases during the covered period as the responsible party's applicable share of covered greenhouse gas emissions bears to the aggregate applicable shares of covered greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of fossil fuels extracted or refined during the covered period.(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 by 2024, No. 122,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2024.