The bill establishes a private cause of action and criminal penalties for companies that misrepresent the environmental impacts of their business practices. It introduces new definitions related to environmental marketing claims, net zero claims, paltering, and reputational advertising, aiming to clarify what constitutes misleading information in this context. The bill amends existing laws to prohibit untruthful or deceptive environmental marketing claims and specifies that exemptions from certain regulations do not apply to these misleading claims. It allows individuals to bring actions against companies for such claims without needing to demonstrate any ascertainable loss and emphasizes that interpretational guidelines will not extend to misleading environmental marketing claims as defined in the bill.

Additionally, the bill outlines civil actions related to climate disasters and extreme weather events attributable to climate change, defining "harmed parties" and "responsible parties" and establishing a statute of limitations for claims. It specifies that only individuals who are not state or local government employees can initiate these actions and prohibits state entities from enforcing the chapter. The bill also clarifies that it does not limit the enforceability of other laws related to climate issues and removes defenses based on ignorance of the law. Furthermore, it introduces provisions for fee and cost shifting, offsets to damages, and reaffirms the sovereign immunity of the state. The effective date for the act is set for January 1, 2026, with potential indeterminable expenditures due to civil cases arising from the new cause of action.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 358-A:1, 358-A:2, 358-A:3, 358-A:10, 358-A:13