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	<ns0:Description>
		<ns0:Id>20250SB__022298AMD</ns0:Id>
		<ns0:VersionNum>98</ns0:VersionNum>
		<ns0:History>
			<ns0:Action>
				<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
				<ns0:ActionDate>2025-01-27</ns0:ActionDate>
			</ns0:Action>
			<ns0:Action>
				<ns0:ActionText>AMENDED_SENATE</ns0:ActionText>
				<ns0:ActionDate>2025-03-28</ns0:ActionDate>
			</ns0:Action>
		</ns0:History>
		<ns0:LegislativeInfo>
			<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
			<ns0:SessionNum>0</ns0:SessionNum>
			<ns0:MeasureType>SB</ns0:MeasureType>
			<ns0:MeasureNum>222</ns0:MeasureNum>
			<ns0:MeasureState>AMD</ns0:MeasureState>
		</ns0:LegislativeInfo>
		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Senator Wiener</ns0:AuthorText>
		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="PRINCIPAL_COAUTHOR_OPPOSITE">(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Muratsuchi)</ns0:AuthorText>
		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="COAUTHOR_ORIGINATING">(Coauthors: Senators Gonzalez, McNerney, Menjivar, Pérez, and Stern)</ns0:AuthorText>
		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="COAUTHOR_OPPOSITE">(Coauthor: Assembly Member Addis)</ns0:AuthorText>
		<ns0:Authors>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>Wiener</ns0:Name>
			</ns0:Legislator>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>PRINCIPAL_COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>Muratsuchi</ns0:Name>
			</ns0:Legislator>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>Gonzalez</ns0:Name>
			</ns0:Legislator>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>McNerney</ns0:Name>
			</ns0:Legislator>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>Menjivar</ns0:Name>
			</ns0:Legislator>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>Pérez</ns0:Name>
			</ns0:Legislator>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>Stern</ns0:Name>
			</ns0:Legislator>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>Addis</ns0:Name>
			</ns0:Legislator>
		</ns0:Authors>
		<ns0:Title>An act to add Part 3.5 (commencing with Section 3508.5) to Division 4 of the Civil Code, and to add Sections 540 and 10100.3 to the Insurance Code, relating to climate disasters, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.</ns0:Title>
		<ns0:RelatingClause>climate disasters, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately</ns0:RelatingClause>
		<ns0:GeneralSubject>
			<ns0:Subject>Climate disasters: civil actions.</ns0:Subject>
		</ns0:GeneralSubject>
		<ns0:DigestText>
			<html:p>
				(1)
				<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
				Existing law gives a person the right of protection from bodily harm and the right to possess and use property. If a person suffers bodily harm or a loss of their property because of the unlawful act or omission of another, existing law authorizes them to recover compensation from the person at fault, which is known as damages.
			</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would authorize a person who suffered physical harm to their person or property totaling at least $10,000 to bring a civil
			 action against a party responsible for a climate disaster to recover damages, restitution, specified costs, and other appropriate relief. The bill would make responsible parties jointly, severally, and strictly liable to a plaintiff for damages and restitution. The bill would require an action to be filed within 3 years of the date that the harm was or should have been discovered.</html:p>
			<html:p>
				(2)
				<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
				Existing law generally regulates the business of insurance in the state. The California FAIR Plan Association is a joint reinsurance association in which all insurers licensed to write basic property insurance participate in administering a program for the equitable apportionment of basic property insurance for
			 persons who are unable to obtain that coverage through normal channels. Under existing law, a member insurer participates in the writings, expenses, and profits and losses of the association in proportion to its written premiums, as specified. Existing law authorizes the association, with the Insurance Commissioner’s approval, to assess member insurers in amounts sufficient to operate the association.
			</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would specify that an insurer has a right of subrogation against a responsible party and would authorize an insurer to seek damages against a responsible party for a climate disaster, pursuant to the above-described provisions.
			 The bill would require the association to exercise its right of subrogation against a responsible party for a climate disaster if the association pays claims and receives a policyholder petition, as specified. The bill would require the association to notify the petitioners of a deficiency in the petition within 30 days of receipt, would authorize the petitioners to respond to a notice in accordance with specified procedures, and would require the association to file a lawsuit within 90 days of a court-ordered or statutory determination of completeness, as prescribed. The bill would
			 require the association to assess member insurers based on each insurer’s market share
			 if the claims paid after a climate disaster exhaust the association’s claims-paying capacity, but would provide for adjusting an assessment amount if the insurer has or has not filed a subrogation lawsuit in response to a climate change disaster for which the association has also filed a lawsuit against a responsible party.</html:p>
			<html:p>
				(3)
				<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
				This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
			</html:p>
		</ns0:DigestText>
		<ns0:DigestKey>
			<ns0:VoteRequired>TWO_THIRDS</ns0:VoteRequired>
			<ns0:Appropriation>NO</ns0:Appropriation>
			<ns0:FiscalCommittee>YES</ns0:FiscalCommittee>
			<ns0:LocalProgram>NO</ns0:LocalProgram>
		</ns0:DigestKey>
		<ns0:MeasureIndicators>
			<ns0:ImmediateEffect>YES</ns0:ImmediateEffect>
			<ns0:ImmediateEffectFlags>
				<ns0:Urgency>YES</ns0:Urgency>
				<ns0:TaxLevy>NO</ns0:TaxLevy>
				<ns0:Election>NO</ns0:Election>
				<ns0:UsualCurrentExpenses>NO</ns0:UsualCurrentExpenses>
				<ns0:BudgetBill>NO</ns0:BudgetBill>
				<ns0:Prop25TrailerBill>NO</ns0:Prop25TrailerBill>
			</ns0:ImmediateEffectFlags>
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	</ns0:Description>
	<ns0:Bill id="bill">
		<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
		<ns0:BillSection id="id_D0E57E98-E210-4A2F-B38F-4C19B739B78F">
			<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
			<ns0:Content>
				<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(a)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Climate disasters threaten the health, safety, and security of all residents of, and visitors to, California.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(b)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Climate disasters pose many costly risks to California residents, including loss of life and property, injury, and the destabilization and potential collapse of the regular insurance marketplace and the
				California FAIR Plan Association.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(c)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					The costs of climate disasters should be borne by those responsible in whole or in part for causing climate disasters, rather than taxpayers, insurance policyholders, and those harmed economically and personally by climate disasters.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(d)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Major fossil fuel companies have known for decades that their products cause global warming and increase the frequency and severity of climate disasters. Despite this knowledge, they have not disclosed, have attempted to conceal, and have failed to warn of the climate dangers their products cause and have caused.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(e)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Fossil fuel companies’ products, acts, and omissions have contributed to concrete and particularized injuries in this state from climate disasters. Fossil fuel companies’ products, acts, and omissions continue to pose a threat to the
				health, safety, and security of the residents, citizens, businesses, and visitors to this state.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(f)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					(1)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Responsible parties are large companies in the fossil fuel industry. Large fossil fuel companies have known since at least the 1960s that fossil fuel products produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution that warm the planet and change our climate in potentially catastrophic ways. Responsible parties knew they were producing harmful products. The large fossil fuel companies’ own scientists knew as early as the 1950s that these climate impacts would be catastrophic, and that there was only a narrow window of time in which action could be taken before the consequences became catastrophic.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(2)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Responsible parties concealed their knowledge about the dangers of fossil fuel products, discredited the burgeoning scientific consensus on climate change,
				created doubt in the minds of consumers about the impacts of burning fossil fuels, and ultimately delayed the transition to a lower carbon, lower harm future.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(3)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					While responsible parties have promoted and profited from fossil fuel products, the state and its residents have spent, and will spend in the future, billions of dollars to recover from past and future climate disasters and extreme weather.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(g)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Scientists, through the use of scientific methods generally accepted by the scientific community, have and can determine when anthropogenic climate change altered the severity, likelihood, or risk of an extreme weather event.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(h)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					California has a compelling state interest in empowering those harmed, economically and otherwise, by climate disasters to recover from losses attributable to or exacerbated by anthropogenic
				climate change.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(i)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					California has a compelling state interest in empowering the California FAIR Plan Association and insurers to recover from responsible parties for money paid out for events attributable to or exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(j)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Therefore, it is the intent of this state to provide a cause of action for the efficient and just resolution of claims for damages stemming from climate disasters, as defined in this act, against responsible parties.
				</html:p>
			</ns0:Content>
		</ns0:BillSection>
		<ns0:BillSection id="id_7356E481-5919-412B-BA74-EF5521705128">
			<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
			<ns0:ActionLine action="IS_ADDED" ns3:href="urn:caml:codes:CIV:caml#xpointer(%2Fcaml%3ALawDoc%2Fcaml%3ACode%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'DIVISION'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'4.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'PART'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'3.5.'%5D)" ns3:label="fractionType: LAW_SPREAD||commencingWith: 3508.5" ns3:type="locator">
				Part 3.5 (commencing with Section 3508.5) is added to Division 4 of the 
				<ns0:DocName>Civil Code</ns0:DocName>
				, to read:
			</ns0:ActionLine>
			<ns0:Fragment>
				<ns0:LawHeading id="id_9CDFC064-11ED-4468-B9D5-A6FB436F4DC9" type="PART">
					<ns0:Num>3.5.</ns0:Num>
					<ns0:LawHeadingVersion id="id_EF0C704D-E7C1-4210-BE1C-FAF4074969C4">
						<ns0:LawHeadingText>CLIMATE DISASTER ACTIONS</ns0:LawHeadingText>
					</ns0:LawHeadingVersion>
					<ns0:LawSection id="id_B038EF2D-57D5-4F5F-9277-12C42147F1F2">
						<ns0:Num>3508.5.</ns0:Num>
						<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_E060F9A5-3C4C-4256-9EF9-F1DFC5E08EEA">
							<ns0:Content>
								<html:p>For purposes of this part:</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(a)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									“Climate disaster” means any of the following, provided that climate change was a contributing factor in the event’s frequency, severity, location, timing, or extent:
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(1)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									An extreme weather event, including a wildfire, heatwave, drought, windstorm, hurricane, tornado, or other storm.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(2)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									An event attributable to climate change, including a consequence connected to an extreme weather event, such as fire, flood, landslide, extreme temperature, precipitation, or air pollution.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(3)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									An event triggering the declaration of a state of emergency or local emergency, as defined in Section 8558 of the Government Code.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(b)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									“Fossil fuel product” includes crude petroleum oil and all other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced at the wellhead in liquid form by ordinary production methods, natural, manufactured, mixed, and byproduct hydrocarbon gas, refined crude oil, crude tops, topped crude, processed crude, processed crude petroleum, residue from crude petroleum, cracking stock, uncracked fuel
						  oil, fuel oil, treated crude oil, residuum, gas oil, casinghead gasoline, natural-gas gasoline, kerosene, benzine, wash oil, waste oil, blended gasoline, lubricating oil, and blends or mixtures of oil with one or more liquid products or byproducts derived from oil or gas.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(c)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									“Person” means a natural person, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other entity.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(d)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									(1)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									“Responsible party” means a firm, corporation, company, partnership, society, joint stock company, or any other entity or association that meets all of the following criteria:
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(A)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Has an aggregate market
						  capitalization or worldwide annual revenue across the parent entity and all affiliated entities of at least five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000), determined by an average capitalization or revenue over the preceding three years. For purposes of this subparagraph, “affiliated entities” include a parent or subsidiary corporation, as well as any other business entities that are related through common ownership or control, if the relationships are established for financial purposes, including consolidated financial reporting or the enhancement of profitability for the parent entity.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(B)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Engaged in the extraction, production, manufacture, marketing, or sale of fossil fuel products.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(C)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Did business in the state, was registered to do business in the state, was appointed an agent of the state, or otherwise had sufficient contacts with the state to be subject to the state’s
						  jurisdiction.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(2)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									“Responsible party” does not include the federal government, tribal governments, the state, a political subdivision of the federal, tribal, or state government, or an employee of the federal, tribal, or state government on the basis of acts or omissions in the course of official duties.
								</html:p>
							</ns0:Content>
						</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
					</ns0:LawSection>
					<ns0:LawSection id="id_CA9FC8FC-A764-4E27-AA4E-01FFE983B31C">
						<ns0:Num>3508.5.1.</ns0:Num>
						<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_41FED7C2-8041-4428-ACBD-2A84B98AF8BC">
							<ns0:Content>
								<html:p>
									(a)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									A person who suffered physical harm to their person or property alleged to be of at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in damages as a result of a climate disaster may bring a civil action against a responsible party to recover or obtain all of the following:
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(1)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									All damages to the person or property sustained in connection to the climate disaster.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(2)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Restitution.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(3)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Court costs, litigation expenses, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(4)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Any other relief that the court or jury deems proper.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(b)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Responsible parties shall be strictly and jointly and severally liable for the damages or restitution afforded under this section.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(c)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									A person entitled to bring an action under this section may bring an action on behalf of themselves and other persons to recover damages or obtain other relief as provided for in this section.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(d)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									A person entitled to bring an action under this section has the right to request a jury trial.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(e)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									None of the rights assigned by this section may be waived.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(f)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Notwithstanding any other applicable statute of limitations, the action shall be filed within three years of the date that the physical harm to the person or property was or should have been
						  discovered.
								</html:p>
							</ns0:Content>
						</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
					</ns0:LawSection>
					<ns0:LawSection id="id_3B829456-0CA0-4983-A386-D886389B9A4B">
						<ns0:Num>3508.5.5.</ns0:Num>
						<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_CF9FE842-985D-43E4-9577-B2EE2AE6A72B">
							<ns0:Content>
								<html:p>This part does not do any of the following:</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(a)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Limit the enforceability of existing laws concerning consumer protection, climate, environment, energy, or natural resources.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(b)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Limit the enforceability of existing laws that regulate or prohibit conduct relating to climate disasters, extreme weather, greenhouse gas emissions, or consumer protection.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(c)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Replace legally mandated disaster recovery funds, designated disaster recovery funds established via legislation or administrative rule, or contractually obligated or court-ordered insurance claim payouts.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(d)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Relieve the liability of an entity for damages resulting from climate change, as provided by any other law.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(e)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Impose liability on speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, or by Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.
								</html:p>
							</ns0:Content>
						</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
					</ns0:LawSection>
				</ns0:LawHeading>
			</ns0:Fragment>
		</ns0:BillSection>
		<ns0:BillSection id="id_8021D6C4-EE3F-47BB-9E81-B78254C19D3D">
			<ns0:Num>SEC. 3.</ns0:Num>
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				Section 540 is added to the 
				<ns0:DocName>Insurance Code</ns0:DocName>
				, 
				<ns0:Positioning>immediately following Section 533.7</ns0:Positioning>
				, to read:
			</ns0:ActionLine>
			<ns0:Fragment>
				<ns0:LawSection id="id_5E0D7D81-4E6A-404B-AD93-DF2412099300">
					<ns0:Num>540.</ns0:Num>
					<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_93CECDF4-89CE-48C1-A9B2-29E54EEA7930">
						<ns0:Content>
							<html:p>An insurer has a right of subrogation against a responsible party, regardless of whether or not the insured has been made whole. In addition to its right of subrogation, an insurer may seek damages against a responsible party for a climate disaster pursuant to Part 3.5 (commencing with Section 3508.5) of Division 4 of the Civil Code to recover money paid for claims of a
						person resulting from a covered event. For purposes of this section, “climate disaster” and “responsible party” have the same meanings as defined in Section 3508.5 of the Civil Code.</html:p>
						</ns0:Content>
					</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
				</ns0:LawSection>
			</ns0:Fragment>
		</ns0:BillSection>
		<ns0:BillSection id="id_BD86973B-9152-4433-B83C-065C298ED058">
			<ns0:Num>SEC. 4.</ns0:Num>
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				Section 10100.3 is added to the 
				<ns0:DocName>Insurance Code</ns0:DocName>
				, 
				<ns0:Positioning>immediately following Section 10100.2</ns0:Positioning>
				, to read:
			</ns0:ActionLine>
			<ns0:Fragment>
				<ns0:LawSection id="id_3740F2FF-F0D1-4819-A2C9-793E5C6FCB8D">
					<ns0:Num>10100.3.</ns0:Num>
					<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_9E0DDC38-A54A-454F-92E8-AE6E1EB3BAC6">
						<ns0:Content>
							<html:p>
								(a)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								If claims are paid by the association, it shall exercise its right of subrogation pursuant to Section 540 upon receipt of a policyholder petition, a copy of which shall be sent to the commissioner, that contains all of the following information:
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(1)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								A written request for the association to subrogate signed by at least 25 policyholders.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(2)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								Evidence of a rate increase or assessment by the association against policyholders following a climate disaster.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(3)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								Evidence that claims paid exceed the minimum amount in controversy pursuant to Part 3.5 (commencing with Section 3508.5) of Division 4 of the Civil Code.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(4)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								Identification of potentially responsible parties pursuant to Part 3.5 (commencing with Section 3508.5) of Division 4 of the Civil Code.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(5)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								Evidence that the event causing the damage for which the association paid claims was a climate disaster pursuant to Part 3.5 (commencing with Section 3508.5) of Division 4 of the Civil
						Code.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(b)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								The association shall notify the petitioners of a deficiency in the petition within 30 days of receipt. The petitioners may respond to a notice of deficiency by amending the petition to provide additional information or by filing a lawsuit in state court seeking a declaratory judgment that the petition satisfies this section. If the association does not notify the petitioners of a deficiency within 30 days of receipt of an original or amended petition, the petition shall be determined complete and any objection to the contrary shall be waived.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(c)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								The association shall file a lawsuit within 90 days of a court-ordered or statutory determination of completeness unless the petitioners agree to an extension in writing. The petitioners may file a lawsuit in state court to compel the action if the association does not meet this deadline. The association shall litigate
						subrogation claims in good faith and with a fiduciary’s level of care. If the association prevails in a subrogation action initiated pursuant to this section, the association shall request, and the court shall award, reasonable attorney’s fees for the attorney submitting the underlying petition.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(d)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								If the claims paid after a climate disaster exhaust the association’s claims-paying capacity, the association shall assess member insurers based on each insurer’s
						market share and pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 10094. A member insurer’s share of the assessment shall be reduced by 10 percent if the insurer has filed a subrogation lawsuit in response to a climate disaster for which the association has also filed a lawsuit against a responsible party. A member insurer’s share of the assessment shall be increased by 10 percent if the insurer has not filed a subrogation lawsuit in response to a climate disaster for which the association has also filed a lawsuit against
						a responsible party.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(e)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								For purposes of this section, “climate disaster” and “responsible party” have the same meanings as defined in Section 3508.5 of the Civil Code.
							</html:p>
						</ns0:Content>
					</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
				</ns0:LawSection>
			</ns0:Fragment>
		</ns0:BillSection>
		<ns0:BillSection id="id_7858AF84-C8F0-4BB9-9243-D37DFCE41D00">
			<ns0:Num>SEC. 5.</ns0:Num>
			<ns0:Content>
				<html:p>The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.</html:p>
			</ns0:Content>
		</ns0:BillSection>
		<ns0:BillSection id="id_0CB244AC-E598-4CF9-BE53-63DE35F8B0FD">
			<ns0:Num>SEC. 6.</ns0:Num>
			<ns0:Content>
				<html:p>This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(a)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					The deaths of at least 24 people, with many more unaccounted for or missing, in the January 2025 fires.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(b)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Estimated losses of at least twenty billion
				dollars ($20,000,000,000) across the insured marketplace, at least fifty billion dollars ($50,000,000,000) in economic damages, and up to one hundred fifty billion dollars ($150,000,000,000) in total damages as a result of numerous fires in January 2025.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(c)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					The destruction of at least 12,000 structures in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan region as of January 13, 2025.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(d)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					More than 10,000 homes, businesses, and other buildings that have been destroyed by fire since 2020, according to data from the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(e)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Growing nonrenewal rates for property and casualty insurance across the state.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(f)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Increasing premiums for
				property and casualty insurance across the state.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(g)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					Sharp increases in the price of reinsurance for insurers operating in the state.
				</html:p>
				<html:p>
					(h)
					<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
					The number of FAIR Plan policies has grown by more than 40 percent since late 2023, and the value of the residential properties insured by the FAIR Plan Association is 300 percent higher than in 2020.
				</html:p>
			</ns0:Content>
		</ns0:BillSection>
	</ns0:Bill>
</ns0:MeasureDoc>