SB 653 North Carolina Senate · 2025-2026 Session

Polluter Pays.

SB 653, titled "Polluter Pays," requires companies or entities causing water or air pollution to cover cleanup costs and provide alternative water supplies to affected residents. It amends environmental laws to let the state’s Commission order polluters to pay for investigations, cleanup, and temporary or permanent replacement water systems (including whole-house filtration for households) when pollution endangers health or safety. The Commission can enforce these orders through civil lawsuits if polluters refuse payment, and must provide affected residents with water solutions within specified timeframes. This directly affects polluting businesses and residents whose water or air quality is harmed by pollution.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Mar 25, 2025 Last action Mar 26, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Filed Edition 1 · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill's header information was updated with new filing dates and document identifiers, while the substantive text of the bill remains largely unchanged in this excerpt. The primary visible change is the addition of language requiring the Secretary to assess persons causing pollution for actual and unspecified costs, which appears to be an incomplete insertion.
TECHNICAL

Header information was updated with new filing date (March 26, 2025), document identifier (S653-v-1), and committee referral information (Rules and Operations of the Senate).

Removed internal document tracking numbers and draft identifiers that were present in the filed version.

REQUIREMENT

Added language requiring the Secretary to assess persons causing water or air pollution for actual and unspecified costs, though the sentence appears incomplete in this version.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Mar 26, 2025
Committee
Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
upper
Mar 25, 2025
Introduced
Filed
upper
2 primary · 4 co-sponsors

Sponsors