# 119-hr-10255: Penalties for Polluters Act

119-hr-10255, Penalties for Polluters Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3] (D-OR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-13).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10255
- As of: 2026-09-13
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-10255
- Congress: 119
- Title: Penalties for Polluters Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-09-03
- Sponsor: Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3] (D-OR)
- Cosponsors: 19
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-13

## Summary

**Much larger civil penalties and a new reinvestment fund.** This bill raises maximum fines across core oil, gas, and mineral leasing laws, adds annual Consumer Price Index inflation adjustments, and creates a Penalty Revenue Reinvestment Fund to send excess penalty dollars to harmed communities and enforcement agencies. - Operators and leaseholders: Companies on federal mineral and offshore leases face much higher per-violation fines. For example, the Mineral Leasing Act maximum rises to $2.7 million for a violation. - States, Tribes, and local communities: Half of any "excess revenue" from penalties goes to States, Indian Tribes, and local governments harmed by the violation to support remediation and recovery. - Federal enforcement and compliance: The other half of excess penalty revenue funds the Office of Natural Resources Revenue, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Bureau of Land Management. Major statutes get automatic annual CPI adjustments so penalty caps rise with inflation.

## Cosponsors (19)

- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Min, Dave [D-CA-47] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (D-NY), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Randall, Emily [D-WA-6] (D-WA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3] (D-AZ), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (D-TN), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4] (D-MN), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Salinas, Andrea [D-OR-6] (D-OR), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Levin, Mike [D-CA-49] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Liccardo, Sam T. [D-CA-16] (D-CA), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New fund shares excess penalty money: benefit, low. If enacted, this bill would create a Penalty Revenue Reinvestment Fund in the U.S. Treasury to receive "excess revenue" from certain penalties collected after enactment. Excess revenue is the part of a penalty that exceeds the old maximum for the same violation. Fifty percent of deposited money wou…
- Higher fines for oil, gas, and mining: cost, medium. If enacted, this bill would raise civil fines for companies that violate oil, gas, offshore, or mineral leasing rules. The Mineral Leasing Act top penalty would rise to $2.7 million and a related cap to $500,000, with annual inflation indexing. Under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act s…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-10255 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10255)

## Related
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7853)
- [119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-51)
- [119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-20)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10255 (as of 2026-09-13).