# 119-s-2444: End Polluter Welfare Act of 2025 119-s-2444, End Polluter Welfare Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2444 - As of: 2026-04-21 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-s-2444 - Congress: 119 - Title: End Polluter Welfare Act of 2025 - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2025-07-24 - Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT) - Cosponsors: 6 - Policy area: Taxation - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-04-21 ## Summary **End federal polluter welfare and raise fossil-fuel royalties.** This bill would sharply reduce federal support for fossil fuels by terminating many tax breaks, banning royalty relief, and fixing multiple royalty rates at 18.75% while restricting government finance and programs that back fossil projects. - Families and coastal communities: Would expand Oil Pollution Act liability and broaden which onshore and offshore facilities can be held responsible for spills. It would add a 13¢ per barrel charge and a $2.0 billion Fund-balance trigger to boost Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund financing. - Energy companies and investors: Would eliminate many fossil-fuel tax expenditures, end LIFO inventory accounting for oil gas and coal, require long 84-month amortization for exploration and development costs, and impose a new 13% Gulf of Mexico severance tax while fixing offshore royalties at 18.75%. - Federal programs and lenders: Would cut or prohibit federal support for fossil projects across DOE offices, ARPA-E, Rural Utility Service loans, and major U.S. development finance agencies. It would also narrow CERCLA lender protections for very large asset managers. ## Cosponsors (6) - Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-07-24T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-07-24T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2025-07-24T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD), 2025-07-24T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-07-24T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2025-07-24T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Ban federal financing for fossil projects: cost, high. This bill would stop many U.S. agencies from supporting fossil-fuel projects. It would bar the Loan Programs Office, DFC, Export-Import Bank, TDA, USAID, MCC, and some USDA and DOT loans or grants for fossil projects. It would also rescind or condition U.S. contributions to international financial… - End major fossil tax subsidies: cost, high. This bill would stop many tax breaks that help fossil-fuel producers and related investors. It would bar new fossil-focused credits and end some existing credits, including the carbon sequestration credit for carbon captured after enactment. It would remove refined coal eligibility for production c… - Slower write-offs for fossil costs: cost, high. This bill would make many oil, gas, mining, and geological costs write off more slowly. Intangible drilling, exploration, tertiary injectant, and geological costs would be amortized over 84 months for post-enactment expenses. Geological and geophysical costs would move from 24 to 84 months. At the… - Higher oil and coal royalties and fees: cost, medium. This bill would raise or fix several per-unit taxes and fees on oil and coal. Offshore and onshore federal royalty rates would be set at 18.75 percent and other mineral lease rates would be raised to 18.75 percent. It would add a 10¢ per barrel oil spill financing fee for oil received after 2025 wh… - Tighter U.S. tax on foreign oil: cost, medium. This bill would make U.S. tax rules tougher for foreign oil companies and their U.S. owners. It would include foreign oil and gas extraction income in GILTI and add a new Subpart F category for large foreign oil producers. It would also limit some foreign tax credits for firms that act in a dual ca… - No USDA help for carbon capture: cost, low. If enacted, USDA would no longer allow carbon capture and storage systems under the listed farm energy assistance. Farmers and rural applicants seeking that specific help would be ineligible for those systems under that program. - New 13% Gulf oil and gas tax: cost, low. If enacted, the bill would create a new tax equal to 13% of the "removal price" for crude oil and natural gas taken from federal Gulf of Mexico submerged lands. Producers would be the taxpayers and must pay the tax. They could claim a credit for Federal royalties paid, but the credit cannot exceed… - New clean hydrogen credit rules: mixed, high. This bill would change the clean hydrogen production credit a lot. It would set the base credit at $0.60 per unit (adjusted for inflation). But electrolyzer hydrogen would qualify only if the electricity comes from specified renewables placed in service within 36 months of the hydrogen plant, is in… - Stronger pollution rules and reviews: mixed, medium. This bill would change pollution liability and environmental review rules. It would extend Oil Pollution Act liability to onshore facilities carrying diluted bitumen and similar oils. It would direct EPA to implement a Waste Emissions Charge rule for petroleum and gas systems. It would also repeal… ## Related bills - 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026 - 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026 - 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act - 119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act - 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act - 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act ## Sources - [119-s-2444 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2444) ## Related - [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066) - [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990) - [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823) - [119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2763) - [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869) - [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2444 (as of 2026-04-21).