Delaware 153rd General Assembly Status: Introduced 1 D cosponsors

HB 479 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS.

Last action — Natural Resources & Energy

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the House. Introduced June 30, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

The bill requires mitigation of commercial activities that raise local temperatures during extreme heat events.

This bill aims to protect public health by limiting commercial operations that significantly increase nearby temperatures in extreme heat conditions. It mandates the development of measuring methods by DNREC and allows residents to sue for non-compliance.

What this means for you
  • Environment: This bill aims to reduce heat-related environmental impacts from commercial operations during extreme temperatures.

Summary

This Act safeguards public health by requiring the temporary cessation, or mitigation, of commercial activities that materially elevate nearby residential temperatures during periods of extreme heat. This Act shall be known as the “Community Heat Protection and Industrial Accountability Act.” This Act requires DNREC to develop standardized methodologies for measuring and modeling thermal impacts. DNREC may assess fines of up to $10,000 per day, issue mandatory shut down orders, or issue additional penalties for willful non-compliance. Affected residents will also have a private right of action to file a lawsuit. Facilities, that are not data centers, zoned for heavy industrial use, such as oil refineries, are exempt from the requirements of this chapter. The Department shall promulgate regulations to implement this Act within 18 months of enactment.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read HB 479 on the official Delaware source →

Action History

  1. Natural Resources & Energy

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 61 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (61)

61 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 61 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety environment
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 479 do?
This Act safeguards public health by requiring the temporary cessation, or mitigation, of commercial activities that materially elevate nearby residential temperatures during periods of extreme heat. This Act shall be known as the “Community Heat Protection and Industrial Accountability Act.” This Act requires DNREC to develop standardized methodologies for measuring and modeling thermal impacts. DNREC may assess fines of up to $10,000 per day, issue mandatory shut down orders, or issue additional penalties for willful non-compliance. Affected residents will also have a private right of action to file a lawsuit. Facilities, that are not data centers, zoned for heavy industrial use, such as oil refineries, are exempt from the requirements of this chapter. The Department shall promulgate regulations to implement this Act within 18 months of enactment.
Who sponsors HB 479?
HB 479 is sponsored by Frank Burns (Democratic).
What is the current status of HB 479?
This bill has been introduced in the House. Introduced June 30, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 479?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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