Delaware 153rd General Assembly Status: Introduced 1 D cosponsors

HB 407 — DNREC/HSAC/Clarify

Last action — Lieu/Substituted

  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 11, 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

This Act clarifies DNREC's emergency response powers and modifies related funding and enforcement provisions.

The legislation expands DNREC's ability to respond to environmental emergencies without public comment, adjusts court jurisdictions for cost recovery, and changes funding mechanisms for environmental cleanup efforts. It also increases penalties for fraudulent activities related to environmental regulations.

What this means for you
  • Environment: This means stronger and timely responses to environmental emergencies, potentially leading to better management of hazardous situations.

Summary

This Act clarifies the ability of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to respond to emergent situations, expands the jurisdiction from which DNREC may file to recover costs, and makes certain changes to amounts deposited into the Hazardous Substance Cleanup Act Fund. Section 1 provides definitions for “Abate,” “Emergency,” and “Removal Action.” Section 2 clarifies the ability of the Secretary or the Secretary’s authorized employees or agents to determine if an emergency exists and take immediate action to abate the emergency without obtaining public comment. Section 3 allows the Department to authorize removal actions to address releases without first obtaining public comment, and to incorporate the removal action into any proposed plan of remedial action by DNREC. Section 4 expands the jurisdiction of the courts in which DNREC may bring enforcement actions and recover costs. Section 5 increases the civil penalty for each fraudulent act from up to $10,000 to $40,000. The Act also establishes a $10,000,000 annual funding baseline for the Brownfields Grant Program by allocating $8,000,000 annually from the State share of the Realty Transfer Tax, set forth in Section 6 and 8. Section 7 extends the end date from January 1, 2029, to January 1, 2037, for monies to be deposited into the Hazardous Substance Cleanup Act Fund (the “Fund”) and updates the tax rate formula for the tax rate calculation. Section 9 provides the effective date of this legislation.

Bill Text

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

Read HB 407 on the official Delaware source →

Action History

  1. Lieu/Substituted

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

taxation 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 407 do?
This Act clarifies the ability of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to respond to emergent situations, expands the jurisdiction from which DNREC may file to recover costs, and makes certain changes to amounts deposited into the Hazardous Substance Cleanup Act Fund. Section 1 provides definitions for “Abate,” “Emergency,” and “Removal Action.” Section 2 clarifies the ability of the Secretary or the Secretary’s authorized employees or agents to determine if an emergency exists and take immediate action to abate the emergency without obtaining public comment. Section 3 allows the Department to authorize removal actions to address releases without first obtaining public comment, and to incorporate the removal action into any proposed plan of remedial action by DNREC. Section 4 expands the jurisdiction of the courts in which DNREC may bring enforcement actions and recover costs. Section 5 increases the civil penalty for each fraudulent act from up to $10,000 to $40,000. The Act also establishes a $10,000,000 annual funding baseline for the Brownfields Grant Program by allocating $8,000,000 annually from the State share of the Realty Transfer Tax, set forth in Section 6 and 8. Section 7 extends the end date from January 1, 2029, to January 1, 2037, for monies to be deposited into the Hazardous Substance Cleanup Act Fund (the “Fund”) and updates the tax rate formula for the tax rate calculation. Section 9 provides the effective date of this legislation.
Who sponsors HB 407?
HB 407 is sponsored by Debra Heffernan (Democratic).
What is the current status of HB 407?
This bill has been introduced in the House. Introduced June 11, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 407?
Track HB 407 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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