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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 6280
January Session, 2025
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Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CLIMATE
CHANGE SUPERFUND.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) For purposes of this 1
section: 2
(1) "Department" means the Department of Energy and 3
Environmental Protection; 4
(2) "Climate change adaptation project" means a project designed to 5
respond to, avoid, moderate, repair or adapt to negative impacts caused 6
by climate change and to assist human and natural communities, 7
households and businesses in preparing for future climate-change-8
driven disruptions. "Climate change adaptation project" includes 9
implementing nature-based solutions and flood protections, home 10
buyouts, upgrading stormwater drainage systems, making defensive 11
upgrades to roads, bridges, railroads and transit systems, preparing for 12
and recovering from extreme weather events, undertaking preventive 13
health care programs and providing medical care to treat illness or 14
injury caused by the effects of climate change, relocating, elevating or 15
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retrofitting sewage treatment plants and other infrastructure vulnerable 16
to flooding, installing energy-efficient cooling systems and other 17
weatherization and energy-efficiency upgrades and retrofits in public 18
and private buildings, including schools and public housing, designed 19
to reduce the public health effects of more frequent heat waves and 20
forest fire smoke, upgrading parts of the electrical grid to increase 21
stability and resilience, including supporting the creation of self-22
sufficient microgrids, and responding to toxic algae blooms, loss of 23
agricultural topsoil, crop loss and other climate-driven ecosystem 24
threats to forests, farms, fisheries and food systems; 25
(3) "Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program" or "program" means 26
the program established pursuant to this section; 27
(4) "Coal" means bituminous coal, anthracite coal and lignite; 28
(5) "Controlled group" means two or more entities treated as a single 29
employer under 26 USC 52(a) or (b), without regard to 26 USC 30
1563(b)(2)(C), or, alternatively, 26 USC 414(m) or (o), provided for 31
purposes of this section, entities in a controlled group shall be treated as 32
a single entity for purposes of meeting the definition of responsible 33
party and shall be jointly and severally liable for payment of any cost 34
recovery demand owed by any entity in the controlled group; 35
(6) "Cost recovery demand" means a charge asserted against a 36
responsible party for cost recovery payments under the program for 37
payment to the fund; 38
(7) "Covered greenhouse gas emissions" means the total quantity of 39
greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere during the covered 40
period, expressed in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, resulting 41
from the use of fossil fuels extracted or refined by an entity; 42
(8) "Covered period" means the period that began on January 1, 1995, 43
and ended on December 31, 2025; 44
(9) "Crude oil" means oil or petroleum of any kind and in any form, 45
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including bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, conventional and 46
unconventional oil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, condensates and 47
related fossil fuels; 48
(10) "Entity" means any individual, trustee, agent, partnership, 49
association, corporation, company, municipality, political subdivision 50
or other legal organization, including a foreign nation, that holds or held 51
an ownership interest in a fossil fuel business during the covered period; 52
(11) "Environmental justice community" has the same meaning as 53
provided in section 22a-20a of the general statutes; 54
(12) "Fossil fuel" means coal, petroleum products or fuel gases; 55
(13) "Fossil fuel business" means a business engaging in the extraction 56
of fossil fuels or the refining of petroleum products; 57
(14) "Fuel gas" means: (A) Methane, (B) natural gas, (C) liquified 58
natural gas, or (D) manufactured fuel gases; 59
(15) "Fund" means the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program 60
Fund established pursuant to this section; 61
(16) "Greenhouse gas" has the same meaning as provided in section 62
22a-200 of the general statutes; 63
(17) "Nature-based solutions" means projects that utilize or mimic 64
nature or natural processes and functions and that may also offer 65
environmental, economic and social benefits while increasing resilience. 66
"Nature-based solutions" includes both green and natural 67
infrastructure; 68
(18) "Notice of cost recovery demand" means the written 69
communication from the department informing a responsible party of 70
the amount of the cost recovery demand payable to the fund; 71
(19) "Petroleum product" means any product refined or re-refined 72
from: (A) Synthetic or crude oil, or (B) crude oil extracted from natural 73
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gas liquids or other sources; 74
(20) "Qualifying expenditure" means an authorized payment from 75
the fund to pay reasonable expenses associated with the administration 76
of the fund and the program and to pay for a climate change adaptation 77
project, including such project's operation, monitoring and 78
maintenance; 79
(21) "Responsible party" means any entity or a successor in interest to 80
an entity that during any part of the covered period was engaged in the 81
trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil and that 82
is determined by the department to be attributable for more than one 83
billion metric tons of covered greenhouse gas emissions during the 84
covered period. "Responsible party" does not include any person who 85
lacks sufficient connection with the state to satisfy the nexus 86
requirements of the Constitution of the United States; and 87
(22) "Strategy" means the resilience implementation strategy adopted 88
by the department. 89
(b) There is established the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery 90
Program administered by the Department of Energy and Environmental 91
Protection. The purpose of the program shall be to: (1) Secure 92
compensatory payments from responsible parties based on a standard 93
of strict liability to provide a source of revenue for climate change 94
adaptation projects within the state, (2) determine proportional liability 95
of responsible parties, (3) impose cost recovery demands on responsible 96
parties and issue notices of cost recovery demands, (4) accept and collect 97
payment from responsible parties, (5) develop, adopt, implement and 98
update the strategy that will identify and prioritize climate change 99
adaptation projects, and (6) disperse funds to implement climate change 100
adaptation projects identified in the strategy. 101
(c) Each responsible party shall be strictly liable for a share of the costs 102
of climate change adaptation projects and all qualifying expenditures 103
supported by the fund. For purposes of this section, entities in a 104
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controlled group shall be: (1) Treated by the department as a single 105
entity for the purpose of identifying responsible parties; and (2) jointly 106
and severally liable for payment of any cost recovery demand owed by 107
any entity in the controlled group. For any responsible party, the cost 108
recovery demand shall be equal to an amount that bears the same ratio 109
to the cost to the state and the state's residents, as calculated by the State 110
Treasurer pursuant to this section, from the emission of covered 111
greenhouse gases during the covered period as the responsible party's 112
applicable share of covered greenhouse gas emissions bears to the 113
aggregate applicable shares of covered greenhouse gas emissions 114
resulting from the use of fossil fuels extracted or refined during the 115
covered period. If a responsible party owns a minority interest of ten per 116
cent or more in another entity, the responsible party's applicable share 117
of covered greenhouse gas emissions shall be increased by the 118
applicable share of covered greenhouse gas emissions for the entity in 119
which the responsible party holds a minority interest multiplied by the 120
percentage of the minority interest held by the responsible party. The 121
department shall use the United States Environmental Protection 122
Agency's Emissions Factors for Greenhouse Gas Inventories as applied 123
to the fossil fuel volume data for the purpose of determining the amount 124
of covered greenhouse gas emissions attributable to any entity from the 125
fossil fuels attributable to the entity. 126
(d) The department may adjust the cost recovery demand amount of 127
a responsible party who refined petroleum products or who is a 128
successor in interest to an entity that refines petroleum products if the 129
responsible party establishes to the satisfaction of the department that: 130
(1) A portion of the cost recovery demand amount was attributable to 131
the refining of crude oil extracted by another responsible party, and (2) 132
the crude oil extracted by the other entity was accounted for when the 133
department determined the cost recovery demand amount for the other 134
entity or a successor in interest of the other entity. 135
(e) The department shall issue the cost recovery demands required 136
under this section not later than six months following the adoption of 137
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the regulations required pursuant to this section. 138
(f) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, a 139
responsible party shall pay the cost recovery demand amount in full not 140
later than six months following the department's issuance of the cost 141
recovery demand. 142
(2) A responsible party may elect to pay the cost recovery demand 143
amount in nine annual installments in accordance with this subdivision, 144
provided the first installment shall be paid not later than six months 145
following the department's issuance of the cost recovery demand and 146
shall be equal to twenty per cent of the total cost recovery demand 147
amount. Each subsequent installment shall be paid one year from the 148
initial payment each subsequent year and shall be equal to ten per cent 149
of the total cost recovery demand amount. The department may charge 150
reasonable interest on each installment payment or a payment delayed 151
for any other reason and may adjust the amount of a subsequent 152
installment payment or a payment delayed for any other reason to 153
reflect increases or decreases in the consumer price index. The unpaid 154
balance of all remaining installments shall become due immediately if: 155
(A) The responsible party fails to pay any installment in a timely 156
manner, as specified in regulations adopted pursuant to this section; (B) 157
there is a liquidation or sale of substantially all the assets of the 158
responsible party; or (C) the responsible party ceases to do business. In 159
the case of a sale of substantially all the assets of a responsible party, the 160
remaining installments shall not become due immediately if the buyer 161
enters into an agreement with the department under which the buyer 162
assumes liability for the remaining installments due under this 163
subdivision in the same manner as if the buyer were the responsible 164
party. 165
(g) The department shall deposit cost recovery payments collected 166
under this section in the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program 167
Fund established pursuant to this section. 168
(h) Any responsible party aggrieved by the issuance of a notice of cost 169
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recovery demand shall exhaust administrative remedies by filing a 170
request for reconsideration with the department not later than thirty 171
days following issuance of the notice of cost recovery demand. A 172
request for reconsideration shall state grounds for the request and 173
include supporting documentation. The department shall notify the 174
responsible party of the final decision by issuing a subsequent notice of 175
cost recovery demand. A responsible party aggrieved by the issuance of 176
a final notice of cost recovery demand may bring an action in the 177
Superior Court. 178
(i) There is created the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program 179
Fund to be administered by the Commissioner of Energy and 180
Environmental Protection to provide funding for climate change 181
adaptation projects in the state. The fund shall consist of: (1) Cost 182
recovery payments deposited in the fund pursuant to this section, (2) 183
moneys from time to time appropriated to the fund by the General 184
Assembly, and (3) other gifts, donations or other moneys received from 185
any source, public or private, dedicated for deposit into the fund. 186
(j) The fund may be used only: (1) To pay qualified expenditures for 187
climate change adaptation projects identified by the department in the 188
strategy, and (2) for reasonable administrative expenses of the program, 189
including the cost to the state Auditors of Public Accounts associated 190
with the hiring of technical expertise necessary to complete the audits 191
required under this section. 192
(k) On or before February 15, 2026, the department, in consultation 193
with the State Treasurer, shall submit a report to the joint standing 194
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 195
relating to the environment detailing the feasibility and progress of 196
carrying out the requirements of this section, including any 197
recommendations for improving the administration of the program. 198
(l) The department, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 199
of the general statutes, shall adopt regulations necessary to implement 200
the requirements of this section, including, but not limited to: (1) 201
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Adopting methodologies using available science and publicly available 202
data to identify responsible parties and determine their applicable share 203
of covered greenhouse gas emissions; (2) requirements for registering 204
entities that are responsible parties and issuing notices of cost recovery 205
demands under the program; and (3) the resilience implementation 206
strategy, which shall include: (A) Practices utilizing nature-based 207
solutions intended to stabilize floodplains, riparian zones, lake 208
shoreland, wetlands and similar lands, (B) practices to adapt 209
infrastructure to the impacts of climate change, (C) practices needed to 210
build out early warning mechanisms and support fast, effective 211
response to climate-related threats, (D) practices that support economic 212
and environmental sustainability in the face of changing climate 213
conditions, and (E) criteria and procedures for prioritizing climate 214
change adaptation projects eligible to receive moneys from the program. 215
(m) In adopting the strategy, the department shall: (1) Consult with 216
other state agencies and departments to assess the adaptation needs and 217
vulnerabilities of various areas vital to the state's economy, normal 218
functioning and the health and well-being of residents of the state; (2) 219
identify major potential, proposed and ongoing climate change 220
adaptation projects throughout the state; (3) identify opportunities for 221
alignment with existing federal, state and local funding streams; (4) 222
consult with stakeholders, including local governments, businesses, 223
environmental advocates, relevant subject area experts and 224
representatives of environmental justice communities; and (5) conduct 225
public engagement in areas and communities that have the most 226
significant exposure to the impacts of climate change, including 227
disadvantaged, low-income and rural communities and areas. 228
(n) Beginning on January 1, 2031, and every five years thereafter, the 229
state Auditors of Public Accounts shall evaluate the operation and 230
effectiveness of the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program. The 231
auditors shall make recommendations to the department on ways to 232
increase program efficacy and cost-effectiveness. The auditors shall 233
submit the results of the audit to the joint standing committee of the 234
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General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the 235
environment. The auditors shall be reimbursed from the fund for any 236
costs associated with hiring technical expertise necessary to complete 237
the audits required under this section. 238
(o) On or before January 1, 2027, the State Treasurer, after 239
consultation with the department for the purpose of obtaining and 240
utilizing credible data or methodologies that the Treasurer determines 241
may aid in making the assessments and estimates required by this 242
section, shall submit to the joint standing committee of the General 243
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment an 244
assessment of the cost to the state and its residents of the emission of 245
covered greenhouse gases for the period that began on January 1, 1995, 246
and ended on December 31, 2025. The assessment shall include: (1) A 247
summary of the various cost-driving effects of covered greenhouse gas 248
emissions on the state, including effects on public health, natural 249
resources, biodiversity, agriculture, economic development, flood 250
preparedness and safety, housing and any other effect that the 251
Treasurer, in consultation with the department, determines is relevant, 252
(2) a categorized calculation of the costs that have been incurred and are 253
projected to be incurred in the future within the state for each of the 254
effects identified under subdivision (1) of this subsection, and (3) a 255
categorized calculation of the costs that have been incurred and are 256
projected to be incurred in the future within the state to abate the effects 257
of covered greenhouse gas emissions between January 1, 1995, and 258
December 31, 2025, on the state and its residents. 259
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To fund climate mitigation, resiliency and adaptation projects.
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[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. WINTER, 94th Dist.; REP. MUSHINSKY, 85th Dist.
REP. SHANNON, 117th Dist.
H.B. 6280