2025 -- S 0326
========
LC001316
========
S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
____________
A N A C T
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND CLIMATE
SUPERFUND ACT OF 2025
Introduced By: Senators Ujifusa, Euer, Bell, Kallman, Valverde, Gu, Britto, DiMario,
Mack, and Sosnowski
Date Introduced: February 21, 2025
Referred To: Senate Environment & Agriculture
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. The general assembly hereby finds and declares all of the following: 1
(1) Climate change caused by the combustion of fossil fuels is an immediate and grave 2
threat to the people, environment, natural resources, and economy of the state. 3
(2) Rising sea levels and temperatures, extreme weather events, flooding, heat waves, 4
droughts, and other climate change effects have harmed or killed countless humans and other living 5
organisms. 6
(3) As a state with over four hundred (400) miles of coastline and an economy dependent 7
on tourism and marine trades, Rhode Island is especially vulnerable to economic and social harms 8
from climate change. 9
(4) All Rhode Islanders are adversely affected by climate change, but harms fall 10
disproportionately on seniors, children, low-income and minority communities. 11
(5) The state and municipalities have developed and implemented plans to counteract, 12
mitigate and prevent the adverse effects of climate change and must continue to do so to protect 13
the health and safety of Rhode Islanders. 14
(6) The costs of such plans and implementation have fallen and will continue to fall almost 15
exclusively on taxpayers. 16
(7) Laws must be passed to require contributions by those who most contributed to and 17
profited from causing climate change and who did so knowingly. These responsible parties are 18
LC001316 - Page 2 of 7
large fossil fuel corporations. 1
(8) Fair shares from these corporations can be accurately determined by analyzing the 2
amounts of “greenhouse gas,” such as, but not limited to, carbon dioxide and methane, each 3
contributed to the environment. 4
(9) Chapter 6.3 of title 42 shall help the state and municipalities make polluters pay and 5
support other private and public efforts to hold them responsible. 6
SECTION 2. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND 7
GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 8
CHAPTER 6.3 9
RHODE ISLAND CLIMATE SUPERFUND ACT OF 2025 10
42-6.3.-1. Short title. 11
This chapter shall be known and may be referred to as the “Rhode Island Climate 12
Superfund Act of 2025”. 13
42-6.3-2. Definitions. 14
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless 15
the context clearly requires otherwise: 16
(1) "Account" means the climate superfund account established pursuant to the provisions 17
of § 42-6.3-3(e). 18
(2) “Climate change” means the long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns due 19
primarily to the increased burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas that have resulted in increased 20
extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and blizzards, and caused heat waves, draughts, wild 21
fires, and flooding. 22
(3) "Climate change response work" means planning, implementation, operation and 23
maintenance of projects designed to avoid, prepare for, moderate, repair, upgrade, relocate, restore 24
or otherwise adapt to the negative effects of climate change to protect people, the environment, 25
natural resources, and economy of the state. Such work includes, but is not limited to, work on: 26
coastal areas, stormwater drainage systems; infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, tunnels; mass 27
transit systems including buses, trains and boats; healthcare access and availability, including 28
hospitals; sewage treatment plants; public and private housing and shelters; businesses; Internet 29
broadband systems; energy services, including clean and sustainable options; forests; farms and 30
fisheries; and climate change effect predictive tools. 31
(4) "Cost recovery demand” means when the department informs a responsible party that 32
it is required to pay for climate change response work under the provisions of this chapter. 33
(5) "Covered greenhouse gas emissions" means the total quantity of greenhouse gasses 34
LC001316 - Page 3 of 7
released into the atmosphere by a responsible party during the covered period, expressed in metric 1
tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. 2
(6) "Covered period" means the period that began January 1, 1990, to December 31, 2024. 3
(7) "Department" or “DEM” means the department of environmental management. 4
(8) "Director" means director of the department of environmental management (DEM). 5
(9) "Fossil fuel” means coal, petroleum products, bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, 6
conventional and unconventional oil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, condensates, and related fossil 7
fuels and fuel gasses, including methane, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and manufactured fuel 8
gasses. 9
(10) "Greenhouse gas" means any substance that causes or contributes to climate change 10
including, but not limited to, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, 11
perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. 12
(11) "Nature-based solutions" means projects that utilize or mimic natural processes and 13
functions. 14
(12) "Program" means the climate superfund cost recovery program set forth by this 15
chapter. 16
(13) "Qualifying expenditure" means funds authorized by DEM to be used to pay for 17
climate change response work, 18
(14) "Responsible party" means any entity and successor in interest to such entity described 19
herein, which, during any part of the covered period, engaged in the trade or business of extracting 20
or refining fossil fuels and is determined by the department to be responsible for more than one 21
billion (1,000,000,000) tons of covered greenhouse gas emissions. 22
42-6.3-3. Cost recovery program. 23
(a) By January 1, 2026, the department shall determine the climate change response work 24
done by the state since January 1, 2009, and costs of such work, and make a report available to the 25
public. 26
(b) By June 1, 2026, the department shall collect information from municipalities and 27
determine what climate change response work they have done and how much they have spent since 28
January 1, 2009, and make a report available to the public. 29
(c) The department shall determine proportional amounts owed by responsible parties for 30
climate change response work during the covered period based on widely accepted peer-reviewed 31
allocation analyses. 32
(d) The department shall issue demands within six (6) months of the completion of the 33
reports to responsible parties to recover funds spent by the state and municipalities as set forth in 34
LC001316 - Page 4 of 7
the January 1, 2026 and June 1, 2026, reports produced pursuant to the provisions of subsections 1
(a) and (b) of this section. 2
(e) There is hereby established the climate superfund account in the state treasury. The 3
department shall accept and collect payments from responsible parties and deposit them into the 4
segregated account, and shall ensure that funds only be used for qualified expenditures pursuant to 5
this program. 6
42-6.3-4. Liability of responsible parties. 7
(a) A responsible party shall be strictly liable for a share of the costs of climate change 8
response work; 9
(b) When two (2) or more entities can be treated as a single entity under the provisions of 10
26 U.S.C. §§ 52(a) and 52(b), 26 U.S.C. §§ 414 (m) and 414(o), and 26 U.S.C. § 1563, without 11
regard to the provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 52 (c), they shall share joint and several liability within their 12
collected group, and be treated by the department as a single entity for the purposes of identifying 13
responsible parties. 14
(c) Except as provided in subsection (d)(1) of this section, a responsible party shall pay the 15
amount demanded in full not later than six (6) months following the director's issuance of the cost 16
recovery demand. 17
(d)(1) The director may implement an installment payment plan but no adjustments shall 18
be allowed if the amount demanded is less than one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of the average total 19
profits of a responsible party over the past five (5) years. 20
(2) The director shall charge reasonable interest on each delayed payment. 21
(3) The unpaid balance of all remaining installments shall become due immediately if: 22
(i) The responsible party fails to pay any installment in a timely manner, as specified in the 23
rules and regulations of the department; 24
(ii) The responsible party ceases to do business; or 25
(iii) There is a sale of substantially all the assets of a responsible party, then the buyer 26
assumes liability in the same manner as if the buyer were the responsible party. 27
(e) A responsible party aggrieved by the issuance of a notice of cost recovery demand shall 28
be entitled to a hearing in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 (“administrative procedures”) by 29
filing a request for reconsideration with the director within thirty (30) days following issuance of 30
the notice of cost recovery demand. A request for reconsideration shall state the grounds for the 31
request and include supporting documentation. The director shall notify the responsible party of 32
the date and time of the hearing as well as the final decision by issuing a subsequent notice of cost 33
recovery demand. A responsible party aggrieved by the issuance of a final notice of cost recovery 34
LC001316 - Page 5 of 7
demand may appeal the final notice to the superior court by filing a complaint with the reasons of 1
appeal within twenty (20) days of receipt of the final decision. 2
42-6.3-5. Implementation. 3
(a) The department is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to 4
implement the provisions of this chapter and shall, within one year of the effective date of this 5
chapter, adopt regulations defining work eligible for funding. 6
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to supersede or diminish in any way any other 7
remedies available to any person or government entity, under common law or statute. 8
(c) The department may prescribe, adopt, and enforce any emergency regulations as 9
necessary to implement, administer, and enforce its duties under this chapter. 10
(d) To pay for initial analyses of climate change response work, the department shall 11
require responsible parties to pay a proportional share of that amount no later than September 1, 12
2025. 13
42-6.3-6. Enforcement. 14
(a) The department shall have the authority to enforce the requirements of this chapter and 15
to collect penalties for late payment of the cost recovery demands pursuant to this chapter. The late 16
penalty shall accrue daily, assessed at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum on the amount 17
remaining due. 18
(b) This chapter does not preempt, displace, or restrict any rights or remedies of the state, 19
units of local government, tribal governments, or individuals or groups brought under common law, 20
state or federal law. 21
(c) This chapter does not preempt or supersede any state law or local ordinance, regulation, 22
policy, or program that does any of the following: 23
(1) Limits, sets, or enforces standards for emissions of greenhouse gases; 24
(2) Monitors, reports, or keeps records of emissions of greenhouse gases; 25
(3) Collects revenue through fees or levy taxes; or 26
(4) Conducts or supports investigations. 27
42-6.3-7. Severability. 28
If any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or other part of this chapter shall 29
be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 30
impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the word, phrase, 31
clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which 32
such judgment shall have been rendered. 33
LC001316 - Page 6 of 7
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. 1
========
LC001316
========
LC001316 - Page 7 of 7
EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND CLIMATE
SUPERFUND ACT OF 2025
***
This act would establish the Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act cost recovery program 1
to be administered by the Rhode Island department of environmental management to recover funds 2
from entities that extracted or refined fossil fuels and were responsible for more than one billion 3
(1,000,000,000) tons of covered greenhouse gas emissions. 4
This act would take effect upon passage. 5
========
LC001316
========