Connecticut HB 5156: AN ACT CONCERNING A CLIMATE CHANGE SUPERFUND.

Bill Text

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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5156
February Session, 2026

AN ACT CONCERNING A CLIMATE CHANGE SUPERFUND.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) For purposes of this 1
section: 2
(1) "Department" means the Department of Energy and 3
Environmental Protection; 4
(2) "Climate change adaptive infrastructure project" means an 5
infrastructure project designed to avoid, moderate, repair or adapt to 6
negative impacts caused by climate change and to assist communities, 7
households and businesses in preparing for future climate change-8
driven disruptions, including, but not limited to, restoring coastal 9
wetlands and developing other nature-based solutions and coastal 10
protections, 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
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, upgrading 19
parts of the electrical grid to increase reliability and resilience, including 20

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supporting the creation of self-sufficient microgrids, addressing urban 21
heat island effects through green spaces, urban forestry and other 22
interventions and responding to toxic algae blooms, loss of agricultural 23
topsoil, crop loss and other climate-driven ecosystem threats to forests, 24
farms, fisheries and food systems; 25
(3) "Climate superfund cost recovery program" or "program" means 26
the climate adaptation cost recovery program established pursuant to 27
this section; 28
(4) "Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program Fund" or "fund" 29
means the climate change adaptation fund established pursuant to this 30
section; 31
(5) "Coal" means bituminous coal, anthracite coal and lignite; 32
(6) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Energy and 33
Environmental Protection; 34
(7) "Controlled group" means two or more entities treated as a single 35
employer under 26 USC 52(a) or (b), without regard to 26 USC 36
1563(b)(2)(C), or, alternatively, 26 USC 414(m) or (o), provided for 37
purposes of this section, entities in a controlled group shall be treated as 38
a single entity for purposes of meeting the definition of "responsible 39
party" and shall be jointly and severally liable for payment of any cost 40
recovery demand owed by any entity in the controlled group; 41
(8) "Cost recovery demand" means a charge asserted against a 42
responsible party for cost recovery payments under the program for 43
payment to the fund; 44
(9) "Covered greenhouse gas emissions" means, with respect to any 45
entity, the total quantity of greenhouse gases released into the 46
atmosphere during the covered period, expressed in metric tons of 47
carbon dioxide equivalent, including, but not limited to, releases of 48
greenhouse gases resulting from the extraction, storage, production, 49
refinement, transport, manufacture, distribution, sale and use of fossil 50

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fuels, that are extracted, produced, refined or sold by an entity; 51
(10) "Covered period" means the period that began on January 1, 52
1995, and ended on December 31, 2024; 53
(11) "Crude oil" means oil or petroleum of any kind and in any form, 54
including bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, conventional and 55
unconventional oil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, condensates and 56
related fossil fuels; 57
(12) "Entity" means any individual, trustee, agent, partnership, 58
association, corporation, company, municipality, political subdivision 59
or other legal organization that holds or held an ownership interest in a 60
fossil fuel business during the covered period; 61
(13) "Environmental justice community" has the same meaning as 62
provided in section 22a-20a of the general statutes; 63
(14) "Fossil fuel" means coal, crude oil, fuel gases or petroleum 64
products; 65
(15) "Fossil fuel business" means a business engaged in the extraction 66
of fossil fuels or the refining of petroleum products; 67
(16) "Fuel gas" means methane, natural gas, liquified natural gas or 68
manufactured fuel gases; 69
(17) "Greenhouse gas" has the same meaning as provided in section 70
22a-200 of the general statutes; 71
(18) "Nature-based solutions" means projects that utilize or mimic 72
nature or natural processes and functions and that may also offer 73
environmental, economic and social benefits while increasing resilience. 74
"Nature-based solutions" includes both green and natural 75
infrastructu