Bill Sponsors
Ujifusa, DiMario, Valverde, Mack, Sosnowski, Acosta, Bell, Gu, Zurier, and Kallman
Committee
Senate Finance
Summary
Select
The "Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act of 2026" establishes a program to recover costs related to climate change from major fossil fuel companies. The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will identify companies that produced significant greenhouse gas emissions between 2000 and 2025. Based on their share of emissions, these companies will be charged a fee. The funds collected will be deposited into a new Climate Superfund Account to pay for infrastructure projects designed to adapt to climate change, such as flood protection, stormwater upgrades, and heat mitigation efforts across the state.
Sponsor
Analysis
Pros for Progressives
- Enforces the "polluter pays" principle by holding major fossil fuel corporations financially accountable for the environmental and economic damages caused by their historical greenhouse gas emissions.
- Creates a dedicated revenue stream to fund critical infrastructure and climate resilience projects, potentially relieving the financial burden on low-income communities which are often disproportionately affected by climate change.
- Empowers the state government to take aggressive action against corporate entities to protect public health and safety, signaling a strong stance on environmental justice and systemic reform.
Cons for Progressives
- Corporations may pass the costs of these fees down to consumers, resulting in higher gas and energy prices that would disproportionately hurt the poor and working class.
- The threshold for liability (one billion tons of emissions) is very high, potentially allowing smaller but still significant polluters to avoid financial responsibility.
- The inevitable legal battles launched by well-funded oil companies could tie up the legislation in courts for years, delaying the actual receipt of funds needed for immediate climate adaptation.
Pros for Conservatives
- Ideally seeks to shift the financial burden of infrastructure repairs away from the general taxpayer and onto the specific entities deemed responsible for the damage.
- Limits the scope of liability to a specific timeframe (2000-2025) and specific emission thresholds, rather than creating an open-ended or indefinite financial liability.
- Ensures that funds collected are used for tangible infrastructure projects like flood protection and drainage rather than general government administrative bloat.
Cons for Conservatives
- Imposes retroactive liability for business activities that were legal at the time they were conducted, which undermines the rule of law and creates a dangerous precedent for business certainty.
- Weaponizes the government to target a specific industry, potentially driving businesses out of the region and raising energy costs for residents and other businesses.
- Grants the Department of Environmental Management broad regulatory authority to determine liability and collect funds, expanding the size and power of the administrative state.
Constitutional Concerns
This bill faces significant constitutional risks. It imposes retroactive liability for conduct (selling fossil fuels) that was legal at the time, potentially violating Due Process. Additionally, as it targets companies that likely operate globally or nationally, it may violate the Commerce Clause or Due Process clause regarding "nexus" and jurisdiction, despite the bill's language attempting to address this. The "joint and several liability" clauses applied to past actions may also face legal challenges.
Impact Overview
Groups Affected
- Major Fossil Fuel Companies
- State Taxpayers
- Municipal Governments
- Coastal Residents
- Department of Environmental Management
Towns Affected
All
Cost to Taxpayers
Amount unknown
Revenue Generated
Amount unknown
BillBuddy Impact Ratings
Importance
Measures population affected and overall level of impact.
Freedom Impact
Level of individual freedom impacted by the bill.
Public Services
How much the bill is likely to impact one or more public services.
Regulatory
Estimated regulatory burden imposed on the subject(s) of the bill.
Clarity of Bill Language
How clear the language of the bill is. Higher ambiguity equals a lower score.
Enforcement Provisions
Measures enforcement provisions and penalties for non-compliance (if applicable).
Environmental Impact
Impact the bill will have on the environment, positive or negative.
Privacy Impact
Impact the bill is likely to have on the privacy of individuals.
Bill Status
Current Status
Held
Comm Passed
Floor Passed
Law
History
• 01/09/2026 Introduced, referred to Senate Finance
Bill Text
SECTION 1. Legislative findings and purpose.
The general assembly hereby finds and declares the following:
(1) Climate change caused by the combustion of fossil fuels is an immediate and grave threat to the people, environment, natural resources, and economy of the state.
(2) Rising sea levels and temperatures, extreme weather events, flooding, heat waves, droughts, and other climate change effects have harmed or killed countless humans and other living organisms.
(3) Beginning decades ago, major fossil fuel producers engaged in conduct they knew or reasonably should have known would cause or contribute to climate-change-related damages, including sea level rise, storm intensification, and heat impacts.
(4) As a state with over four hundred (400) miles of coastline and an economy dependent on tourism and marine trades, Rhode Island is especially vulnerable to economic and social harms caused by climate change.
(5) All Rhode Islanders are adversely affected by climate change, but harms fall disproportionately on seniors, children, low-income, and minority communities.
(6) The state and municipalities have developed and implemented plans to counteract, mitigate, and prevent the adverse effects of climate change and must continue to do so to protect the health and safety of Rhode Islanders.
(7) The costs of such plans and implementation have fallen and will continue to fall almost exclusively on taxpayers.
(8) The fossil fuel companies whose products caused or contributed to climate-change- related damages should bear a fair and proportionate share of the costs necessary to respond to those harms, consistent with the well-established “polluter pays” and Superfund principles.
(9) This Act is a remedial cost-recovery measure that compensates public entities for expenditures made necessary by the conduct of responsible fossil fuel companies.
(10) Fair shares from these corporations can be accurately determined by analyzing the amounts of “greenhouse gas emissions,” including, but not limited to, carbon dioxide and methane, attributable to their extraction or refining of fossil fuels.
(11) Chapter 6.3 of title 42 shall assist the state and municipalities in making polluters pay and support other private and public efforts to hold them responsible.
(12) More than seventy percent (70%) of the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations since the Industrial Revolution has occurred since 1950, with a significant acceleration in emissions after the year 2000. By that time, the scientific consensus regarding the causes and impacts of climate change was well established, and the data necessary to attribute proportional responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions during the covered period is scientifically robust.
SECTION 2. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: CHAPTER 6.3 RHODE ISLAND CLIMATE SUPERFUND ACT OF 2026
42-6.3.-1. Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act of 2026”.
42-6.3-2. Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) "Account" means the climate superfund account established pursuant to § 42-6.3-3(e).
(2) “Accepted attribution methodology” means a transparent, scientific approach used to quantify a responsible party’s share of greenhouse gas emissions, that is consistent with methodologies recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("IPCC") of the United Nations including using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Emissions Factors for Greenhouse Gas Inventories as applied to the fossil fuel volume data for the purpose of determining LC003519 - Page 2 of 8 the amount of covered greenhouse gas emissions attributable to any entity from the fossil fuel production of that entity.
(3) "Climate change response work" means the planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, or improvement of projects necessary to protect people, property, natural resources, public health, and the state’s economy from the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, flooding, storm surge, extreme heat, drought, erosion, and other climate-driven hazards. Climate change response work includes, but is not limited to:
(i) Coastal and flood protection and resilience projects;
(ii) Stormwater management, drainage, and water infrastructure upgrades;
(iii) Heat mitigation, air quality improvement, emergency preparedness, and other hazard- protection measures that safeguard public health;
(iv) Resilient transportation, housing, and community infrastructure;
(v) Energy system resilience, including grid modernization and distributed energy resources;
(vi) Ecosystem, agricultural, forest, watershed, and fisheries restoration or protection projects; and
(vii) Hazard mitigation planning, modeling, monitoring, and early warning systems.
(4) "Cost recovery demand” means a charge asserted against a responsible party for cost recovery payments under the program for payment to the fund.
(5) "Covered greenhouse gas emissions" means the total quantity of greenhouse gasses attributable to a responsible party’s extraction or refining of fossil fuels during the covered period, expressed in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
(6) "Covered period" means the period that began January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2025.
(7) "Department" or “DEM” means the department of environmental management.
(8) "Director" means director of the department of environmental management (DEM).
(9) "Fossil fuel” means coal, petroleum products, bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, conventional and unconventional oil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, condensates, and related fossil fuels and fuel gasses, including methane, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and manufactured fuel gasses.
(10) "Greenhouse gas" means any substance that causes or contributes to climate change including, but not limited to, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.
(11) "Program" means the climate superfund cost recovery program established by this chapter. LC003519 - Page 3 of 8
(12) "Qualifying expenditure" means funds authorized by the DEM to be used to pay for climate change response work.
(13) "Responsible party" means any entity (or successor in interest to such entity described in this subsection), which, during any part of the covered period, engaged in the trade or business of extracting or refining fossil fuel or refining crude oil and is determined by the department to be responsible for more than one billion (1,000,000,000) tons of covered greenhouse gas emissions. The term responsible party shall not include any person who lacks sufficient connection with the state to satisfy the nexus requirements of the United States Constitution.
42-6.3-3. Implementation.
(a) Administrative authority.
To implement, enforce, and administer the provisions of this chapter, the department may:
(1) Appoint or engage necessary staff, including full-time equivalent positions and contracted services, consistent with applicable state personnel and procurement laws; and
(2) Adopt rules and regulations pursuant to chapter 35 of title 42 (“administrative procedures”) to implement, enforce, and administer the provisions of this chapter.
(b) Expenditure inventory and report.
Within twelve (12) months of the effective date of this chapter, the department shall identify climate change response work eligible for cost recovery under this chapter undertaken by the state and municipalities or needed in the future and their corresponding expenditures, and provide its report to the public on the department's website.
(c) Proportional liability calculations and demands.
(1) Within eighteen (18) months of the effective date of this chapter, the department shall determine proportional amounts owed by responsible parties for climate change response work during the covered period using accepted attribution methodology and issue cost recovery demands to responsible parties.
(2) The department may adjust the cost recovery demand amount of a responsible party who refined petroleum products or who is a successor in interest to an entity that refines petroleum products if the responsible party establishes to the satisfaction of the department that:
(i) A portion of the cost recovery demand amount was attributable to the refining of crude oil extracted by another responsible party; and
(ii) The crude oil extracted by the other entity was accounted for when the department determined the cost recovery demand amount for the other entity or a successor in interest of the other entity
(d) Information requests. LC003519 - Page 4 of 8
(1) The department may require from any responsible party any information or records needed to administer or enforce this chapter, and responsible parties shall produce all requested materials in a timely manner.
(2) Information may be withheld only if protected by law. The responsible party bears the full burden of proving such protection and shall, at the time of response, identify each withheld portion, cite the legal basis, and briefly explain the claim. Unsubstantiated claims shall require full production.
(e) Climate superfund account.
A climate superfund account shall be established within the office of the general treasurer. The department shall accept and collect payments from responsible parties and deposit them into the established account and shall ensure that funds only be used for qualified expenditures under this program.
(f) Reimbursements
The DEM shall distribute funds to municipalities, tribal governments, and community organizations to reimburse eligible climate change response costs under a transparent and equitable allocation system.
(g) Coordination.
The DEM shall coordinate with the attorney general, department of health, and the office of energy resources to ensure equitable implementation and enforcement.
(h) Other remedies preserved.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to supersede or diminish any other remedies available to any person or government entity under common law or statute.
(i) Emergency regulations.
The department may prescribe, adopt, and enforce emergency regulations as necessary to implement, administer, and enforce its duties under this chapter.
42-6.3-4. Liability of responsible parties.
(a) Aggregated entities.
When two (2) or more entities may be treated as a single entity under 26 U.S.C. §§ 52(a), 52(b), 414(m), 414(o), or 1563 (without regard to 26 U.S.C. § 52(c)), they shall share joint and several liability and be treated as a single entity for the purposes of identifying responsible parties.
(b) Payment deadline.
Except as provided in subsection (c)(1), a responsible party shall pay the amount demanded in full within six (6) months after issuance of the cost recovery demand.
(c) Installment payments. LC003519 - Page 5 of 8
(1) The director may implement an installment plan, but no adjustments shall be allowed if the amount demanded is less than one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of the average total profits of a responsible party over the past five (5) years.
(2) Reasonable interest shall be charged on delayed payments.
(3) The unpaid balance of all installments becomes immediately due if:
(i) A responsible party fails to pay an installment on time;
(ii) A responsible party ceases to do business; or
(iii) Substantially all assets are sold, in which case the buyer assumes liability.
(d) Administrative hearings and appeals.
A responsible party may request reconsideration within thirty (30) days and may appeal a final decision to the superior court within twenty (20) days.
42-6.3-5. Enforcement.
(a) Authority.
The department and the office of the attorney general shall have concurrent authority to enforce this chapter, pursue violations, and recover all costs, penalties, and other relief as provided by law.
(b) Penalties for late payment.
The department may collect penalties for late payment. The late penalty shall accrue daily at ten percent (10%) per annum on the unpaid amount.
(c) Preservation of rights.
This chapter does not preempt any rights or remedies of the state, units of local government, tribal governments, or individuals or groups under common law or any federal or state law.
(d) No preemption of other climate laws.
This chapter does not preempt or supersede any state law or local ordinance regarding greenhouse gasses that:
(1) Limits or enforces emissions standards;
(2) Monitors, reports, or keeps records of emissions;
(3) Collects revenue through fees or levies; or
(4) Conducts or supports investigations.
42-6.3-6. Severability.
If any part of this chapter is adjudged invalid, such judgment shall not affect the remainder of the provisions of this chapter, which shall continue in full force and effect. LC003519 - Page 6 of 8
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
The general assembly hereby finds and declares the following:
(1) Climate change caused by the combustion of fossil fuels is an immediate and grave threat to the people, environment, natural resources, and economy of the state.
(2) Rising sea levels and temperatures, extreme weather events, flooding, heat waves, droughts, and other climate change effects have harmed or killed countless humans and other living organisms.
(3) Beginning decades ago, major fossil fuel producers engaged in conduct they knew or reasonably should have known would cause or contribute to climate-change-related damages, including sea level rise, storm intensification, and heat impacts.
(4) As a state with over four hundred (400) miles of coastline and an economy dependent on tourism and marine trades, Rhode Island is especially vulnerable to economic and social harms caused by climate change.
(5) All Rhode Islanders are adversely affected by climate change, but harms fall disproportionately on seniors, children, low-income, and minority communities.
(6) The state and municipalities have developed and implemented plans to counteract, mitigate, and prevent the adverse effects of climate change and must continue to do so to protect the health and safety of Rhode Islanders.
(7) The costs of such plans and implementation have fallen and will continue to fall almost exclusively on taxpayers.
(8) The fossil fuel companies whose products caused or contributed to climate-change- related damages should bear a fair and proportionate share of the costs necessary to respond to those harms, consistent with the well-established “polluter pays” and Superfund principles.
(9) This Act is a remedial cost-recovery measure that compensates public entities for expenditures made necessary by the conduct of responsible fossil fuel companies.
(10) Fair shares from these corporations can be accurately determined by analyzing the amounts of “greenhouse gas emissions,” including, but not limited to, carbon dioxide and methane, attributable to their extraction or refining of fossil fuels.
(11) Chapter 6.3 of title 42 shall assist the state and municipalities in making polluters pay and support other private and public efforts to hold them responsible.
(12) More than seventy percent (70%) of the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations since the Industrial Revolution has occurred since 1950, with a significant acceleration in emissions after the year 2000. By that time, the scientific consensus regarding the causes and impacts of climate change was well established, and the data necessary to attribute proportional responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions during the covered period is scientifically robust.
SECTION 2. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: CHAPTER 6.3 RHODE ISLAND CLIMATE SUPERFUND ACT OF 2026
42-6.3.-1. Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act of 2026”.
42-6.3-2. Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) "Account" means the climate superfund account established pursuant to § 42-6.3-3(e).
(2) “Accepted attribution methodology” means a transparent, scientific approach used to quantify a responsible party’s share of greenhouse gas emissions, that is consistent with methodologies recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("IPCC") of the United Nations including using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Emissions Factors for Greenhouse Gas Inventories as applied to the fossil fuel volume data for the purpose of determining LC003519 - Page 2 of 8 the amount of covered greenhouse gas emissions attributable to any entity from the fossil fuel production of that entity.
(3) "Climate change response work" means the planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, or improvement of projects necessary to protect people, property, natural resources, public health, and the state’s economy from the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, flooding, storm surge, extreme heat, drought, erosion, and other climate-driven hazards. Climate change response work includes, but is not limited to:
(i) Coastal and flood protection and resilience projects;
(ii) Stormwater management, drainage, and water infrastructure upgrades;
(iii) Heat mitigation, air quality improvement, emergency preparedness, and other hazard- protection measures that safeguard public health;
(iv) Resilient transportation, housing, and community infrastructure;
(v) Energy system resilience, including grid modernization and distributed energy resources;
(vi) Ecosystem, agricultural, forest, watershed, and fisheries restoration or protection projects; and
(vii) Hazard mitigation planning, modeling, monitoring, and early warning systems.
(4) "Cost recovery demand” means a charge asserted against a responsible party for cost recovery payments under the program for payment to the fund.
(5) "Covered greenhouse gas emissions" means the total quantity of greenhouse gasses attributable to a responsible party’s extraction or refining of fossil fuels during the covered period, expressed in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
(6) "Covered period" means the period that began January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2025.
(7) "Department" or “DEM” means the department of environmental management.
(8) "Director" means director of the department of environmental management (DEM).
(9) "Fossil fuel” means coal, petroleum products, bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, conventional and unconventional oil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, condensates, and related fossil fuels and fuel gasses, including methane, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and manufactured fuel gasses.
(10) "Greenhouse gas" means any substance that causes or contributes to climate change including, but not limited to, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.
(11) "Program" means the climate superfund cost recovery program established by this chapter. LC003519 - Page 3 of 8
(12) "Qualifying expenditure" means funds authorized by the DEM to be used to pay for climate change response work.
(13) "Responsible party" means any entity (or successor in interest to such entity described in this subsection), which, during any part of the covered period, engaged in the trade or business of extracting or refining fossil fuel or refining crude oil and is determined by the department to be responsible for more than one billion (1,000,000,000) tons of covered greenhouse gas emissions. The term responsible party shall not include any person who lacks sufficient connection with the state to satisfy the nexus requirements of the United States Constitution.
42-6.3-3. Implementation.
(a) Administrative authority.
To implement, enforce, and administer the provisions of this chapter, the department may:
(1) Appoint or engage necessary staff, including full-time equivalent positions and contracted services, consistent with applicable state personnel and procurement laws; and
(2) Adopt rules and regulations pursuant to chapter 35 of title 42 (“administrative procedures”) to implement, enforce, and administer the provisions of this chapter.
(b) Expenditure inventory and report.
Within twelve (12) months of the effective date of this chapter, the department shall identify climate change response work eligible for cost recovery under this chapter undertaken by the state and municipalities or needed in the future and their corresponding expenditures, and provide its report to the public on the department's website.
(c) Proportional liability calculations and demands.
(1) Within eighteen (18) months of the effective date of this chapter, the department shall determine proportional amounts owed by responsible parties for climate change response work during the covered period using accepted attribution methodology and issue cost recovery demands to responsible parties.
(2) The department may adjust the cost recovery demand amount of a responsible party who refined petroleum products or who is a successor in interest to an entity that refines petroleum products if the responsible party establishes to the satisfaction of the department that:
(i) A portion of the cost recovery demand amount was attributable to the refining of crude oil extracted by another responsible party; and
(ii) The crude oil extracted by the other entity was accounted for when the department determined the cost recovery demand amount for the other entity or a successor in interest of the other entity
(d) Information requests. LC003519 - Page 4 of 8
(1) The department may require from any responsible party any information or records needed to administer or enforce this chapter, and responsible parties shall produce all requested materials in a timely manner.
(2) Information may be withheld only if protected by law. The responsible party bears the full burden of proving such protection and shall, at the time of response, identify each withheld portion, cite the legal basis, and briefly explain the claim. Unsubstantiated claims shall require full production.
(e) Climate superfund account.
A climate superfund account shall be established within the office of the general treasurer. The department shall accept and collect payments from responsible parties and deposit them into the established account and shall ensure that funds only be used for qualified expenditures under this program.
(f) Reimbursements
The DEM shall distribute funds to municipalities, tribal governments, and community organizations to reimburse eligible climate change response costs under a transparent and equitable allocation system.
(g) Coordination.
The DEM shall coordinate with the attorney general, department of health, and the office of energy resources to ensure equitable implementation and enforcement.
(h) Other remedies preserved.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to supersede or diminish any other remedies available to any person or government entity under common law or statute.
(i) Emergency regulations.
The department may prescribe, adopt, and enforce emergency regulations as necessary to implement, administer, and enforce its duties under this chapter.
42-6.3-4. Liability of responsible parties.
(a) Aggregated entities.
When two (2) or more entities may be treated as a single entity under 26 U.S.C. §§ 52(a), 52(b), 414(m), 414(o), or 1563 (without regard to 26 U.S.C. § 52(c)), they shall share joint and several liability and be treated as a single entity for the purposes of identifying responsible parties.
(b) Payment deadline.
Except as provided in subsection (c)(1), a responsible party shall pay the amount demanded in full within six (6) months after issuance of the cost recovery demand.
(c) Installment payments. LC003519 - Page 5 of 8
(1) The director may implement an installment plan, but no adjustments shall be allowed if the amount demanded is less than one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of the average total profits of a responsible party over the past five (5) years.
(2) Reasonable interest shall be charged on delayed payments.
(3) The unpaid balance of all installments becomes immediately due if:
(i) A responsible party fails to pay an installment on time;
(ii) A responsible party ceases to do business; or
(iii) Substantially all assets are sold, in which case the buyer assumes liability.
(d) Administrative hearings and appeals.
A responsible party may request reconsideration within thirty (30) days and may appeal a final decision to the superior court within twenty (20) days.
42-6.3-5. Enforcement.
(a) Authority.
The department and the office of the attorney general shall have concurrent authority to enforce this chapter, pursue violations, and recover all costs, penalties, and other relief as provided by law.
(b) Penalties for late payment.
The department may collect penalties for late payment. The late penalty shall accrue daily at ten percent (10%) per annum on the unpaid amount.
(c) Preservation of rights.
This chapter does not preempt any rights or remedies of the state, units of local government, tribal governments, or individuals or groups under common law or any federal or state law.
(d) No preemption of other climate laws.
This chapter does not preempt or supersede any state law or local ordinance regarding greenhouse gasses that:
(1) Limits or enforces emissions standards;
(2) Monitors, reports, or keeps records of emissions;
(3) Collects revenue through fees or levies; or
(4) Conducts or supports investigations.
42-6.3-6. Severability.
If any part of this chapter is adjudged invalid, such judgment shall not affect the remainder of the provisions of this chapter, which shall continue in full force and effect. LC003519 - Page 6 of 8
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.