CT HB05156

Establishes a Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program administered by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to collect payments from fossil fuel companies responsible for more than one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during 1995-2024

Imposes strict liability on "responsible parties" (fossil fuel extractors and petroleum refiners) to pay cost recovery demands proportional to their share of covered emissions, with payments due in full within six months or through nine annual installments (20% initially, then 10% annually)

Creates a nonlapsing Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Fund to finance climate change adaptive infrastructure projects including coastal wetland restoration, stormwater upgrades, extreme weather preparedness, electrical grid resilience, urban heat island mitigation, and public health programs

Requires at least 40% of qualified expenditures to directly benefit environmental justice communities, with DEEP required to complete a statewide climate adaptation master plan within 30 months

Appropriates $300,000 from the General Fund for fiscal year 2026-2027 to initially fund the program, with this amount to be reimbursed from the first cost recovery payments collected