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Senate
sSB319 / File No. 458 1
General Assembly File No. 458
February Session, 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No. 319
Senate, April 7, 2026
The Committee on Environment reported through SEN. LOPES
of the 6th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the
Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING BATTERY-POWERED LAWN EQUIPMENT
FUNDING FOR MUNICIPALITIES, REGIONAL SCHOOLS AND
COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2027) The Department of Energy 1
and Environmental Protection shall reactivate the 2010 Lawn 2
Equipment Exchange Fund for municipalities and regional school 3
districts. 4
Sec. 2. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) Not later than January 31, 5
2028, the Connecticut Green Bank shall create a loan program or loan 6
products that are tailored to assist Connecticut registered commercial 7
landscapers with the purchase or lease of battery -operated lawn 8
equipment. The Connecticut Green Bank shall use existing statutory 9
authority and access to capital, as well as lending partnerships to create 10
such loans or loan products. 11
sSB319 File No. 458
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2027 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1, "regional schools" was changed to "regional school
districts", for accuracy.
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.
sSB319 File No. 458
sSB319 / File No. 458 3
The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Green Bank Clean Energy Fund None Indeterminate
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
Section 1 of the bill requires the Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection (DEEP), by October 1, 2027, to reactivate the
2010 Lawn Equipment Exchange Fund. This does not result in a cost to
DEEP as there is a zero balance within this account.
Section 2 requires the Connecticut Green Bank, by January 31, 2028,
to create a loan program or loan products to assist Connecticut
registered commercial landscapers with the purchase or lease of battery-
operated lawn equipment . This is anticipated to result in a cost to the
Connecticut Green Bank, which is a quasi-public green bank. The level
of funding associated with the new loan program or products is
indeterminate and not specified in the bill.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
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sSB319 / File No. 458 4
OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 319
AN ACT CONCERNING BATTERY -POWERED LAWN EQUIPMENT
FUNDING FOR MUNICIPALITIES, REGIONAL SCHOOLS AND
COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPERS.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Connecticut Green Bank, by January 31, 2028, to
create a loan program or loan products to help registered commercial
landscapers buy or lease battery-operated lawn equipment. The Green
Bank must use its existing statutory authority and access to capital, as
well as lending partnerships, to create the loan program or products.
The bill also requires the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP) to reactivate the 2010 Lawn Equipment Exchange
Fund for municipalities and regional school districts. (It appears that in
2010 DEEP used funds from an interstate pollution case settlement to
partially reimburse certain municipalities and school districts for
replacing their lawn and ground maintenance equipment with versions
that emitted less pollutants. It is unclear if the bill’s intent is to establish
a similar reimbursem ent program (the 2010 program was not
established in law) or to establish a new similar fund, as the original
fund no longer exists.)
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026, except the provision reactivating
the Lawn Equipment Exchange Fund is effective October 1, 2027.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Environment Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 26 Nay 8 (03/18/2026)