AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS -- CLIMATE DISASTER ACTIONS (Creates legal cause of action for persons/insurers to recover losses resulting from climate disaster against petroleum product producers based upon strict liability for deceptive/false statements as to climate impacts.)

H7752

2026 -- H 7752
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LC004360
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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A N A C T
RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR
ACTIONS -- CLIMATE DISASTER ACTIONS

Introduced By:
Representatives Cortvriend, Boylan, Speakman, Handy, Carson, McGaw,
and Kazarian

Date Introduced:
February 12, 2026

Referred To:
House Judiciary
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
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SECTION 1. Legislative findings and purpose.
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The general assembly finds and declares that:
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(a)(1) Rhode Island is experiencing increasing harm from climate driven extreme weather
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events, including coastal flooding, storm surge, sea level rise, extreme precipitation, wind damage,
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heat, and related secondary impacts that threaten public health, safety, infrastructure, housing, and
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economic stability.
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(2) These climate impacts have contributed to rising property and casualty insurance losses,
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increased premiums, policy non-renewals, market contraction, and growing pressure on residual
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and reinsurance mechanisms, placing undue financial strain on Rhode Island residents, businesses,
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municipalities, and taxpayers.
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(3) For decades, certain fossil fuel companies possessed knowledge of the climate impacts
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associated with the extraction, marketing, and combustion of their products, yet engaged in
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misleading, deceptive, or false representations that obscured those risks, delayed public
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understanding, and impeded timely action.
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(4) Rhode Island has a compelling interest in stabilizing its insurance markets, protecting
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ratepayers, preserving access to coverage, and ensuring that entities whose deceptive conduct
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substantially contributed to climate related harms bear an equitable share of resulting costs.
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(5) Providing clear causes of action for injured persons and insurers, including subrogation

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rights, will promote accountability, reduce pressure for rate increases and public subsidies, and
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support long term insurance affordability.
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(b) The purpose of this act is to:
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(1) Create private rights of action for climate-related harms;
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(2) Authorize insurer recovery and subrogation;
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(3) Ensure recoveries benefit policyholders; and
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(4) Strengthen the stability of Rhode Island’s insurance markets.
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SECTION 2. Title 10 of the General Laws entitled "COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE
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— PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the
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following chapter:
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CHAPTER 22
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CLIMATE DISASTER ACTIONS
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10-22-1. Definitions.
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For purposes of this chapter:
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(1) “Climate disaster” means an event that meets any of the following threshold
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qualifications and is determined by impact attribution science or extreme event attribution science
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to be substantially worsened or caused by climate change from responsible parties’ fossil fuel
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products, or extreme weather or other events attributable to climate change from responsible
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parties’ fossil fuel products:
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(i) A natural catastrophe, including a hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, wind-driven
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water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or
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drought, or, regardless of cause, a fire, flood, or explosion, that, in the determination of the
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President of the United States causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major
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disaster assistance under the federal Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
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Act, as amended (Pub. L. 93-288) to supplement the efforts and available resources of states, local
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governments, and disaster relief organizations in alleviating the damage, loss, hardship, or suffering
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caused by the catastrophe.
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(ii) A catastrophic incident that is a natural or manmade incident that results in
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extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population,
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infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, or government functions. A catastrophic
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incident could result in sustained national impacts over a prolonged period, almost immediately
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exceeds resources normally available to local, state, tribal, and private sector authorities in the
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impacted area, and significantly interrupts governmental operations and emergency services to such
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an extent that national security could be threatened. A catastrophic incident does not include an

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event linked to terrorism.
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(iii) An event that qualifies, or would have qualified, for inclusion on the federal National
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Centers for Environmental Information’s “Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters” program
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and data list as it existed in December 2024.
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(iv) A state of emergency or local emergency as defined in chapter 15 of title 30.
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(v) An event or occurrence linked to extreme weather or other events attributable to climate
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change for which insurance claims in the aggregate across carriers in this state exceed one hundred
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million dollars ($100,000,000).
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(2) “Climate-attributable harm” means physical damage, economic loss, business
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interruption, insurance losses, or other measurable injury resulting from a climate disaster.
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(3) “Fossil fuel product” includes crude petroleum oil and all other hydrocarbons,
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regardless of gravity, that are produced at the wellhead in liquid form by ordinary production
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methods, natural, manufactured, mixed, and byproduct hydrocarbon gas, refined crude oil, crude
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tops, topped crude, processed crude, processed crude petroleum, residue from crude petroleum,
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cracking stock, uncracked fuel oil, fuel oil, treated crude oil, residuum, gas oil, casinghead gasoline,
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natural-gas gasoline, kerosene, benzine, wash oil, waste oil, blended gasoline, lubricating oil, and
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blends or mixtures of oil with one or more liquid products or byproducts derived from oil or gas.
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(4)(i) “Responsible party” means any corporation, company, partnership, association, or
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other entity that:
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(A) Extracted, produced, refined, marketed, or sold fossil fuel products; and
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(B) Engaged in misleading, deceptive, or false statements or omissions regarding the
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climate impacts of those products; and
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(C) Whose conduct is shown to have substantially contributed to climate-attributable harm
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in Rhode Island.
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(ii) “Responsible party” does not include the federal government, tribal governments, the
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state, a political subdivision of the federal, tribal, or state government, or an employee of the
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federal, tribal, or state government on the basis of acts or omissions in the course of official duties.
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(5) “Insurer” includes any admitted property or casualty insurer authorized to do business
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in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island joint reinsurance association, and any successor or residual
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market entity.
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10-22-2. Private right of action for climate attributable harm.
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(a) Any individual, business, nonprofit organization, municipality, or other political
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subdivision that suffers climate-attributable harm in Rhode Island may bring a civil action against
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one or more responsible parties.

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(b) Standard of liability. A responsible party shall be strictly liable for climate-attributable
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harm where the plaintiff establishes that the responsible party engaged in misleading or deceptive
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conduct regarding climate impacts and that such conduct was a substantial contributing factor to
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the harm.
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(c) Damages. Recoverable damages shall include, but are not limited to:
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(1) Property damage and loss of use;
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(2) Economic loss and business interruption;
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(3) Costs of repair, remediation, adaptation, or relocation;
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(4) Reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs; and
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(5) Punitive damages where authorized by law.
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(d) Statute of limitations. An action shall be commenced within three (3) years after the
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plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of the climate attributable harm.
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(e) Defenses. No claim shall be barred by the doctrine of assumption of the risk or by
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contractual choice of law provisions where the defendant’s misleading or deceptive conduct is
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established.
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10-22-3. Direct cause of action for insurers.
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(a) An insurer that has paid claims or incurred increased costs because of climate-
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attributable harm in Rhode Island may bring a direct civil action against one or more responsible
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parties to recover:
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(1) Paid claims;
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(2) Increased reinsurance or capital costs; and
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(3) Costs associated with market destabilization, including non-renewals and residual
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market exposure.
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(b) Liability under this section shall be strict, subject to the same standards set forth in §
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10-22-2.
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(c) Recoveries under this section shall be used to support insurer solvency and market
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stability and shall be reflected pursuant to § 10-22-5.
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10-22-4. Subrogation and independent assessment.
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(a) Insurers, including the Rhode Island joint reinsurance association, shall retain and are
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expressly authorized to exercise subrogation rights against responsible parties for climate-
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attributable harms.
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(b) Prior to initiating large-scale subrogation litigation, the insurance commissioner shall
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obtain or conduct an independent actuarial and legal assessment evaluating whether the expected
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benefits of such action outweigh the anticipated costs and risks.

LC004360 - Page 4 of 6
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(c) Where the assessment determines that subrogation is likely to produce net benefits for
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policyholders and market stability, the commissioner may require or authorize the exercise of
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subrogation rights.
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10-22-5. Ratepayer protection and rate regulation.
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(a) Any recovery obtained by an insurer pursuant to this chapter, whether through
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judgment, settlement, or subrogation, shall be considered in property and casualty rate filings and
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used to offset losses or reduce future rate increases.
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(b) The director of the department of business regulation shall adopt rules and regulations
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to ensure that recoveries are equitably credited to policyholders and do not result in duplicative or
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excessive rates.
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10-22-6. Relationship with other laws.
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Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to preempt or limit:
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(1) Enforcement actions by the attorney general;
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(2) Claims brought under consumer protection, environmental, or common law; or
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(3) The authority of the insurance commissioner under existing law.
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10-22-7. Severability.
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If any provision of this chapter, or the application of a provision to any person or
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circumstances shall be held invalid, the remainder of the chapter, and the application of the
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provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be
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affected by that invalidity.
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SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC004360
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR
ACTIONS -- CLIMATE DISASTER ACTIONS
***
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This act would create a legal cause of action for climate attributable harm during climate
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disasters caused by responsible parties. “Responsible party” means any corporation, company,
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partnership, association, or other entity that extracted, produced, refined, marketed, or sold fossil
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fuel products and engaged in misleading, deceptive, or false statements or omissions regarding the
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climate impacts of those products. The act would impose strict liability on a responsible party
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whose conduct substantially contributed to climate-attributable harm. The act also would provide
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a cause of action for insurers to recover losses sustained resulting from the climate disaster caused
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by a responsible party.
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This act would take effect upon passage.
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