Ending Fossil Fuel Bailouts Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Min, Dave [D-CA-47]
Introduced
Summary
Prioritize environmental reclamation costs in bankruptcies of oil, gas, and coal companies. This bill would require fossil fuel debtors to cover cleanup, reclamation bond obligations, and related penalties ahead of many unsecured claims, and it would add clear definitions of covered companies and executives while enabling recovery of executive compensation and extended look-backs for suspect transfers.
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- Communities and the environment: Reclamation costs and unfulfilled environmental bond obligations get higher priority in bankruptcy. The bill creates new nondischargeable exceptions for bonds and full cleanup costs tied to major laws like the Clean Air Act and CERCLA.
- Workers and employees: Non-executive wages and benefits receive a special priority above many other unsecured claims, protecting employee pay in fossil fuel bankruptcies.
- Executives, owners, and creditors: The bill allows recovery of up to five years of executive compensation when estates cannot meet reclamation claims and extends fraudulent-transfer look-backs to 10 years for certain insider transactions. It also makes private equity owners, parent companies, and hedge funds jointly liable for reclamation claims in some cases.
- Leases and assets: Covered oil, gas, and coal leases, including leases under the Mineral Leasing Act and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, must include transfer restrictions after a bankruptcy filing and the bill bars abandoning assets that could enable fossil fuel operations.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 3 mixed.
Who counts as a fossil fuel company
The bill would add definitions in bankruptcy law for 'fossil fuel company' and for 'executive officer.' It would tie the words "coal," "gas," and "oil" to existing federal statutes. These definitions would decide which companies and which officers are covered by the bill's special bankruptcy rules.
Protecting cleanup and worker pay
If enacted, non-executive employees of a fossil fuel company would be first in line for unpaid wages and benefits. Cleanup and reclamation costs would get high priority next, starting with any unpaid environmental bond obligations. Trustees could use secured collateral to pay reclamation costs and would not be allowed to abandon fossil fuel sites as "too burdensome." If the estate lacks money, the court could recover executive pay from the prior five years and hold certain owners or investors strictly liable. Trustees could also reach back ten years to undo transfers in these cases.
Block lease transfers after bankruptcy
If enacted, new oil, gas, and coal leases issued after the law takes effect would include a rule stopping a lessee from transferring the lease if the lessee has filed bankruptcy under title 11. The Interior Department would add this transfer prohibition to covered leases issued after enactment.
Rules apply only to new bankruptcy cases
If enacted, the bill's changes would take effect on the date of enactment and apply only to bankruptcy cases filed on or after that date. Bankruptcy cases filed before enactment would usually not be subject to these new rules.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Min, Dave [D-CA-47]
CA • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2]
CA • D
Sponsored 5/26/2026
Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3]
AZ • D
Sponsored 5/26/2026
Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7]
AZ • D
Sponsored 5/26/2026
Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3]
OR • D
Sponsored 5/26/2026
Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/2/2026
Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/2/2026
Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/2/2026
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12]
MI • D
Sponsored 6/2/2026
Rep. Levin, Mike [D-CA-49]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/10/2026
Rep. Garcia, Robert [D-CA-42]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/25/2026
Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/25/2026
Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7]
IN • D
Sponsored 7/13/2026
Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28]
CA • D
Sponsored 7/13/2026
Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1]
OR • D
Sponsored 7/15/2026
Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52]
CA • D
Sponsored 7/21/2026
Rep. Casten, Sean [D-IL-6]
IL • D
Sponsored 8/10/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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