Dive Brief:
- The California Air Resources Board updated its deadline to comply with the state’s emissions disclosure law, Senate Bill 253, giving covered companies an additional three months to disclose their scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, CARB said in a bulletin Wednesday.
- The state agency said that it will delay the reporting deadline from Aug. 10 to Nov. 10. In addition to giving entities more time to comply with the law, CARB said it will be proposing “limited changes” to the rule.
- In February, CARB greenlit the regulation for SB 253 and SB 261, which requires certain entities to make climate-related financial disclosures. A federal appeals court has halted implementation of SB 261, and CARB has made compliance with that law voluntary as the court case plays out.
Dive Insight:
California’s corporate climate disclosure laws were signed in 2023, with later amendments officially greenlighting the laws. SB 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, requires companies that do business in the Golden State with over $1 billion in revenue to report their greenhouse gas emissions, beginning with their scope 1 and scope 2 emissions.
CARB — responsible for implementing both SB 253 and SB 261 — said in the June 24 bulletin that it plans to propose changes designed “to clarify certain requirements” for reporting entities. The agency said it will make the changes available for a 15-day public comment period once released.
CARB adopted the formal regulation for the climate disclosure laws in February, and the initial regulation will go into effect once approved by California’s Office of Administrative Law. CARB said that proposing amendments to the regulation could delay OAL’s approval timeline, and the three-month deadline deferral “will help ensure reporting entities have additional clarity following approval of the final regulation before reporting is due.”
While companies covered by SB 253 will initially only be required to report their scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, the law also requires reporting of scope 3 emissions beginning in 2027.
CARB has previously issued enforcement notices that urge companies to make “good faith efforts” to comply with the laws, but the agency does not plan to take enforcement action in its first year.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a preliminary injunction on California’s other climate disclosure law, SB 261 or the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have challenged both laws, but the federal court allowed implementation of SB 253 to continue.
Despite the injunction, more than 170 companies have voluntarily submitted climate-related financial risk reports to the public docket as of June 26, according to ESG Dive’s review of the database.
