Since their introduction California bills SB 253 and SB 261 have taken the sustainability world by storm. Many expected the SEC climate disclosure rules to be the regulation that ushered in mandatory reporting of GHG emissions, but with the SEC rule facing legal headwinds, California has taken the spotlight. At the end of this year’s legislative session, the California state legislature passed SB 219 which amends SB 252 and SB 261 in key ways, including:
- Extended rulemaking deadline from January 1, 2025, to July 1, 2025
- Require CARB to prepare a schedule for Scope 3 disclosures separate from the existing timeline
- Allow a covered entity to consolidate emissions disclosure reports at the parent company level
- Eliminate filing fee requirements
- Authorize, not require, CARB to contract with a climate reporting organization when developing the public disclosure database.
The bill now goes to Governor Newsom’s desk where he has until September 30, to sign or veto the amendments. It is important to note that the amendments in SB 219 are not the same as those proposed by Newsom we previously wrote about. The bill containing those amendments never made it out of the legislature and the SB 219 amendments are fundamentally different. Importantly, SB 219 declined to extend reporting deadlines to the extent that Newsom’s amendments would have. Companies are taking steps to prepare for the first reporting deadline in January 1, 2026. However, with rulemaking now extended to July 1, 2025 companies won’t have clear reporting guidelines until six months before the first reports are due.
Our members can learn more about California’s new laws here.
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