California's GHG Reporting Law Officially in Effect

California’s GHG Reporting Law Officially in Effect

California’s landmark climate disclosure regulation, SB-253, is officially in effect following sign-off from the state's Office of Administrative Law. Covered entities now have less than a month to comply with initial reporting requirements.

The details:

• Scope & Deadlines: Companies with annual revenues over $1 billion must report their Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by November 10. Mandatory Scope 3 reporting will follow in the 2027 cycle.

• Notification: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has begun sending letters to potentially affected businesses to notify them of their obligations.

• First-year relief: For this initial reporting round, companies can report Scope 1 and 2 emissions using existing available data or opt out of submitting a report this year if they have not yet started collecting the required data.

• Filing process: CARB released guidance in September and launched a voluntary online platform for submitting data. Parent companies are permitted to consolidate reports across subsidiaries.

State of play for SB-261: California's companion law requiring climate risk disclosures remains paused due to ongoing litigation led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. However, over 200 companies have already submitted voluntary climate reports to CARB.

Both laws were enacted in September of 2023.