The California state government signed off on landmark emissions and climate disclosure laws on Monday, giving companies with significant business operations in the state less than a month to report their carbon footprint.
Notifications from the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) indicate that California’s SB-253, which introduces mandatory emissions reporting for large companies with operations in the state, is now in effect.
Companies with annual revenues over $1 billion will be required to make annual disclosures of their Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 10 November. Reporting of Scope 3 emissions will be mandatory from the 2027 reporting cycle.
Entities likely to be captured by the rule have received letters from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), notifying them of their potential reporting obligations and the upcoming deadline, according to a letter posted on the CARB website.
CARB is responsible for managing state-wide climate and air pollution initiatives in California.
The regulatory package has undergone several changes since it was first drafted by CARB and submitted for OAL sign-off in February.
CARB later withdrew it to introduce modifications, such as delaying the reporting deadline from August to November, confirming that Scope 3 reporting is not required for the current cycle and permitting consolidation of reports at parent company level.
The modified package also introduced reporting reliefs which apply for this year only. Companies are allowed to submit Scope 1 and 2 emissions based on whatever information they already have available, or can choose not to submit a report if they have not yet begun collecting information.
The updated rule was released for a 15-day comment period in July before being resubmitted to OAL.
CARB issued reporting guidance in September and has launched a voluntary online platform for companies to input emissions data directly.
A separate law, SB-261, which introduces mandatory climate risk reporting, remains paused due to litigation by the US Chamber of Commerce. More than 200 companies have submitted climate reports to CARB on a voluntary basis.