Companies Get More Time for California Emissions Law Compliance

California will give companies subject to its 2023 emissions disclosure rules an extra year to comply, the state agency responsible for the regulations said recently (The Wall Street Journal, subscription).

What’s going on: “In a release dated Dec. 5, the California Air Resources Board said companies might need more time to put data-collection processes in place, and therefore could report emissions data based on what a company already has in hand or is collecting.”

Under laws signed last October by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, CARB must by 2025 form transparency rules for companies that do business in California and have more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
In addition, these companies must disclose their Scope 1 and 2 emissions—those that come directly from operations and purchased electricity, respectively—by 2026 and their Scope 3 emissions, or those that come from their supply chains, by 2027.

Too aggressive: The announcement from CARB comes after several legal challenges to the laws’ deadlines and as “more legal threats” likely loom.

Companies say “that it would be difficult to put processes in place to collect the necessary data next year.”
The “rules are expected to cover at least 75% of Fortune 1000 companies,” and if they “take effect as planned … could become the de facto standard for U.S. companies.”