SB 253: Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of statewide greenhouse gas emissions and to monitor and enforce compliance with the act. The act requires the state board to make available, and update at least annually, on its internet website the emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants for each facility that reports to the state board, as provided.

This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2025, to develop and adopt regulations requiring specified partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and other business entities with total annual revenues in excess of $1,000,000,000 and that do business in California, defined as reporting entities, to publicly disclose to the emissions reporting organization, as defined, and obtain an assurance engagement on, starting in 2026 on a date to be determined by the state board, and annually thereafter, their scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined, and, starting in 2027 and annually thereafter, their scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined, from the reporting entitys prior fiscal year, as provided. The bill would require the state board to review during 2029, and update as necessary on or before January 1, 2030, these deadlines to evaluate trends in scope 3 emissions reporting and to consider changes to the deadlines, as provided. The bill would require a reporting entity to obtain an assurance engagement, performed by an independent third-party assurance provider, of the entitys public disclosure as provided. The bill would require the state board, in developing these regulations, to consult with the Attorney General, other government stakeholders, investors, stakeholders representing consumer and environmental justice interests, and reporting entities that have demonstrated leadership in full-scope greenhouse gas emissions accounting and public disclosure and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The bill would also require the state board to ensure that the assurance process minimizes the need for reporting entities to engage multiple assurance providers and ensures sufficient assurance provider capacity, as well as timely reporting implementation, as required. The bill would further require the state board to contract with an emissions reporting organization to develop a reporting program to receive and make publicly available the required disclosures. The bill would authorize the state board, starting in 2033 and every 5 years thereafter, to assess the global greenhouse gas accounting and reporting standards and to adopt an alternative standard if it determines that using the alternative standard would more effectively further the goals of the bill.

This bill would require the state board, on or before July 1, 2027, to contract with the University of California, the California State University, a national laboratory, or another equivalent academic institution to prepare a report on the public disclosures made by reporting entities to the emissions reporting organization. The bill would require, in preparing the report, consideration to be given to, at a minimum, greenhouse gas emissions from reporting entities in the context of state greenhouse gas emissions reduction and climate goals. The bill would require the state board to provide the report to the emissions reporting organization to post on a digital platform that would be required to be created by the emissions reporting organization, and publicly accessible, to house the state boards report and the reporting entities public disclosures. The bill would require the emissions reporting organization to provide the state boards report to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature.

This bill would require a reporting entity, upon filing its disclosure, to pay to the state board an annual fee set by the state board, as provided. The bill would create the Climate Accountability and Emissions Disclosure Fund, require the proceeds of the fees to be deposited in the fund, and continuously appropriate the moneys in the fund to the state board for purposes of the bill. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would create an appropriation. The bill would require the state board to adopt regulations that authorize it to seek administrative penalties for violations of these provisions, as specified.