Overview
Today, the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the California Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Climate-Related Financial Risk Disclosure Initial Regulation, at Title 17, California Code of Regulations (CCR), Article 6, sections 96070-96077 (the “Initial Regulation”). The effective date of the Initial Regulation is October 12, 2026.
Rulemaking Background
On February 26, 2026, the California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) approved the Initial Regulation, which establishes a fee component and sets the first-year reporting deadline under Health and Safety Code (HSC) section (§) 38532. To view rulemaking documents, visit the program regulation webpage.
2026 Greenhouse Gas Reporting
Pursuant to the Initial Regulation, the 2026 emissions reporting deadline is November 10, 2026. To help streamline fee implementation and to help simplify required first-year reporting in 2026, CARB has developed a voluntary 2026 Report Intake Platform that entities may choose to use. Use of this platform is not mandatory. Reporting entities may use this intake platform to provide their contact information to CARB ahead of the November 10, 2026, GHG emissions reporting deadline set forth in the Initial Regulation. The intake platform also provides fields to submit Scope 1 and 2 emissions reports to CARB, should entities desire to report their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions through this intake platform rather than in a separate submittal. Entities may also email emissions reports and contact information to climatedisclosure@arb.ca.gov. To view a guided walk-through of the voluntary submission platform, watch CARB’s video tutorial.
To facilitate a smooth reporting process for the November 10, 2026, GHG emissions reporting deadline, CARB has posted a Guidance Document for SB 253 2026 Reporting Submittals. CARB also sent a reminder letter to organizations that may be subject to the California Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.
Background
The California Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, authorized by Senate Bill (SB) 253 (Wiener, Stats. 2023, Ch. 382, codified in Health & Safety Code § 38532), is being developed by CARB and will require U.S.-based companies, with total annual revenues in excess of one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) that do business in California (“reporting entities”) to annually disclose their Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions for the prior fiscal year. The initial (first-year) annual emissions disclosures in 2026 are required to address Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and in subsequent years (beginning in 2027) must include Scope 3 emissions.
Contact
For additional assistance, please contact climatedisclosure@arb.ca.gov. To ensure you receive future communications related to the CARB’s Corporate GHG Reporting Program, please subscribe.
|
