California lawmaker seeks 6 more months to implement climate disclosure laws

By Jordan Wolman | 08/16/2024 06:11 AM EDT

The plan is a rebuke to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed two-year delay to the nation-leading laws.

California Sen. Scott Wiener is seeking to adjust his nation-leading emissions disclosure law to give state regulators six additional months to implement the measure.

Wiener introduced a proposal late Tuesday to give the California Air Resources Board until July 1, 2025, to finish its rulemaking for CA SB253 (23R), compared to the Jan. 1 deadline in the original law that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last October after a heated legislative battle.

Wiener’s proposed changes, inserted into an existing bill, CA SB219 (23R), would also not require the large corporations reporting their greenhouse gas emissions to pay a fee at the time of their filing. CARB would have the option, not requirement, to contract with an outside organization to post the disclosures publicly. And subsidiaries would be able to consolidate their disclosures at the parent company level.

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Sen. Henry Stern is similarly amending his CA SB261 (23R) that compels large corporations operating in the state to disclose climate-related financial risks to make contracting with an outside organization optional for CARB and separate the fee schedule from the disclosure filing.

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