The Nickel Report

On September 24, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) published a preliminary list of entities that CARB believes may be subject to climate reporting under SB 253 and SB 219 (requiring corporate greenhouse gas reporting) and SB 261 (requiring climate-related financial risk disclosure). CARB had previously announced its intention to release this list in its August workshop on regulation development and additional guidance regarding SB 253/261/219 implementation, of which a recorded video is available here.

The preliminary list notes that, in preparing it, CARB staff relied upon Secretary of State data as a “master list” of entities doing business in California. The dataset, however, included only active filings through March 2022, and CARB acknowledges that it may be missing companies that meet the statutory applicability criteria. Importantly, the list notes that “[e]ach potentially regulated entity remains responsible for compliance with statutory requirements, regardless of whether it was included in staff’s preliminary list or outreach.” CARB notes further that CARB is seeking stakeholder feedback on the list through use of a voluntary survey tool available on its website. The online survey states that responses are voluntary and are intended to help entities evaluate whether they are potentially subject to reporting and to improve CARB’s data accuracy.

Companies that are potentially subject to SB 253/219 and SB 261 should conduct their own internal analyses of whether they meet the applicability criteria for reporting. The absence of a corporate entity from CARB’s list does not mean it is not subject to reporting. Conversely, the presence of a corporate entity on CARB’s list does not necessarily mean there is a duty to report; in some cases CARB may not have identified the correct entity or entities within the corporate family.

The Hunton team is closely following CARB’s implementation of these laws and is advising clients on their reporting obligations. Please contact us with any questions about whether you have a reporting duty and what to consider when determining whether to respond to CARB’s survey request.