As in-scope companies prepare to begin publishing climate disclosures in California in 2026 (assuming these laws survive the ongoing litigation), New York State has taken steps to follow California’s lead by introducing two Senate bills mirroring California’s SB 219—the successor bill to SB 253 (the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) and SB 261 (the Greenhouse Gases: Climate-Related Financial Risk Act).

Senate Bill 3456 — The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act

On January 27, the New York State Senate introduce Senate Bill 3456, or the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which would require any business entity (1) formed under U.S. law, (2) doing business in New York and deriving receipts from activity in New York within the meaning of Section 209 of the New York Tax Law, and (3) with total revenues exceeding $1 billion in the preceding fiscal year, including but not limited to revenues received by all subsidiaries doing business in New York, to annually disclose Scopes 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions (using, at least until 2034, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard).  Scope 1 and 2 emissions data would first be due in 2027 (with respect to 2026 emissions) and Scope 3 emissions data would first be due in 2028 (with respect to 2027 emissions). The bill also proposes an annual fee be paid by reporting entities to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for the administration and implementation of the law (the amount to be determined by the DEC).

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) would be required to adopt implementing regulations by December 31, 2026, including with respect to the specific reporting timelines.

The reports would need to be assured by an independent third-party assurance provider, with limited assurance for Scopes 1 and 2 emissions data beginning in 2027 and reasonable assurance beginning in 2031. The bill tasks the DEC with reviewing and evaluating trends in third-party assurance requirements and making a determination by January 1, 2028, as to whether Scope 3 emissions assurance (at a reasonable level) should be required. If adopted, this requirement would apply beginning in 2031.

The bill provides that if a reporting entity is a consolidated subsidiary of an ultimate parent entity, the ultimate parent entity may instead produce the required emissions report, and the consolidated subsidiary will not be required to produce a separate report.

The bill also provides that reporting entities would be permitted to submit reports prepared to meet other state, national, and international reporting requirements, including reports prepared to meet other state, national and international reporting requirement or reports voluntarily prepared using the IFRS Foundation Sustainability Disclosure Standards, as long as those reports satisfy all of the requirements of the New York law.

Disclosures would be required to be submitted to an emissions reporting organization created or contracted by New York, and this organization would be required to develop a reporting program to receive and make the reports publicly available. The report would also need to be posted on the reporting entity’s website.

If adopted, the law would allow the New York Attorney General to bring a civil action against a reporting entity for civil penalties of up to $100,000 per day for willful failure to comply with the requirements of the law or regulations adopted by the DEC, including for non-filing, late filing, or other failure to meet the requirements of the law, not exceeding $500,000 in any reporting year. However, a reporting entity would not be subject to civil penalties for any misstatements with regards to its Scope 3 emissions disclosures made with a reasonable basis and disclosed in good faith, and penalties relating to Scope 3 emissions reporting could only be imposed for non-filing through 2031.

Senate Bill 3697 — Climate-Related Financial Risk Reporting

The New York Senate also introduced Senate Bill 3697, which would require any business entity (1) formed under U.S. law, (2) doing business in New York, and (3) with total revenues exceeding $500 million in the preceding fiscal year, to publish, every two years, beginning on or before January 1, 2028, a climate-related financial risk report disclosing its climate-related financial risk, in accordance with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures framework or an equivalent reporting requirement and measures adopted by the entity to reduce and adapt to the climate-related financial risks disclosed in the report. The bill also proposes an fee be paid to the DEC by reporting entities upon filing their reports for the administration and implementation of the law (the amount to be determined by the DEC).

The bill provides that if a reporting entity is a consolidated subsidiary of an ultimate parent entity, the ultimate parent entity may instead produce the required emissions report, and the consolidated subsidiary will not be required to produce a separate report.

A covered entity would satisfy its reporting requirements if it prepares a publicly-accessible report that includes climate-related financial risk disclosure information (consistent with the requirements of this law) pursuant to a law, regulation, or listing requirement issued by any regulated exchange, national government or other governmental entity, including in accordance with the IFRS Foundation Sustainability Disclosure Standards, or voluntarily using a framework that meets the requirements of this law or the IFRS standards.

If adopted, the law would permit the DEC to seek administrative penalties from a covered entity that fails to make the required report publicly available on its website or that publishes an inadequate or insufficient report, which may not exceed $50,000 in any reporting year.

What's Next

It is unclear whether these bills will ultimately be adopted. Notably, similar bills have been proposed in New York in the past and have failed to pass. Fortunately, because the bills are substantially similar to the California climate disclosure laws and impact the same subset of companies, their adoption should not impose much of an additional compliance lift for most companies.