Companies will have to keep waiting for California to issue implementing regulations for The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and The Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261) (each bill as amended by Senate Bill 219); rules that will clarify exactly who must report, what information is required, and how it should be submitted. With reporting deadlines looming, many will be left to make difficult judgment calls, including whether they, and their subsidiaries, fall within the laws’ scope.
California Air Resources Board (CARB), the regulator charged with developing regulations for and enforcing SB 253 and SB 261, disclosed last week that it is “proposing an updated timeline for bringing the initial rulemaking (including the fee-related provisions) to the board in Q1 2026.”
CARB had previously signaled at a virtual meeting held on August 21, 2025 that it expected to release a notice of proposed rulemaking for SB 253 and SB 261 on October 14, 2025. According to CARB, the proposed delay is necessary given the large volume of public comments it has received and ongoing input related to identifying the range of entities covered by California’s new climate laws.
Unfortunately for companies struggling to determine whether or not they will be in scope of the new rules and what specific disclosures will be required, the notice did not change the deadlines for reporting under SB 253 and SB 261. The first reports under SB 261, requiring disclosure of climate-related financial risks and measures adopted to reduce and adapt to such risks, will continue to be due on or before January 1, 2026 and the first reports under SB 253, requiring disclosure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (beginning with Scopes 1 and 2), will continue to be due sometime in 2026 (possibly by June 30, 2026). Fortunately for companies that suspect they may be in scope of the new rules, CARB has indicated that it will exercise enforcement discretion for the first year of reporting under the new laws.
On October 10, 2025, CARB issued a draft reporting template for reporting Scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions under SB 253.
According to a memo released by CARB concurrently with the reporting template, the template is aimed at streamlining reporting of Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions for companies under SB 253, especially those entities reporting GHG emissions for the first time. Use of the template by reporting companies is voluntary for the first reporting cycle in 2026. CARB added that it is seeking feedback on the template through October 27.
CARB is soliciting stakeholder feedback on both the SB 253 reporting template and template memo, which may be submitted through this public docket. The deadline to provide feedback is October 27, 2025.
CARB’s delay of initial rulemaking will force companies to make difficult judgment calls on whether they (and their subsidiaries) are in scope of the California climate rules, based on important terms that have yet to be defined by CARB, such as “total annual revenues,” and “doing business in California” as well as lingering questions concerning parent/subsidiary reporting requirements.