Last March, I took note of SB 260, a bill that would enact the California Corporate Climate Accountability Act. If enacted, the CCAA would require the State Air Resources Board to promulgate regulations requiring greenhouse gas emission disclosures by United States-based partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and other business entities with total annual revenues in excess of $1,000,000,000 and that do business in California.
SB 260 never made it out of its house of origin in 2020, but it is not dead yet. Since we are entering the second year of the current legislative biennium, it may still be enacted. Recently, the authors, Senators Scott Wiener and Henry Stern, amended the bill and thus it appears that it will move be moving forward.
Given the $1 billion revenue threshold, smaller business may believe that they will not be impacted. However, the numerous opponents to the bill have pointed out:
Requiring reporting of emission associated with a company's entire supply chain will necessarily require that large businesses stop doing business with small and medium businesses that cannot meet the onerous reporting requirements required by the bill, leaving those companies without contracts that enable them to grow and employ more workers.
Bill Analysis, Senate Judiciary Committee (April 23, 2021).
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