The New York State Senate announced that it has passed a series of environmentally-focused legislative initiatives, including a new bill establishing the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which would introduce mandatory requirements for large companies to report their direct and value chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The new law would require New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation to adopt regulations requiring companies to annually report Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. The regulation would apply to U.S.-based companies with revenues greater than $1 billion, with reporting obligations introduced in tiered stages, beginning in 2027.
The new proposed law forms part of a series of initiatives under way by several states to institute corporate climate reporting requirements, as the Trump administration has pulled back on federal regulations aimed at providing transparency into corporate and industrial emissions. New York’s proposal is similar to California’s SB 253, which also requires companies with greater than $1 billion in revenues to report on their Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. California’s climate reporting laws are being challenged in court by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. New York also recently finalized separate regulations to implement GHG emissions disclosure requirements on facilities in carbon-intensive sectors.
After its passage in the Senate, the bill will now be forwarded to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who will need to sign it in order for it to be passed into law.
Additional bills passed by the Senate include legislation instituting prohibitions on the sale of certain consumer and household products containing PFAS, proposing stricter lead contamination standards, and establishing new ambient air quality standards for certain toxic air contaminants, among others.
In a post following the passage of the bill, Senator Pete Harckham, who sponsored the Act, said:
“Requiring corporations earning more than $1B annually to disclose both their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions will close these loopholes in climate data collection, strengthen oversight, enable more effective regulation and empower consumers to make informed choices.”
