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As the federal government weakens its enforcement of corporate climate commitments, state governments are moving fast to fill in the gaps. Read More
The New York state senate introduced two bills Jan. 27 and 29 that if passed would position the Empire State, the country’s third strongest state economy behind California and Texas, as a game changer for domestic corporate climate disclosure.
The introductions of Senate Bill 3456 and Senate Bill 3697 just two weeks after Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term as president underscores the vigilance of states to keep pushing hard on climate regulation even when Trump as ordered stunning rollback on such initiatives at the federal level.
Sponsored by state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D), SB 3456 models itself after California’s state corporate climate disclosure law.
The “New York bill and the California Act are substantially similar,” said Michael R. Littenberg, partner at law firm Ropes & Gray, although he did note some principal differences. “One is the timetable of the timelines for reporting,” said Litterberg.
If passed, New York would require entities to submit Scope 1 and 2 data from 2026 data in 2027. California requires Scope 1 and 2 data by 2026, reporting 2025’s numbers. And in a stark difference, California requires Scope 3 emissions due in 2027, while New York does not.
“At as the current draft of the [New York] bill is worded, [Scope 3 emissions] does not appear that that would be mandatory,” said Littenberg.
Companies that would be affected by the passage of the law would have to meet the following the requirements:
There are even more similarities between New York’s introduced Senate bill 3697 and California’s Greenhouse gases: climate-related financial risk law.
Speaking of SB 3697, Littenberg said the bill is “almost a one for one in terms of alignment, in terms of, kind of, the details of what would be required there.”
Companies required to comply include:
Both SB 3456 and SB 3697 are early in their development, with both likely to face amendments before put up for a formal vote.
“If the bills do move forward, they’ll presumably go through a markup process, and there will be amendments to the bills themselves,” said Littenberg. Should they be passed, Littenberg envisions that many companies already disclosing greenhouse gas data for California will also be liable for New York, so many companies are already preparing for the inevitable laws.