Breaking: CARB pushes SB 253 reporting deadline to November

Takeaways

1. CARB is deferring the inaugural SB 253 reporting deadline for Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions to November 10, 2026.
2. CARB has withdrawn its Initial Regulation and associated rulemaking documents, previously submitted to OAL on May 20, 2026.
3. CARB intends to revise its Initial Regulation with a 15-day public comment period—it is unclear when this will occur.

Reporting deadline delay

CARB issued its Proposed California Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Climate-Related Financial Risk Disclosure Initial Regulation (the “Initial Regulation”) on December 26, 2025 (see our previous update discussing key provisions of the Initial Regulation, here). On February 26, 2026, following a public hearing, CARB's Board voted unanimously to approve the Initial Regulation (see our previous update, here).

CARB submitted the Initial Regulation and associated rulemaking documents to OAL on May 20. As part of its submission, CARB had specifically requested an effective date of August 10, 2026. Thirty-five days later, on June 24, CARB withdrew its materials from OAL review. CARB's stated rationale for this decision is twofold: (1) to give reporting entities additional time following formal adoption of the Initial Regulation (as revised), and (2) to clarify certain requirements in the Initial Regulation.

CARB has provided no insight on the requirements it intends to “clarify” as part of a subsequent revision, but, according to CARB's notice, those changes will be subject to a condensed, 15-day public comment period.

Going forward

CARB's action today creates new uncertainty regarding the Initial Regulation for SB 253, including with respect to: (i) timing of a draft revised regulation, which will include the proposed November 10, 2026, reporting deadline, (ii) how CARB will review and respond to any public comments received, (iii) when the final, revised rulemaking will be delivered to OAL for review and approval, and (iv) assuming OAL approval, the potential for judicial challenges to the final regulation.

Despite the uncertainty, we recommend that entities subject to SB 253 anticipate that inaugural SB 253 reports, addressing Scope 1 and 2 emissions data, will be required by November 10, 2026.

The broad range of expertise at Hogan Lovells US LLP – including the Environment and Natural Resources, Litigation/Consumer Products, Sustainable Finance and Investment, Corporate and Finance, and Infrastructure, Energy, Resources and Projects teams – are available to assist clients with complying with California's climate-related financial risk and GHG emissions disclosure requirements and can help you understand interactions with other relevant sustainability-related reporting regimes required globally.

Authored by Tom Boer, Maia Jorgensen, and Allison Klei.