SB 253, California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, requires US-formed companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue that do business in California to file their first Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas report with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) by 10 November 2026. The date is final: California’s Office of Administrative Law approved CARB’s Initial Regulation on 12 October 2026, and it took effect the same day as Title 17, California Code of Regulations, sections 96070–96077.
The first cycle is lenient, within limits. CARB accepts three report formats — an existing report, data reported to another programme or its own template — and one alternative without figures: a statement of non-reporting for entities that were not collecting emissions data on 5 December 2024. CARB will also accept the report without third-party assurance, although the statute still calls for it. None of this removes the filing, the annual fee or the public record each submission starts.
This guide was checked against CARB’s documents, the statute and law-firm analyses on 24 October 2026. Each regulatory statement carries a label showing its basis, so that adopted law, CARB’s first-year tolerance and the 2027 proposals stay apart.
Quick answer. SB 253 applies to business entities formed in the United States with more than $1 billion in total revenue (the lesser of their two previous fiscal years) that do business in California. By 10 November 2026 each files its own Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, usually for fiscal year 2025, as an existing report, data reported elsewhere or CARB’s template — or a statement of non-reporting if it was not collecting data on 5 December 2024. CARB accepts the 2026 report without assurance, though the statute still calls for it. Scope 3 starts in 2027. Fee notices follow around 10 December 2026. SB 261 is paused by a court injunction; SB 253 is not.
Who should read this
- Sustainability and ESG reporting leads
- Controllers and tax teams who own the revenue test
- General counsel and compliance officers
- Energy and EHS managers holding fuel and power data
- Non-US groups with US subsidiaries
- Buyers of carbon accounting software
🔑 Key takeaways on SB 253
- The SB 253 deadline is final. 10 November 2026, fixed by the Initial Regulation that took effect on 12 October 2026.
- Scope is tested entity by entity, with two separate tests. Revenue above $1 billion in both of the two previous fiscal years, and doing business in California. Consolidation is a separate filing option.
- Three report formats, one alternative. An existing report, other-programme data or CARB’s template, each giving the entity’s own figures; or a statement of non-reporting.
- Assurance is required by statute but not enforced in 2026. Scope 3 is not due until 2027.
- SB 253 is not enjoined. The Ninth Circuit paused SB 261 only, and has not yet decided the appeal.
- 10 Nov 2026First Scope 1 and 2 reports due to CARB
- $1 billionRevenue threshold, met in both of the two previous fiscal years
- $500,000Statutory cap on administrative penalties per reporting year
On this page
Where SB 253 Stands on 24 October 2026
Four layers govern the first SB 253 filing, and they do not carry the same weight. Guidance is not law, and a proposal is not an obligation.
| Layer | Status | What it settles | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statute: Health and Safety Code §38532 (SB 253 of 2023, amended by SB 219 in 2024) | In force | Who is covered, the Scope 1–3 timetable, assurance levels, penalties | California Legislative Information |
| Initial Regulation: 17 CCR §§96070–96077 | Adopted by CARB on 26 Feb 2026; approved by OAL and effective 12 Oct 2026 | Revenue, doing business, subsidiary, exemptions, consolidation, fees, the 10 November deadline, the first-year rule in §96076 | CARB bulletin, 12 Oct 2026; Vinson & Elkins |
| Guidance for 2026 submittals | Published by CARB on 1 Sep 2026 | Accepted formats, Scope 2 factor options, assurance not enforced, statement of non-reporting | CARB guidance (PDF) |
| Rules for 2027 onwards | Proposed by CARB staff on 21 July 2026; no draft text found on 24 Oct 2026 | Scope 3 categories, assurance standards, the recurring deadline | Mayer Brown |
| Litigation: Chamber of Commerce v. Sanchez, 9th Cir. No. 25-5327 | SB 261 enjoined pending appeal since 18 Nov 2025; SB 253 not enjoined; no decision found | Whether either law survives the First Amendment challenge | Morrison Foerster |
Status read on 24 October 2026. Re-check on the day you file. The first three rows bind the 10 November filing; the fourth may change before CARB’s board votes.
- StatuteHealth and Safety Code §38532
- Regulation17 CCR §§96070–96077, as quoted by CARB or summarised by the firms cited
- CARB guidanceCARB’s 1 September 2026 guidance or October letter
- Court recordcourt orders and filings, as reported by law firms
- Law-firm readinga law firm’s interpretation
- ProposalCARB staff concepts, not adopted
- Our readingAiGreenTools inference
SB 253 from statute to first filing
- October 2023SB 253 is signed into law (Statutes of 2023, chapter 382).
- 27 September 2024SB 219 amends SB 253 and SB 261 and keeps 2026 as the start year for Scope 1 and 2.
- 5 December 2024CARB’s Enforcement Notice sets the first-year discretion.
- 18 November 2025The Ninth Circuit pauses SB 261 pending appeal, not SB 253.
- 26 February 2026CARB’s board adopts the Initial Regulation, then with an August deadline.
- June 2026CARB withdraws the package to move the deadline to 10 November.
- 1 September 2026CARB publishes its 2026 guidance and opens an intake platform.
- 12 October 2026The Office of Administrative Law approves the regulation; it takes effect.
- 10 November 2026First Scope 1 and 2 reports, or statements of non-reporting, are due.
- Around 10 December 2026Fee notices; payment within 60 calendar days of the notice date.
- 2027 (statute and proposals)Scope 3 begins; staff propose five mandatory categories and limited assurance over Scope 1 and 2.
- 2030 (statute)Reasonable assurance for Scope 1 and 2; limited assurance for Scope 3.
Dates from CARB’s guidance, letter, bulletin and Final Statement of Reasons, the statute and the alerts cited here. Grey markers are future dates.
Who Must File: The SB 253 Applicability Test
Two questions are often run together: which entities are in scope, and how in-scope entities may file. Scope is decided entity by entity, by two separate tests — revenue and doing business in California — and an entity must pass both. Filing then allows consolidation.
| Element | Rule | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Entity type | A partnership, corporation, LLC or other business entity formed under the law of a US state, the District of Columbia or Congress | Statute§38532(b)(2) |
| Test 1: revenue | Total revenue above $1 billion. The statute refers to the prior fiscal year; the regulation defines revenue as gross receipts under Revenue and Taxation Code §25120(f)(2), takes the lesser of the two previous fiscal years and excludes transactions within a combined reporting group. Total revenue counts, not California sales | StatuteRegulationas summarised by Hogan Lovells Cadwalader and Arnold & Porter |
| Test 2: doing business in California | Actively engaging in transactions for gain and either (a) organised or commercially domiciled in California, or (b) California sales above the lesser of $757,070 (the 2025 inflation-adjusted threshold) or 25% of total sales, under Revenue and Taxation Code §23101(b)(2). Interstate wholesale electricity sales do not count. Property and payroll are not part of the test | Regulationas summarised by Hogan Lovells Cadwalader; consistent with the CARB staff report |
| Level of the tests | Each entity separately. A parent is not in scope merely because one of its subsidiaries is | RegulationMayer Brown; Arnold & Porter |
| Exemptions | Tax-exempt nonprofit or charitable organisations; government entities; insurers regulated by the California Department of Insurance (2026; staff propose ending this in 2027); entities whose only California activity is employee compensation, such as remote workers; entities whose only California activity is interstate wholesale electricity trading | Regulationas summarised by Hogan Lovells Cadwalader and Mayer Brown; CARB staff report |
Definitions as summarised from the final text by Hogan Lovells Cadwalader (13 October 2026) and Arnold & Porter, consistent with CARB’s December 2025 staff report. The sales figure is adjusted for inflation; the firm cites the 2025 value.
Our readingThe two tests answer different questions. The $1 billion test measures the entity’s total size; the doing-business test only asks whether it has a sufficient link to California. A company incorporated outside the United States is not a reporting entity itself, but its US-formed subsidiaries can be.
SB 253 consolidation is a filing option, not a scope rule
StatuteSection 38532(c)(2)(A)(iii) allows reports to be consolidated at the parent-company level; a subsidiary that qualifies as a reporting entity then need not prepare a separate report. RegulationA subsidiary is defined by direct corporate association, using the control indicia of 17 CCR §95833, and the parent may pay fees on behalf of qualifying subsidiaries (Arnold & Porter; Hogan Lovells Cadwalader).
Our readingConsolidation does not bring into scope a parent that fails the tests, nor take out a subsidiary that passes them. It covers subsidiaries that qualify on their own, not every affiliate. And the consolidated submission should name each reporting entity it covers: CARB’s intake platform is organised entity by entity, according to Jones Day.
⚠️ A CARB letter is not a ruling on your status. In October 2026 CARB mailed reminder letters to organisations it believes may be covered; the letter says no action is needed if you determine you are not subject. Receiving one does not put you in scope, and not receiving one does not take you out (Vinson & Elkins). Law-firm readingJones Day reads section 96074(d) as requiring five years of records on both tests, and suggests documenting an out-of-scope conclusion too.
Three Formats and One Alternative for the SB 253 Deadline
CARB’s 1 September guidance accepts three report formats for the figures and one alternative without figures. None is a general licence to submit whatever data exists. Three conditions apply to every report:
- StatuteThe figures are the reporting entity’s own Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Reports made for other requirements count only if they meet SB 253’s requirements (§38532(c)(2)(D)(i)).
- RegulationThey cover the applicable fiscal year, set by §96076 and explained below.
- RegulationIn 2026 they may rest on what could be determined from information the entity already possessed or was collecting on 5 December 2024 (§96076(b), as quoted in CARB’s letter). Our readingThis limits what CARB expects; it does not oblige you to discard better data gathered since, nor turn another entity’s or another year’s figures into this entity’s report.
The three report formats and the alternative
Page numbers refer to CARB’s guidance of 1 September 2026. According to Jones Day’s reading of CARB’s platform tutorial, one submission can mix routes across a group’s entities.
Format 1 — an existing annual report that includes Scope 1 and 2
CARB guidanceListed as acceptable on page 3. Condition: the three conditions above; nothing more specific.
Our advice: check the fiscal year and the legal entities covered. A group report may need a short note mapping it to each reporting entity.
Format 2 — Scope 1 and 2 data already reported to other programmes
CARB guidancePage 3, in CARB’s words: “Submit existing Scope 1 and 2 data reported to other programs/voluntary initiatives.” StatuteSuch reports count only if they meet SB 253’s requirements; entities under California’s mandatory industrial emissions reporting may provide that data (§38532(c)(2)(D)).
Our advice: other programmes often cover facilities above a threshold, another perimeter or another year. Say what the data covers and leaves out, and never file a facility or group total as one entity’s figures.
Format 3 — CARB’s draft Scope 1 and 2 template
CARB guidancePage 3: posted on 10 October 2025, voluntary for 2026. Condition: the three conditions above.
Our reading: the template’s questions show the detail CARB has in mind, so using it is a cheap rehearsal for 2027 — our inference, not a CARB statement.
Alternative without figures — a statement of non-reporting
CARB guidancePages 3–4: a statement on company letterhead, by platform or email before 10 November. Regulation§96076(b), as quoted in CARB’s letter: the entity did not possess Scope 1 or 2 information and was not collecting it on or before 5 December 2024. Law-firm readingArnold & Porter notes that whether an entity was collecting can turn on the facts.
Our advice: it states a fact about December 2024; it is not an opt-out, and the fee still applies. An entity with a draft inventory or a consultant’s calculation under way at that date would struggle to sign it. Whether a parent’s inventory that included the entity counts is a question we found no CARB answer to: ask counsel.
Submissions go through CARB’s voluntary 2026 Report Intake Platform or by email to climatedisclosure@arb.ca.gov, with billing details for the fee. Reports and statements uploaded to the platform will be made public (Debevoise & Plimpton).
What the First SB 253 Report Must Contain — and What It Does Not
The SB 253 reporting requirements for 2026 are narrow: the reporting entity’s annual Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions for the applicable fiscal year, unless the statement of non-reporting applies. Our guide to GHG Protocol Scopes 1, 2 and 3 covers the boundaries.
Which fiscal year to report
- RegulationFiscal year ending between 1 January and 1 February 2026, both dates included: report that fiscal year, the one ending in 2026.
- RegulationFiscal year ending after 1 February: report the fiscal year that ended in the previous calendar year — fiscal year 2025 for calendar-year companies.
- RegulationOption for the second group: an entity may instead report its most recent preceding fiscal year where the data are available.
The first two rules as set out in CARB’s reminder letter; the option as summarised from §96076 by Hogan Lovells Cadwalader. Our example, not CARB’s: a company whose fiscal year ended on 30 June 2026 could report that year if its data are ready.
| Item | 2026 status | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions | Required, unless the statement of non-reporting applies | Statute; Regulation §96076; CARB guidance p. 3 |
| Methodology, data sources, boundaries, factors, GWP values, split by category and gas, assumptions | Encouraged, not required | CARB guidance, “Level of Detail”, p. 3 |
| Scope 3 emissions | Not due in 2026 | Statute (from 2027) |
| Third-party assurance | Required by the statute; not enforced in 2026 (see below) | Statute; CARB guidance p. 4 |
| A specific emission-factor dataset | Not required | CARB guidance pp. 3–4 |
| CARB’s template | Optional | CARB guidance p. 3 |
| Contact and billing details | Needed for the fee | CARB guidance p. 2; CARB letter |
Source: CARB, Guidance for SB 253 2026 Reporting Submittals, 1 September 2026; Health and Safety Code §38532. Read on 24 October 2026.
Scope 2 emission factors
CARB guidancePages 3–4 address a practical gap: EPA had not released eGRID 2024 on its usual timeline. Reporting entities may use eGRID 2023, the eGRID 2024 dataset published by the Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative from EPA’s public source code, or other credible sources. Whatever you use, name it and its version.
SB 253 assurance: what the statute requires and what CARB will accept
- StatuteSection 38532(c)(2)(F)(ii): limited assurance over Scope 1 and 2 from 2026, reasonable assurance from 2030; limited assurance over Scope 3 from 2030 under clause (iii).
- RegulationThe Initial Regulation does not impose an assurance requirement for the first report (Hogan Lovells Cadwalader).
- CARB guidancePage 4: because of first-year enforcement discretion, CARB will accept 2026 submissions whether or not assurance has been obtained.
- ProposalCARB staff propose requiring limited assurance over Scope 1 and 2 from 2027 reports.
Our readingThe statutory requirement has not been repealed; CARB has chosen not to enforce it in the first cycle, and its guidance says on page 1 that it reflects enforcement discretion, not an interpretation of the statute. The same applies to method: the statute requires GHG Protocol conformance from 2026 (§38532(c)(2)(A)(ii)). If you can choose between two inventories, file the one you can explain under the GHG Protocol.
💡 Treat the first SB 253 filing as a public baseline. The statute requires a public platform showing each disclosure within 90 days of receipt, and platform uploads are published. Our readingAn unassured 2026 figure will sit next to an assured 2027 figure. Disclosing your method now lets a later recalculation read as a method change rather than a correction.
SB 253 Fees, Penalties and CARB’s First-Year Enforcement Discretion
The fee
StatuteEach reporting entity pays an annual fee covering CARB’s program costs (§38532(c)(2)(G)). CARB letterEvery entity that meets the regulation’s criteria is assessed, whether it files figures or a statement; the letter says invoices will be sent by 10 December 2026, payable within 60 calendar days. Law-firm readingHogan Lovells Cadwalader describes the regulation as requiring fee determination notices beginning on 10 December 2026 and every year after, with payment due within 60 calendar days of the notice date. Plan for a notice around that date.
Law-firm readingThe amount is less certain. CARB’s 2025 workshops estimated about $3,106 a year per SB 253 entity (White & Case); in October 2026 Greenberg Traurig wrote that no final per-entity fee had been published. Our readingSince each in-scope entity is assessed, a parent paying for its subsidiaries should expect one fee per entity; Jones Day reads the platform the same way.
Penalties
StatuteSection 38532(f)(2) lets CARB seek administrative penalties for non-filing, late filing or other failures, capped at $500,000 per reporting year, taking into account past compliance and good-faith efforts. Scope 3 misstatements made with a reasonable basis and in good faith cannot be penalised, and from 2027 to 2030 Scope 3 penalties apply only to non-filing.
First-year discretion
CARB guidanceRestating its December 2024 Enforcement Notice, CARB lets entities report figures based on information they had or were collecting when the notice was issued, with or without assurance. Law-firm readingVinson & Elkins adds that this flexibility does not remove the obligation, and that entities relying on it should document their good-faith efforts.
⚠️ The discretion covers the content, not the date. Our readingNothing in CARB’s guidance extends 10 November, and late filing is one of the failures the statute names. Document your approach and confirm your filing obligations with counsel.
Why SB 253 Still Applies While SB 261 Is Paused
Court recordThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the California Chamber of Commerce, the American Farm Bureau Federation and other groups challenge both laws as compelled speech under the First Amendment. The district court refused to enjoin them. On 18 November 2025 the Ninth Circuit granted an injunction pending appeal for SB 261 only, without reasons (Morrison Foerster). It heard argument on 9 January 2026; alerts from mid-October 2026 report no decision.
Law-firm readingA second suit, Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Sanchez (Eastern District of California, filed 24 October 2025), adds a federal pre-emption claim against SB 261 and is effectively on hold, according to Mayer Brown. At the January argument, a judge asked about remanding the case so the district court could re-examine SB 253’s Scope 3 requirements (King & Spalding). A question is not a ruling, and we make no prediction: file by 10 November, and check CARB’s Climate Disclosure page the day any ruling lands.
A Filing Plan for the Days Left Before 10 November
From Monday 26 October about two working weeks remain. The sequence is ours, built from CARB’s guidance and the statute; it is not legal advice.
- Run both tests per entity. For every US-formed entity, record gross receipts for the two previous fiscal years (the lower one counts), excluding transactions within a combined reporting group, and the doing-business analysis. Note any exemption. Keep the workpapers.
- Fix the fiscal year. Apply the 1 February rule, and decide whether to use the option of a more recent year.
- Choose a route per entity, then consolidation. One of the three formats or the statement; then whether a parent files for qualifying subsidiaries.
- Check the boundary. The figures must cover the entity or group you name; state the consolidation approach (operational control, financial control or equity share).
- Document Scope 2. Name the factor dataset and version, and say whether figures are location-based, market-based or both; the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance generally calls for both.
- Write the method note. Boundaries, data sources, factors, GWP set, exclusions and assumptions — the details CARB encourages.
- Submit with billing contacts. Platform or email; platform uploads are published.
- Keep the evidence. Submission, confirmation, workpapers and good-faith record are the starting file for 2027 assurance; our ESG assurance readiness checklist lists what providers ask for.
None of the following is a reason to hold the filing: the Ninth Circuit has not ruled, you have no assurance report, your Scope 2 factors come from eGRID 2023, or your Scope 3 inventory is incomplete.
What Changes in 2027: Proposed, Not Adopted
The statute fixes the frame: Scope 3 disclosure from 2027, reasonable assurance over Scope 1 and 2 from 2030 and limited assurance over Scope 3 from 2030. Within it, CARB staff presented their concepts for the SB 253 assurance requirements, Scope 3 and the deadline at a public workshop on 21 July 2026. Nothing below is adopted.
| Element | Proposed by CARB staff (21 July 2026) | Statutory anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 3 categories | Five mandatory: 1 purchased goods and services, 3 fuel- and energy-related activities, 5 waste generated in operations, 6 business travel, 7 employee commuting; the other ten voluntary, with no timetable | Scope 3 from 2027 |
| Assurance | Limited assurance over Scope 1 and 2, including separately reported biogenic CO₂, from 2027 reports. Standards: ISAE 3000 (Revised) and ISAE 3410 for engagements starting before 15 Dec 2026, ISSA 5000 after; ISO 14064-3:2019 with accreditation; AICPA standards; AA1000AS v3 | Limited from 2026, reasonable from 2030 |
| Deadline | 10 November kept as the annual deadline for Scope 1, 2 and 3 | Date set by CARB |
| Data year | Tied to the fiscal year, with at least six months between year-end and deadline | Prior fiscal year |
| Insurers | 2026 exemption to end; Department of Insurance report used and supplemented | — |
| Accounting basis | GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, the 2015 Scope 2 Guidance and the Scope 3 Standard, with no automatic update | GHG Protocol conformance |
Proposals as summarised by Mayer Brown, Akin Gump and Ropes & Gray. A draft regulation with a 45-day comment period is to follow; we had not found it on 24 October 2026.
Board action on the 2027 package is anticipated by the end of 2026 (Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance). That leaves little time before the proposed November 2027 deadline, which is the reason to start the 2027 inventory now.
⚠️ Plan for five Scope 3 categories, screen all fifteen. The list may change before adoption. Our reading, shared by Morgan Lewis, is that screening all fifteen puts the five in context and avoids a rebuild if the list grows. Our Scope 3 practitioner guide and Scope 3 GHG calculator cover the screening.
What Carbon Accounting Software Must Do for SB 253
A first SB 253 filing can come from spreadsheets. Software earns its place in 2027, when an assurance provider tests the trail behind each number. The capabilities that matter follow from CARB’s rules:
- Entity-level outputs, because scope and fees are assessed per legal entity.
- Fiscal-year flexibility, including the 1 February rule.
- Factor provenance: the dataset and version behind each line.
- Location- and market-based Scope 2, side by side.
- An audit trail from each figure to its source document, with change history.
- Scope 3 by category, starting with categories 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
- Restatement handling, since CARB staff propose that method changes be disclosed with their effect (ISS-Corporate).
AI that reads utility invoices or flags anomalies can shorten collection (see how AI is changing carbon accounting), but an assurance provider will still want a figure traceable to a source document and a documented factor.
Among the platforms we profile, Persefoni, Watershed, Sweep and Workiva have published SB 253 guidance (Persefoni, Watershed, Sweep, Workiva); IBM Envizi and Salesforce Net Zero Cloud are also in our carbon accounting category. Guidance shows attention, not a validated feature; this article does not rank tools for SB 253. Our carbon accounting software ranking compares them on our scoring method.
💡 Three questions for a vendor before 10 November. Can you export Scope 1 and 2 by legal entity for the right fiscal year, in the fields of CARB’s template? Which Scope 2 factor dataset and version do you apply, and can we change it? Show us, for one site, the audit trail an assurance provider would test.
SB 253, SB 261, CSRD and ISSB: One Inventory, Several Filings
The statute tells CARB to minimise duplication, and CARB says it aims for interoperability with the GHG Protocol, IFRS S2 and the EU’s CSRD (Mayer Brown). A group can work from one GHG Protocol inventory with entity-level cuts and derive each filing from it; our guide to CSRD scope after the Omnibus covers the EU side. What a group report does not give for free: SB 253’s entity-level tests, its US-formed-only scope, its fiscal-year rule and its per-entity fee.
SB 261 — a biennial climate-risk report for US-formed entities above $500 million in revenue doing business in California — is on hold: in its Final Statement of Reasons, CARB says it will not enforce SB 261 until the injunction is lifted. Mayer Brown warns obligations could resume quickly; our TCFD reporting guide and TCFD disclosure checklist help keep a draft ready.
Bottom line. SB 253 asks for a filing by 10 November 2026, not perfection. Run both tests for each entity, pick the format that matches the data you actually had, write down your method and submit on time. Then use the year ahead to build an inventory an assurance provider can test: that, not this year’s filing, is where SB 253 becomes demanding.
Sources and Verification
| Claim | Source and status |
|---|---|
| Reporting entity, GHG Protocol conformance, consolidation, assurance timetable, fee duty, penalties | Health and Safety Code §38532 — STATUTE |
| Accepted formats, Scope 2 factors, assurance not enforced, statement of non-reporting | CARB guidance, 1 Sep 2026 — REGULATOR |
| Deadline, fiscal-year rule, §96076(b) wording, invoices “by” 10 Dec 2026, 60-day payment | CARB reminder letter, Oct 2026 — REGULATOR |
| OAL approval and entry into force on 12 Oct 2026 | CARB bulletin — REGULATOR; Vinson & Elkins, Sullivan & Cromwell — LAW FIRMS |
| Revenue (gross receipts, lesser of two years), doing-business criteria and $757,070 sales figure, exemptions, consolidation, fee notices “beginning on” 10 Dec, fiscal-year option | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader (13 Oct 2026); Arnold & Porter (Oct 2026); Farella Braun + Martel — LAW FIRMS on the final text; CARB staff report (Dec 2025) — REGULATOR, proposal stage |
| Board adoption on 26 Feb 2026; SB 261 not enforced while enjoined | CARB release 26-05; CARB FSOR — REGULATOR |
| 2027 proposals; Exxon Mobil suit | Mayer Brown, Akin Gump, Ropes & Gray — LAW FIRMS; proposals NOT ADOPTED |
| Fee estimate of $3,106; no final fee published | White & Case (2025); Greenberg Traurig (Oct 2026) — LAW FIRMS; final amount NOT CONFIRMED |
| Ninth Circuit injunction for SB 261 only | Morrison Foerster — LAW FIRM; no merits decision found on 24 Oct 2026 |
| Platform submissions public; fee per entity on the platform | Debevoise & Plimpton; Jones Day — LAW FIRMS |
The statute was read through a public mirror of the official text, verified against California Legislative Information on 19 October 2026, because the official site refused our reading tool. CARB’s web pages did not load for our tool; its PDFs and bulletin were read directly.
What we could not establish
- The final per-entity fee for 2026.
- The exact date of fee notices: CARB’s letter says invoices will be sent by 10 December 2026; Hogan Lovells Cadwalader reads the regulation as starting the notices on that date.
- An official count of reporting entities; CARB published only a preliminary list of potentially covered entities in 2025.
- The published 2027 draft regulation, and when the Ninth Circuit will rule.
- Whether a parent’s inventory that included an entity counts as that entity possessing the information.
- The full adopted text of 17 CCR §§96070–96077, which we describe from CARB’s documents and from law-firm summaries, labelled accordingly.
This assessment would change if the Ninth Circuit rules on SB 253 or lifts or narrows the SB 261 injunction; CARB publishes 2027 draft rules with different Scope 3 categories, assurance standards or deadline; or CARB announces the final fee or amends its 2026 guidance. We will recheck after 10 November and when the 2027 draft is published.
This guide describes SB 253 for orientation and is not legal advice; confirm your obligations with counsel. Law-firm and vendor statements are attributed as such. Corrections: contact@aigreentools.com.
Frequently Asked Questions About SB 253
What is SB 253?
SB 253 is California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, Health and Safety Code section 38532. It requires US-formed business entities with more than $1 billion in revenue that do business in California to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions each year: Scope 1 and 2 from 2026, Scope 3 from 2027, with assurance phased in. CARB implements it.
When is the SB 253 reporting deadline?
10 November 2026 for the first Scope 1 and Scope 2 reports, final since the regulation took effect on 12 October 2026. An entity whose fiscal year ended between 1 January and 1 February 2026 reports that year; others report the fiscal year that ended in 2025, or may report a more recent year where data are available.
Who has to report under SB 253?
A US-formed business entity that passes two separate tests: more than $1 billion in gross receipts in both of its two previous fiscal years, and doing business in California — organised or commercially domiciled there, or California sales above the applicable threshold. Nonprofits, government entities, regulated insurers (in 2026) and entities whose only California activity is employee compensation or interstate wholesale electricity trading are exempt.
Does the first SB 253 report need third-party assurance?
The statute requires limited assurance over Scope 1 and 2 from 2026, and that requirement still stands. But the regulation does not impose it for the first report, and CARB’s guidance says it will accept 2026 submissions with or without assurance. CARB staff propose requiring it from 2027 reports.
What if we were not collecting emissions data?
An entity that did not possess Scope 1 or 2 information and was not collecting it on or before 5 December 2024 may file a statement of non-reporting on company letterhead instead of figures, under 17 CCR section 96076(b). It must be true for that date, applies to 2026 only, and the fee still applies.
Is Scope 3 required in 2026?
No. Scope 3 disclosure starts in 2027 under the statute. CARB staff propose making five categories mandatory at first — purchased goods and services, fuel- and energy-related activities, waste, business travel and employee commuting — but the proposal was not adopted when we checked on 24 October 2026.
What are the fees and penalties under SB 253?
Every in-scope entity is assessed an annual fee. Notices come around 10 December 2026 and are payable within 60 calendar days; CARB’s 2025 estimate was about $3,106 per entity, but no final amount had been published. Penalties can reach $500,000 per reporting year for non-filing, late filing or other failures.
Is SB 253 affected by the Ninth Circuit injunction?
No. On 18 November 2025 the Ninth Circuit enjoined SB 261, the climate-risk law, pending appeal, and declined to enjoin SB 253. It heard argument on 9 January 2026 and, as of mid-October 2026, had not decided. In-scope companies should file by 10 November 2026.
Can a parent company file one SB 253 report for its subsidiaries?
Yes, for subsidiaries that qualify as reporting entities in their own right; they then need not prepare separate reports. Consolidation does not change who is in scope, since each entity is still tested separately, and each in-scope entity is assessed a fee, which the parent may pay on its behalf.
