Bill Text: NY A04123 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Establishes the climate corporate data accountability act requiring certain business entities within the state to annually disclose scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 emissions; establishes the climate accountability and emissions disclosure fund.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-03 - print number 4123b [A04123 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A04123-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4123

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 9, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. GLICK -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Environmental Conservation

        AN ACT to amend the  environmental  conservation  law,  in  relation  to
          climate corporate accountability

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited  as  the  "climate
     2  corporate accountability act".
     3    §  2.  The  environmental  conservation law is amended by adding a new
     4  section 75-0118 to read as follows:
     5  § 75-0118. Climate corporate accountability act.
     6    1. Definitions. As used in this section,  the  following  terms  shall
     7  have the following meanings:
     8    a.  "Emissions  registry"  means  an entity within the department or a
     9  nonprofit emissions registry organization contracted by  the  department
    10  pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision that:
    11    i.  Currently  operates  a voluntary greenhouse gas emissions registry
    12  for organizations operating in the United States; or
    13    ii. Has experience with voluntary greenhouse gas emissions  disclosure
    14  by entities operating in New York.
    15    b.  "Reporting  entity" means a business entity with total revenues in
    16  excess of one billion dollars in the preceding calendar year,  including
    17  revenues  received  by  all the business entity's subsidiaries that does
    18  business in this state.
    19    c. "Scope one emissions" means all  direct  greenhouse  gas  emissions
    20  that  stem  from  sources  that  a  reporting  entity  owns  or directly
    21  controls, regardless of location, including, but not  limited  to,  fuel
    22  combustion activities.
    23    d.  "Scope two emissions" means indirect greenhouse gas emissions from
    24  electricity purchased and used by  a  reporting  entity,  regardless  of
    25  location.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03661-01-3
        A. 4123                             2

     1    e.  "Scope  three  emissions" means indirect greenhouse gas emissions,
     2  other than scope two emissions, from activities of  a  reporting  entity
     3  that stem from sources that the reporting entity does not own or direct-
     4  ly control and may include, but are not limited to, emissions associated
     5  with  the  reporting  entity's  supply  chain, business travel, employee
     6  commutes, procurement, waste, and water usage, regardless of location.
     7    2. a. The department shall adopt regulations to  require  a  reporting
     8  entity  to annually disclose and verify to the emissions registry all of
     9  the reporting entity's scope one emissions,  scope  two  emissions,  and
    10  scope three emissions. The regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivi-
    11  sion shall require, at a minimum, that:
    12    i.  (1)  Except  as provided in clause two of this subparagraph, on or
    13  before July first of  each  year,  a  reporting  entity  shall  publicly
    14  disclose  to  the emissions registry all of the reporting entity's scope
    15  one emissions and scope two emissions for the prior calendar  year,  and
    16  its  scope  three  emissions  for  that same calendar year no later than
    17  December thirty-first,  using  the  Greenhouse  Gas  Protocol  Corporate
    18  Accounting and Reporting Standard and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corpo-
    19  rate  Value  Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard developed
    20  by the World Resources Institute and  the  World  Business  Council  for
    21  Sustainable  Development,  including  guidance for scope three emissions
    22  calculations that detail acceptable use of both  primary  and  secondary
    23  data  sources,  including  the use of industry average data, proxy data,
    24  and other generic data in its scope three emissions calculations.
    25    (2) The department shall review, and update as necessary,  the  public
    26  disclosure deadlines established pursuant to clause one of this subpara-
    27  graph to evaluate trends in scope three emissions reporting and consider
    28  changes to the disclosure deadlines to ensure that scope three emissions
    29  data  is disclosed to the emissions registry as close in time as practi-
    30  cable to the deadline for reporting entities to disclose scope one emis-
    31  sions and scope two emissions data.
    32    The reporting timelines shall take into account the timelines by which
    33  reporting entities typically receive scope one,  scope  two,  and  scope
    34  three  emissions data, as well as the capacity for independent verifica-
    35  tion to be performed by  a  third-party  auditor,  as  approved  by  the
    36  department.
    37    ii.  A  reporting entity's public disclosure shall include the name of
    38  the reporting entity and any  fictitious  names,  trade  names,  assumed
    39  names, subsidiaries and logos used by the reporting entity.
    40    iii.  A  reporting  entity's  public disclosure shall be structured in
    41  ways that maximize and streamline reporting and ease of use  in  meeting
    42  the  requirements  of national and international disclosure programs and
    43  standards, including, but not limited to, adopted rules from the  United
    44  States  Securities  and  Exchange Commission and international standards
    45  such as those established by CDP Global.
    46    iv. (1) A reporting entity's public disclosure shall be  independently
    47  verified  by the emissions registry or a third-party auditor approved by
    48  the department with expertise in greenhouse  gas  emissions  accounting.
    49  The  reporting  entity shall ensure that a copy of the complete, audited
    50  greenhouse gas emissions inventory, including the name of  the  approved
    51  third-party auditor, is provided to the emissions registry as part of or
    52  in connection with the reporting entity's public disclosure.
    53    (2)  The department shall establish auditor qualifications and a proc-
    54  ess for approval of auditors that ensures sufficient  auditor  capacity,
    55  as  well as timely reporting implementation as required under clause one
    56  of subparagraph i of this paragraph.
        A. 4123                             3

     1    b. The department shall create or contract with, an emissions registry
     2  to develop a reporting and registry program to receive and make publicly
     3  available disclosures required by  this  section.  Emissions  registries
     4  shall  not  be  authorized  to  provide  services  to  a company where a
     5  conflict of interest exists. A conflict of interest shall include:
     6    i.  The emissions registry and reporting entity sharing any management
     7  staff or board of directors membership, or any of the senior  management
     8  staff  of  the  reporting  entity  having been employed by the emissions
     9  registry or reporting entity within the previous five years.
    10    ii. Any employee of the emissions  registry,  or  any  employee  of  a
    11  related  entity,  or  a  subcontractor  who is a member of the emissions
    12  registry having provided the reporting entity with services  related  to
    13  the  areas  of  emissions  registry,  or  any services designated by the
    14  department, within the previous five years.
    15    iii. Any staff member of the emissions registry providing any type  of
    16  non-monetary  incentive  to  a  reporting  entity  to  secure a services
    17  contract.
    18    c. The department may adopt or update any other  regulations  that  it
    19  deems necessary and appropriate to implement this subdivision.
    20    3.  a. The department shall prepare a report on the public disclosures
    21  made by reporting entities to the emissions registry pursuant to  subdi-
    22  vision two of this section and the regulations adopted by the department
    23  pursuant  to  such  subdivision.  In preparing the report, consideration
    24  shall be given to, at a minimum, greenhouse gas emissions from reporting
    25  entities in the context of state greenhouse gas emissions reduction  and
    26  climate  goals.   The department shall not require reporting entities to
    27  report any information beyond what is required pursuant to this  section
    28  or the regulations adopted by the department pursuant to subdivision two
    29  of  this  section. The department shall issue the report of its findings
    30  to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president
    31  of the senate and shall publish such report on its website.
    32    b. The emissions registry shall make the reporting  entities'  disclo-
    33  sures  available  on  the  department's  website  within  thirty days of
    34  receipt of such disclosures.
    35    4. The attorney general may bring a civil action against  a  reporting
    36  entity  seeking  civil penalties of one hundred thousand dollars per day
    37  for willful failure to comply with the requirements of this  section  or
    38  regulations set forth by the department.
    39    § 3. This act shall take effect two years after it shall have become a
    40  law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
    41  rule  or  regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
    42  effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
    43  effective date.