Bill Text: NY S09595 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the climate corporate accountability act requiring certain business entities within the state to annually disclose scope one, scope two and scope three emissions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-11-16 - REFERRED TO RULES [S09595 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S09595-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9595 IN SENATE November 16, 2022 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules 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. 26 e. "Scope three emissions" means indirect greenhouse gas emissions, 27 other than scope two emissions, from activities of a reporting entity 28 that stem from sources that the reporting entity does not own or direct- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD16462-02-2S. 9595 2 1 ly control and may include, but are not limited to, emissions associated 2 with the reporting entity's supply chain, business travel, employee 3 commutes, procurement, waste, and water usage, regardless of location. 4 2. a. The department shall adopt regulations to require a reporting 5 entity to annually disclose and verify to the emissions registry all of 6 the reporting entity's scope one emissions, scope two emissions, and 7 scope three emissions. The regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivi- 8 sion shall require, at a minimum, that: 9 i. (1) Except as provided in clause two of this subparagraph, on or 10 before July first of each year, a reporting entity shall publicly 11 disclose to the emissions registry all of the reporting entity's scope 12 one emissions and scope two emissions for the prior calendar year, and 13 its scope three emissions for that same calendar year no later than 14 December thirty-first, using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate 15 Accounting and Reporting Standard and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corpo- 16 rate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard developed 17 by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for 18 Sustainable Development, including guidance for scope three emissions 19 calculations that detail acceptable use of both primary and secondary 20 data sources, including the use of industry average data, proxy data, 21 and other generic data in its scope three emissions calculations. 22 (2) The department shall review, and update as necessary, the public 23 disclosure deadlines established pursuant to clause one of this subpara- 24 graph to evaluate trends in scope three emissions reporting and consider 25 changes to the disclosure deadlines to ensure that scope three emissions 26 data is disclosed to the emissions registry as close in time as practi- 27 cable to the deadline for reporting entities to disclose scope one emis- 28 sions and scope two emissions data. 29 The reporting timelines shall take into account the timelines by which 30 reporting entities typically receive scope one, scope two, and scope 31 three emissions data, as well as the capacity for independent verifica- 32 tion to be performed by a third-party auditor, as approved by the 33 department. 34 ii. A reporting entity's public disclosure shall include the name of 35 the reporting entity and any fictitious names, trade names, assumed 36 names, subsidiaries and logos used by the reporting entity. 37 iii. A reporting entity's public disclosure shall be structured in 38 ways that maximize and streamline reporting and ease of use in meeting 39 the requirements of national and international disclosure programs and 40 standards, including, but not limited to, adopted rules from the United 41 States Securities and Exchange Commission and international standards 42 such as those established by CDP Global. 43 iv. (1) A reporting entity's public disclosure shall be independently 44 verified by the emissions registry or a third-party auditor approved by 45 the department with expertise in greenhouse gas emissions accounting. 46 The reporting entity shall ensure that a copy of the complete, audited 47 greenhouse gas emissions inventory, including the name of the approved 48 third-party auditor, is provided to the emissions registry as part of or 49 in connection with the reporting entity's public disclosure. 50 (2) The department shall establish auditor qualifications and a proc- 51 ess for approval of auditors that ensures sufficient auditor capacity, 52 as well as timely reporting implementation as required under clause one 53 of subparagraph i of this paragraph. 54 b. The department shall create or contract with, an emissions registry 55 to develop a reporting and registry program to receive and make publicly 56 available disclosures required by this section. Emissions registriesS. 9595 3 1 shall not be authorized to provide services to a company where a 2 conflict of interest exists. A conflict of interest shall include: 3 i. The emissions registry and reporting entity sharing any management 4 staff or board of directors membership, or any of the senior management 5 staff of the reporting entity having been employed by the emissions 6 registry or reporting entity within the previous five years. 7 ii. Any employee of the emissions registry, or any employee of a 8 related entity, or a subcontractor who is a member of the emissions 9 registry having provided the reporting entity with services related to 10 the areas of emissions registry, or any services designated by the 11 department, within the previous five years. 12 iii. Any staff member of the emissions registry providing any type of 13 non-monetary incentive to a reporting entity to secure a services 14 contract. 15 c. The department may adopt or update any other regulations that it 16 deems necessary and appropriate to implement this subdivision. 17 3. a. The department shall prepare a report on the public disclosures 18 made by reporting entities to the emissions registry pursuant to subdi- 19 vision two of this section and the regulations adopted by the department 20 pursuant to such subdivision. In preparing the report, consideration 21 shall be given to, at a minimum, greenhouse gas emissions from reporting 22 entities in the context of state greenhouse gas emissions reduction and 23 climate goals. The department shall not require reporting entities to 24 report any information beyond what is required pursuant to this section 25 or the regulations adopted by the department pursuant to subdivision two 26 of this section. The department shall issue the report of its findings 27 to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president 28 of the senate and shall publish such report on its website. 29 b. The emissions registry shall make the reporting entities' disclo- 30 sures available on the department's website within thirty days of 31 receipt of such disclosures. 32 4. The attorney general may bring a civil action against a reporting 33 entity seeking civil penalties of one hundred thousand dollars per day 34 for willful failure to comply with the requirements of this section or 35 regulations set forth by the department. 36 § 3. This act shall take effect two years after it shall have become a 37 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any 38 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its 39 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such 40 effective date.
