On September 24, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) published a list of entities it believes may be subject to the state’s climate disclosure laws, Senate Bill (SB) 253 and SB 261, which require companies “doing business in California” and meeting certain revenue thresholds to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions (SB 253) and climate-related financial risks (SB 261). Both laws require disclosing entities to pay CARB annual implementation fees. The preliminary list is “intended to support development of the fee regulation” according to CARB‘s announcement. However, the list is generating surprise and confusion among the regulated (and non-regulated) community, some of whom expected to find themselves on the list, and others who did not. Adding to the confusion, CARB made clear that the list includes entities that, at least under its initial staff concepts, would be exempt from the laws; the list also appears to include insurance companies that may be statutorily exempt from SB 261.
The preliminary list published by CARB reflects the evolving and still unsettled nature of CARB’s rulemaking process for SBs 253 and 261. CARB staff have acknowledged that defining “doing business in California” and calculating “total annual revenues” has proven more complex than anticipated. And while the agency is currently relying on the California secretary of state’s business entity database and commercially available revenue databases to identify potentially in-scope entities, it is not yet clear whether those databases will prove to be reliable resources for this purpose. While CARB’s intention in releasing the list appears to be to provide clarity, it may in fact create more uncertainty for companies trying to assess their obligations.
CARB has provided a survey for entities to provide feedback on the list, encouraging both companies that believe they are subject to disclosure requirements and those that may qualify for an exemption to complete the survey. The survey asks for identifying information and for facts that may potentially be non-public. It also provides respondents with an opportunity to identify other companies potentially subject to the laws.
CARB has emphasized that inclusion on the preliminary list does not guarantee a company is subject to the laws, nor does exclusion ensure immunity from compliance obligations. Until precise regulatory language is proposed by CARB, many potentially covered entities will not have sufficient information to determine whether they are covered by SB 253 and 261. While the preliminary list provides a current snapshot of entities that CARB expects will be regulated, companies should anticipate that the list will evolve and is not a substitute for a company’s own determination of its potential compliance obligations.