Please join members of Greenberg Traurig’s Energy & Natural Resources Practice, along with CEO of Storengy Catherine Gras, for a webinar titled “Navigating the Hydrogen Horizon: Regulatory Update.”

Topics include:

  • Hydrogen storage strategies
  • Federal hydrogen regulation in the United States

Dr. Martin BorningLocal PartnerGreenberg Traurig(Moderator)Catherine GrasCEOStorengyFrancesca Ciliberti-Ayres

Last week, Inside EPA (subscription required) reported that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has basically informed EPA that EPA may not promulgate guidance on cumulative risk assessments because of questions about its legal authority to require CRAs. 
If EPA plans to interpret such environmental regulations as providing EPA with the authority to require that

On May 24, 2023, Minnesota’s Governor signed into law a sweeping set of statutory provisions concerning the handling and sale of PFAS-containing products within Minnesota. Among other things, the statute sets a ban on various categories of products containing PFAS, imposes reporting requirements for manufacturers, and directs the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (“MPCA”) to adopt

Last week, the California Legislature passed two bills comprising the core of a landmark “Climate Accountability Package.”  Together, the two bills will impose extensive new climate-related disclosure obligations on thousands of U.S. public and private companies with operations in California.  Senate Bill 253 (SB 253) would require companies with greater than $1 billion in annual revenues to file annual reports publicly disclosing their Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Senate Bill 261 (SB 261) would require companies with greater than $500 million in annual revenues to prepare biennial reports disclosing climate-related financial risk and describing measures adopted to mitigate and adapt to that risk.

Yesterday afternoon during an appearance at Climate Week NYC, Governor Newsom told the audience emphatically, “of course I will sign those bills.”  When he does, many more companies will be required to improve the accuracy, completeness and rigor of their GHG reporting and climate risk disclosures. Because of the complexity of GHG reporting, we have focused the remainder of this post on SB 253.  Please see our separate post on SB 261 here.

Last week, the California Legislature passed two bills as part of the state’s landmark “Climate Accountability Package.”  If signed by Governor Newsom as anticipated, the two laws—Senate Bill 253 (SB 253) and Senate Bill 261 (SB 261)—will usher in significant climate-related disclosure requirements for thousands of U.S. public and private companies that do business in California.

SB 253 and SB 261 mark the most extensive emissions- and climate-disclosure laws enacted in the United States to date.  SB 253 requires companies with greater than $1 billion in annual revenues to file annual reports publicly disclosing their direct, indirect, and supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, verified by an independent and experienced third-party provider.  SB 261 requires companies with $500 million in annual revenues to prepare biennial reports disclosing climate-related financial risk and measures they have adopted to reduce and adapt to that risk, with the first report due by January 1, 2026.

This post focuses on SB 261’s climate-related financial risk disclosure requirements. You can find our post on SB 253’s GHG emissions reporting requirements here.

Two new bills have been passed in California as part of a “Climate Accountability Package” that require U.S.-based companies “doing business”[1] in California to make disclosures about their emissions and climate-related financial risks. These are (a) the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (California Senate Bill 253 (SB-253)) and (b) the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (California Senate Bill 261 (SB-261)). The laws remain subject to approval by the California Governor (who has until October 14, 2023, to sign or veto them).

To assist companies in preparing for these new climate-related disclosure requirements, we have provided a summary of some of the key requirements below.

Conservation Programs: Federal Court Vacates USDA Decision Not Listing Eastern Hellbender Under Endangered Species Act
On September 5, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an opinion vacating and remanding the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) April 2019 proposed rule, which declared unnecessary