(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.

Existing law, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, requires, on or before July 1, 2025, the State Air Resources Board to develop and adopt regulations to require a reporting entity, defined to mean a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other business entity with total annual revenues in excess of $1 billion, as specified, to annually disclose to the emissions reporting organization, as defined, or the state board all of the reporting entity’s scope 1 emissions, scope 2 emissions, and scope 3 emissions, as defined. Existing law requires the state board to adopt regulations that authorize it to seek administrative penalties for nonfiling, late filing, or other failure to meet the requirements of the act, as provided.

This bill would exempt those regulations from CEQA.

Existing law requires, on or before January 1, 2026, and biennially thereafter, a covered entity, defined to mean a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other business entity with total annual revenues in excess of $500,000,000, as specified, to prepare a climate-related financial risk report, as specified, and to make this report available to the public on its own internet website. Existing law requires the state board to adopt regulations that authorize it to seek administrative penalties from a covered entity that fails to make the report publicly available on its internet website or publishes an inadequate or insufficient report.

This bill would exempt those regulations from CEQA.

(2) This bill would appropriate from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund $1,000 to the State Air Resources Board for purposes of implementing the above-described provisions relating to climate corporate accountability and climate-related financial risk, as provided.

(3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.