On Oct. 7, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 253 and SB 261, both of which dramatically expand corporate climate disclosures for both private and public companies doing business in California. This development comes as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finalizing new rules that would mandate public companies to make climate-related disclosures in their annual reports and registration statements. California’s new laws require disclosures beyond what the SEC has proposed ..read more

On 12 April, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESMA, EBA, and EIOPA1) published a Consultation Paper proposing amendments to the European Commission’s Regulatory Technical Standards that implement Europe’s comparatively new environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regime – the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR ..read more

The European Parliament (Parliament) enacted significant change to the proposed European Union (EU) Regulation for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in June 2022, as reported in an earlier GT Alert. CBAM would require companies importing cement, electricity, fertilizers, iron, steel, aluminum, and other materials into the EU to pay a carbon adjustment at the border corresponding to the carbon price that would have been paid had the goods been produced under the EU’s carbon pricing rules. Click here to continue reading the full GT Alert ..read more

Continuing the trend toward protecting environmental justice communities, New York Gov. Hochul is expected to sign a chapter amendment to a recently passed bill that would have established new standards under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) – New York’s “Little NEPA” environmental review statute. The bill would also have changed the procedures employed by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for issuing permits under the Environmental Conservation Law.  In 2019, the state’s landmark climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (C ..read more

COVID-19, economic and logistical challenges, and a new administration have resulted in considerable changes to the regulated community. To better understand and help prepare for these challenges and changes, Greenberg Traurig has joined with industry consultants, community advocates, and government regulators to host an Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Summit on Jan. 26, 2023, in Houston and virtually. Join nationally recognized EHS leaders as they lead roundtable discussions on the key subjects you need to know, including: Proposed Amendments to EPA’s Risk Management Plan (RMP) and OS ..read more

Earlier today, the New York State Climate Action Council adopted the final scoping plan, which will serve as a roadmap to achieve the climate change mandates set forth in New York’s landmark climate law – the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (“CLCPA”). Enacted in 2019, the CLCPA codified several robust climate mandates for the State which must be achieved in an accelerated time frame. Click here to continue reading the full GT Alert ..read more

Attention to ESG has become political. Some states with conservative administrations have taken steps to inhibit attention to ESG by, among other things, precluding investment of state employee pensions in certain funds or with certain fund managers who have increased their emphasis on ESG as an investment criterion. Reprinted with permission ..read more

The 2022 Monaco Memo highlights two “core principles” regarding voluntary self-disclosure. First, absent aggravating factors, DOJ will not “seek a guilty plea when a company has voluntarily self-disclosed, cooperated, and remediated misconduct.” Second, DOJ will not “require the imposition of an independent compliance monitor” if the company has implemented and tested an effective compliance program by the time of any resolution between the company and DOJ ..read more

EU law requires certain large companies to disclose non-financial information on the way they operate and manage social and environmental challenges. The current disclosure regime was introduced in 2014 by Directive 2014/95/EU. Recently, the European Commission conducted a review of the NFRD rules, which showed strong support for mandatory sustainability reporting standards but also highlighted deficiencies in the current regime ..read more

After much anticipation, on March 24, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a series of new and extensive disclosure rules that would require all registered companies, including foreign private issuers, to include detailed climate-related information in their registration statements and periodic reports, and climate-related financial statement metrics in a note to their audited annual financial statements. Accelerated and large accelerated SEC reporting companies would also be required to engage an independent outside expert to provide an attestation report relating to ad ..read more