On June 24, 2026, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a bulletin announcing a 3-month deferral of the first-year reporting deadline under SB 253 (California's Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program). The deadline for reporting Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions has moved from August 10, 2026, to November 10, 2026. This delay reflects California’s standard regulatory process on timelines, not a weakening of the mandate. To learn more, view the full CARB bulletin.

Keep reading to learn more about the deferral and how it affects you.

About the deferral

- CARB has withdrawn the Initial Regulation from the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) — where it had been submitted for final review and approval on May 20, 2026 — in order to make limited clarifying changes to certain requirements.

- The deadline deferral reflects the regulatory process, not a weakening of the mandate. CARB's posture remains consistent with moving the program forward. The deferral is procedural, not substantive.

- The changes are not expected to be material, and are meant to provide additional clarity on existing requirements. 

- The changes will be published for a 15-day public comment period, after which CARB will re-submit the regulation to OAL. CARB has not yet announced the specific dates for the 15-day period. Workiva will monitor the rulemaking page and CARB communications closely and share updates as they become available. 

- The 3-month deferral is being proposed in parallel to the 15-day comment period to ensure that you have sufficient clarity on the final regulation before your report is due.

How it affects you

- If you’ve already started preparing your report for August, stay the course. Use the extra 90 days as an opportunity for  additional reviews to ensure your report is complete and accurate.

- If you haven’t started preparing yet, use this update as a reminder to get started. The clarifying changes that CARB is making may actually reduce ambiguity and support faster onboarding to compliant reporting workflows.

- Scope 3 is still coming in 2027. We recommend using this window to stand up the systems and processes needed for that more complex disclosure requirement.