ESG Quick Guide: New York climate disclosure laws

The CLCPA, enacted in July 2019, requires the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) to evaluate statewide greenhouse gas (“GHG") emissions and promulgate regulations to reduce those emissions. 

The CLCPA requires New York to reduce GHG emissions 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050 (from 1990 levels), with a goal of net-zero emissions. It also mandates 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040.

On December 1, 2025, the DEC issued final regulations for Part 253, which establishes a mandatory GHG emissions reporting program. Part 253 requires specified categories of emitters and suppliers operating in or selling covered products into New York to report annual GHG emissions and related data to the DEC using an online platform. The regulations are designed to create a comprehensive statewide emissions inventory that accounts for all significant sources of GHG emissions, enabling New York to monitor compliance with its statutory emissions limits and inform policy decisions. Part 253 does not impose requirements to reduce GHG emissions or for sources to obtain emission allowances. 

Part 253 operates alongside the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (40 CFR Part 98), but includes significant New York-specific requirements. Many of the requirements are consistent with 40 CFR Part 98, and California’s and Washington’s mandatory reporting rules.

At a high level, if an entity meets the criteria for a Reporting Entity for a given year, then it must report annual GHG emissions data, as well as industrial product data relevant to the emissions source (“Emissions Data Reports”), and it must prepare a GHG monitoring plan (“GHG Monitoring Plan”) and retain specified records. In addition, if an entity meets the criteria of a Large Emission Source for a given year, it must engage a third-party verifier accredited by the DEC to verify the reported emissions and industrial product data. 

Reporting Entities must submit the first report for 2026 emissions data by June 1, 2027. 

GHG Monitoring Plans are due by December 1, 2026 or by the end of the first calendar year in which an entity first meets or exceeds the applicability threshold. 

Mandatory

Part 253 has two categories for in-scope entities, which are determined based on emissions source and degree of emissions in a given year: Reporting Entities and Large Emission Sources.

Reporting Entities include:

• Owners and operators of facilities in New York: Owners and operators of facilities within New York that emit 10,000 metric tons (“MT”) or more of carbon dioxide equivalents (“CO2e”) per year. This includes electricity generation, stationary combustion, landfills, waste to energy, natural gas compressor stations and other infrastructure.

• Fuel suppliers: Fuel suppliers in New York and suppliers importing fuel to an end user in New York, including: (i) suppliers of natural gas; (ii) suppliers of liquid fuels and petroleum products; (iii) suppliers of liquefied natural gas and compressed natural gas; and (iv) suppliers of coal.

• Waste haulers and transporters: Waste haulers and transporters with estimated emissions from solid wastes transported to landfills or combustion facilities outside of New York that exceed 10,000 MT CO2e per year.

• Electric power entities: Electric power entities engaging in any activity that delivers electricity into, emits GHG in, or exports electricity from, New York.

• Agricultural suppliers: Suppliers of agricultural lime and fertilizer supplying agricultural liming materials or commercial fertilizer in New York or that otherwise supply fertilizers or agricultural liming materials for the purposes of application to soils in New York that supply a quantity of these products large enough to generate any amount of GHG emissions per year. 

• Owners and operators of anaerobic digestion and liquid storage of waste facilities: Facilities where wastes imported to, or generated at, the facility would generate 10,000 MT of CO2e per year, such as wastewater treatment plants and concentrated animal feeding operations.

Large Emission Sources include:

• Facilities that emit more than 25,000 MT CO2e per emission year;

• The following fuel suppliers:

  • Natural gas suppliers selling 15,000,000 cubic feet or more of gas per emission year;

  • Suppliers of liquid fuels or petroleum products selling 100,000 gallons or more per emission year;

  • Suppliers of natural gas, liquefied natural gas, or compressed natural gas selling 15,000,000 cubic feet of gas per emission year; and

  • Suppliers of coal selling 500 US short tons of coal or more per emission year; and 

• Waste haulers and transporters that emit more than 25,000 MT CO2e or more per emission year, including the sum of emissions reported for out-of-state landfill facilities and out-of-state combustion facilities for all waste exported out of New York.

Affected facilities can fall into more than one category, depending on the nature of their operations.

The DEC considers emission sources that meet the thresholds above in any year from 2023 through 2025 or after January 1, 2026 to be Reporting Entities. 

Part 253 provides for several exemptions. For example, retailers of fuel are exempt from the reporting requirements unless the retailer is a “facility” or “fuel supplier” as defined under Part 253. 

Emissions Data Reports first reporting period: January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026.

First Emissions Data Report due: June 1, 2027 for 2026 data. 

GHG Monitoring Plan due: December 31, 2026 (or by the end of the first calendar year in which the source first meets or exceeds the applicability thresholds). The GHG Monitoring Plan must be resubmitted in any year in which a revision is made.

Emissions Monitoring and Measurement Plan due: September 1, 2026 (for methane generating sources such as anaerobic digester/liquid storage and solid waste landfills with over 300,000 MT CO2e). To be resubmitted every three years thereafter. 

If an entity meets the criteria for a Reporting Entity for a given year, then it must submit an annual Emissions Data Report and a GHG Monitoring Plan. 

The GHG Monitoring Plan must be resubmitted in any year in which a revision is made. 

In addition, if an entity meets the criteria of a Large Emission Source for a given year, it is required to engage a third-party verifier accredited by the DEC to verify the reported emissions and industrial product data.

Methane generating sources, such as anaerobic digester/liquid storage and solid waste landfills, with over 300,000 MT CO2e are also required to submit an Emissions Monitoring and Measurement Plan. To be resubmitted every three years thereafter.  

Annual Emissions Data Reports: Reports must include general facility information, facility level energy input and output, increases and decreases in facility emissions, and the information enumerated in Section 253-2 for specific facility types.  

GHG Monitoring Plan: The Plan must contain: (i) identification of job positions responsible for collection of the emissions data; (ii) an explanation of the processes and methods used to collect the necessary data for the GHG calculations; and (iii) a description of the procedures and methods that are used for quality assurance, maintenance, and repair of all continuous monitoring systems, flow meters, and other instrumentation used to provide data for the GHG reported under Part 253. Additional source category-specific requirements are also specified within Part 253. 

Large Emission Sources are required to have their GHG emission data and product data verified by DEC-accredited third-party verifiers. 

Submission deadline: Verification reports are due to be submitted to the DEC no later than: December 1, 2027 for emissions year 2026; December 1, 2028 for emissions year 2027; and August 10 of each subsequent emissions year. Therefore, starting in 2029, verifications must be submitted by the verification body to the DEC by August 10 of each year.

Facilities that report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) under the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (40 CFR Part 98) may use data from their federal reports to satisfy certain New York reporting requirements, subject to supplemental New York-specific reporting as required by the DEC.

Note that on September 12, 2025, the EPA announced a proposed rule to end the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.

Oil and natural gas facilities regulated under 6 NYCRR Part 203 will need to report information as required by Part 253. Facilities that have CO2 budget units subject to 6 NYCRR Part 242 will be exempt from verification but will be required to report under Part 253.

Reporting is generally at the facility level rather than the corporate parent level.

Part 253 provides for penalties pursuant to Article 71 of the Environmental Conservation Law to be assessed for any violation of Part 253, and each day that a report is unsubmitted, submitted late, or contains information that is incomplete or inaccurate, is a single, separate violation. 

Each MT CO2e emitted but not reported is also a separate violation, and each failure to measure or collect information that is required by Part 253 is a separate violation. 

Penalties for initial violations range from $500 to $18,000, plus an additional penalty of up to $15,000 for each day the violation continues. 

Second or further violations may result in penalties not to exceed $26,000, plus an additional $22,500 for each day such violation continues. 

The DEC is the primary enforcement authority for GHG emissions reporting requirements. 

The DEC may conduct audits and inspections to verify reported emissions data.

Companies should determine if they fulfill the Reporting Entity criteria and are required to comply with Part 253. 

If compliance with Part 253 is required, next steps include: 

(1) determining whether the company qualifies as a Large Emission Source; 

(2) developing or modifying existing processes (if necessary) for tracking necessary emissions data and recordkeeping; and 

(3) assessing whether existing commercial documentation needs to be amended or updated. 

• NY State Senate Bill 2019-S6599

• Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Fact Sheet

• Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (6 NYCRR Part 253)

• NYS Electronic Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Tool (NYS e-GGRT)

• ESG Quick Guide: California climate disclosure laws
• Other ESG Quick Guides