Bill Text: IL HB4268 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Climate Corporate Accountability Act. Provides that, on or before July 1, 2024, the Secretary of State shall develop and adopt rules to require a reporting entity to annually disclose to the emissions registry, and verify, all of the reporting entity's scope 1 emissions, scope 2 emissions, and scope 3 emissions. Provides that a reporting entity, starting on January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, publicly disclose to the emissions registry all of the reporting entity's scope 1 emissions and scope 2 emissions for the prior calendar year, and its scope 3 emissions for that same calendar year no later than 180 days after that date. Provides that the Secretary of State shall contract with an emissions registry to develop a reporting and registry program to receive and make publicly available disclosures. Provides that, on or before January 1, 2025, the Secretary of State shall contract with the University of Illinois, a national laboratory, or another equivalent academic institution to prepare a report on the public disclosures made by reporting entities to the emissions registry. Provides that the emissions registry, on or before January 1, 2025, shall create a digital platform, which shall be accessible to the public, that will house all disclosures submitted by reporting entities to the emissions registry. Provides for enforcement of the Act. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-16 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB4268 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4268-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4268 Introduced , by Rep. Kimberly du Buclet SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
Creates the Climate Corporate Accountability Act. Provides that, on or before July 1, 2024, the Secretary of State shall develop and adopt rules to require a reporting entity to annually disclose to the emissions registry, and verify, all of the reporting entity's scope 1 emissions, scope 2 emissions, and scope 3 emissions. Provides that a reporting entity, starting on January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, publicly disclose to the emissions registry all of the reporting entity's scope 1 emissions and scope 2 emissions for the prior calendar year, and its scope 3 emissions for that same calendar year no later than 180 days after that date. Provides that the Secretary of State shall contract with an emissions registry to develop a reporting and registry program to receive and make publicly available disclosures. Provides that, on or before January 1, 2025, the Secretary of State shall contract with the University of Illinois, a national laboratory, or another equivalent academic institution to prepare a report on the public disclosures made by reporting entities to the emissions registry. Provides that the emissions registry, on or before January 1, 2025, shall create a digital platform, which shall be accessible to the public, that will house all disclosures submitted by reporting entities to the emissions registry. Provides for enforcement of the Act. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning business.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Climate Corporate Accountability Act.
Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Emissions registry" means a nonprofit emissions registry
organization contracted by the Secretary of State that:
(1) currently operates a voluntary greenhouse gas
emission registry for organizations operating in the
United States; and
(2) has experience with voluntary greenhouse gas
emissions disclosure by entities operating in Illinois.
"Reporting entity" means a partnership, corporation,
limited liability company, or other business entity formed
under the laws of this State, the laws of any other state of
the United States or the District of Columbia, or under an act
of the Congress of the United States with total annual
revenues in excess of $1,000,000,000 and that does business in
Illinois.
"Scope 1 emissions" means all direct greenhouse gas
emissions that stem from sources that a reporting entity owns
or directly controls, regardless of location, including, but

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not limited to, fuel combustion activities.
"Scope 2 emissions" means indirect greenhouse gas
emissions from electricity purchased and used by a reporting
entity, regardless of location.
"Scope 3 emissions" means indirect greenhouse gas
emissions, other than scope 2 emissions, from activities of a
reporting entity that stem from sources that the reporting
entity does not own or directly control and may include, but
are not limited to, emissions associated with the reporting
entity's supply chain, business travel, employee commutes,
procurement, waste, and water usage, regardless of location.
Section 10. Emissions reporting.
(a) On or before July 1, 2024, the Secretary of State shall
develop and adopt rules to require a reporting entity to
annually disclose to the emissions registry, and verify, all
of the reporting entity's scope 1 emissions, scope 2
emissions, and scope 3 emissions. The Secretary of State shall
ensure that the rules adopted under this subsection require,
at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) That a reporting entity, starting on January 1,
2025, and annually thereafter, publicly disclose to the
emissions registry all of the reporting entity's scope 1
emissions and scope 2 emissions for the prior calendar
year, and its scope 3 emissions for that same calendar
year no later than 180 days after that date, using the

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Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting
Standard and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Value
Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard
developed by the World Resources Institute and the World
Business Council for Sustainable Development, including
guidance for scope 3 emissions calculations that detail
acceptable use of both primary and secondary data sources,
including the use of industry average data, proxy data,
and other generic data in its scope 3 emissions
calculations. On or before July 1, 2029, the Secretary of
State shall review, and update as necessary, the public
disclosure deadlines to evaluate trends in scope 3
emissions reporting and consider changes to the disclosure
deadlines to ensure that scope 3 emissions data is
disclosed to the emissions registry as close in time as
practicable to the deadline for reporting entities to
disclose scope 1 emissions and scope 2 emissions data. The
reporting timelines shall consider industry stakeholder
input and shall take into account the timelines by which
reporting entities typically receive scope 1, scope 2, and
scope 3 emissions data, as well as the capacity for
independent verification to be performed by a third-party
auditor, as approved by the Secretary of State.
(2) That a reporting entity's public disclosure is
made in a manner that is easily understandable and
accessible to residents of the State.

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(3) That a reporting entity's public disclosure
includes the name of the reporting entity and any
fictitious names, trade names, assumed names, and logos
used by the reporting entity.
(4) That a reporting entity's public disclosure is
structured in ways that maximize and streamline reporting
and ease of use in meeting the requirements of national
and international disclosure programs and standards,
including, but not limited to, adopted rules from the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission and
international standards, such as those established by CDP
Global.
(5) That a reporting entity's public disclosure is
independently verified by the emissions registry or a
third-party auditor, that is approved by the Secretary of
State, with expertise in greenhouse gas emissions
accounting. The reporting entity shall ensure that a copy
of the complete, audited greenhouse gas emissions
inventory, including the name of the approved third-party
auditor, is provided to the emissions registry as part of
or in connection with the reporting entity's public
disclosure. The Secretary of State shall establish auditor
qualifications and a process for approval of auditors that
ensures sufficient auditor capacity, as well as timely
reporting implementation as required under paragraph (1).
(b) The Secretary of State shall contract with an

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emissions registry to develop a reporting and registry program
to receive and make publicly available disclosures as
described in paragraph (1).
(c) The Secretary of State may adopt any rules that it
deems necessary and appropriate to implement this Section.
(d) In developing the rules required under this Section,
the Secretary of State shall consult with all of the
following:
(1) the Attorney General;
(2) other government stakeholders, including, but not
limited to, experts in climate science and corporate
carbon emissions accounting;
(3) stakeholders representing consumer and
environmental justice interests; and
(4) reporting entities that have demonstrated
leadership in full-scope greenhouse gas emissions
accounting and public disclosure and greenhouse gas
emissions reductions.
Section 15. Report on public emissions disclosures.
(a) On or before January 1, 2025, the Secretary of State
shall contract with the University of Illinois, a national
laboratory, or another equivalent academic institution to
prepare a report on the public disclosures made by reporting
entities to the emissions registry as described in Section 10
and the rules adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to

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that Section. In preparing the report, consideration shall be
given to, at a minimum, greenhouse gas emissions from
reporting entities in the context of State greenhouse gas
emissions reduction and climate goals. The entity preparing
the report shall not require reporting entities to report any
information beyond what is required under Section 10 or the
rules adopted by the Secretary of State under that Section.
(b) The Secretary of State shall submit the report
required by this Section to the emissions registry to be made
publicly available on the digital platform required to be
created by the emissions registry as described in Section 20.
Section 20. Emissions registry.
(a) The emissions registry, on or before January 1, 2025,
shall create a digital platform, which shall be accessible to
the public, that shall house all disclosures submitted by
reporting entities to the emissions registry under the rules
adopted by the Secretary of State under Section 10 and the
report prepared for the Secretary of State as described in
Section 15. The emissions registry shall make the reporting
entities' disclosures and the Secretary of State's report
available on the digital platform within 30 days after
receipt.
(b) The digital platform shall be capable of featuring
individual reporting entity disclosures, and shall allow
consumers to view reported data elements aggregated in a

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variety of ways, including multiyear data, in a manner that is
easily understandable and accessible to residents of the
State. All data sets and customized views shall be available
in electronic format for access and use by the public.
(c) Within 30 days after receipt, the emissions registry
shall submit the report prepared for the Secretary of State as
described in Section 15 to the General Assembly.
Section 25. Violations. If the Attorney General finds that
a reporting entity has violated or is violating this Act, or
upon a complaint received from the Secretary of State, the
Attorney General may bring a civil action against that
reporting entity seeking civil penalties for violations of
this Act.
Section 30. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
severable. If any provision of this Act or its application is
held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other
provisions or applications that can be given effect without
the invalid provision or application.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.