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California continues to ramp up recent efforts to ferret out anticompetitive conduct in the Golden State through oversight and enforcement.

On February 3, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a partial motion to dismiss filed by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”), dismissing the claims that SB 253 (the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) and SB 261 (the Climate-related Financial Risk Act) (collectively the “California Climate Laws”) violate the Supremacy Clause and limitations on extraterritorial regulation.

On December 16, 2024, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) released a notice soliciting comments on a number of specific questions to inform its implementation of the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (“CCDAA” or “SB 253”) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (“CRFRA” or “SB 261”) (the “Notice”).

In an Enforcement Notice released on December 5, 2024, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) announced that it will not take enforcement action against companies subject to California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (“CCDAA”) for inaccurate or incomplete reporting of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions for the first reports due in 2026, covering the reporting entity’s prior fiscal year.

On November 5, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion for summary judgment that sought to declare SB 253 and SB 261 (the “California Climate Laws”) invalid on their face under the First Amendment for compelling political speech.

On October 14, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into effect ABX2-1, which was developed and passed in a special legislative session.

On February 3, 2023, the California Secretary of State certified a referendum challenging Senate Bill 1137 (“SB 1137”), which institutes a 3,200-foot setback for new oil and gas operations and includes new requirements for operators of existing oil and gas production facilities.