IB 

Union Calendar No. 461 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3623 

[Report No. 116–563, Part I] 

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers to disclose 

certain activities relating to climate change, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 5, 2019 

Mr. CASTEN of Illinois (for himself and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, 

and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

OCTOBER 27, 2020 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Ms. DEAN, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. SOTO, 

Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, 

Mr. TONKO, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. WILD, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 

LEVIN of California, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. 

TED LIEU of California, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. ROUDA, 

Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. KIND, Mr. 

GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, and Ms. ESCOBAR

OCTOBER 27, 2020 

Reported from the Committee on Financial Services with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 


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OCTOBER 27, 2020 

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee 

of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 5, 2019] 

A BILL 

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require 

issuers to disclose certain activities relating to climate 

change, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Risk Disclosure 

5 Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘1.5 degree scenario’’ means a wide9 ly recognized, publicly available analysis scenario in 

10 which human interventions to combat global climate 

11 change are likely to prevent the global average tem12 perature from reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre13 industrial levels; 

14 (2) the terms ‘‘appropriate climate principals’’, 

15 ‘‘climate change’’, and ‘‘appropriate congressional 

16 committees’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

17 section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; 

18 (3) the term ‘‘baseline scenario’’ means a widely19 recognized analysis scenario in which levels of green20 house gas emissions, as of the date on which the anal21 ysis is performed, continue to grow, resulting in— 

22 (A) an increase in the global average tem23 perature of 1.5 degrees Celsius or more above 

24 pre-industrial levels; and 


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1 (B) the realization of physical risks relating 

2 to global climate change; 

3 (4) the term ‘‘carbon dioxide equivalent’’ means 

4 the number of metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions 

5 with the same global warming potential as one metric 

6 ton of another greenhouse gas, as determined under 

7 table A-1 of subpart A of part 98 of title 40, Code of 

8 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enact9 ment of this subsection; 

10 (5) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Securities 

11 and Exchange Commission; 

12 (6) the term ‘‘commercial development of fossil 

13 fuels’’ includes— 

14 (A) exploration, extraction, processing, ex15 porting, transporting, and any other significant 

16 action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or 

17 any byproduct thereof; and 

18 (B) acquiring a license for any activity de19 scribed in subparagraph (A); 

20 (7) the term ‘‘covered issuer’’ has the meaning 

21 given the term in section 13(s) of the Securities Ex22 change Act of 1934; 

23 (8) the term ‘‘direct and indirect greenhouse gas 

24 emissions’’ includes, with respect to a covered 

25 issuer— 


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1 (A) all direct greenhouse gas emissions re2 leased by the covered issuer; 

3 (B) all indirect greenhouse gas emissions 

4 with respect to electricity, heat, or steam pur5 chased by the covered issuer; 

6 (C) significant indirect emissions, other 

7 than the emissions described in subparagraph 

8 (B), that occur in the value chain of the covered 

9 issuer; and 

10 (D) all indirect greenhouse gas emissions 

11 that are attributable to assets owned or man12 aged, including assets that are partially owned 

13 or managed, by the covered issuer; 

14 (9) the term ‘‘fossil fuel reserves’’ means all pro15 ducing assets, proved reserves, unproved resources, 

16 and any other ownership stake in sources of fossil 

17 fuels; 

18 (10) the term ‘‘greenhouse gas’’— 

19 (A) means carbon dioxide, 

20 hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, 

21 perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, nitrogen 

22 triflouride, and chlorofluorocarbons; and 

23 (B) includes any other anthropogenically24 emitted gas or particulate that the Adminis25 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency 


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1 determines, after notice and comment, to con2 tribute to climate change; 

3 (11) the term ‘‘greenhouse gas emissions’’ means 

4 the emissions of greenhouse gas, expressed in terms of 

5 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; 

6 (12) the term ‘‘physical risks’’ has meaning 

7 given the term in section 13(s) of the Securities Ex8 change Act of 1934; 

9 (13) the term ‘‘social cost of carbon’’ means the 

10 monetized present value, discounted at a 3 percent or 

11 lower discount rate, in dollars, per metric ton of car12 bon dioxide (or carbon dioxide equivalent), of the net 

13 global costs over 300 years caused by the emission of 

14 carbon dioxide (or carbon dioxide equivalent, as ap15 plicable) that result from— 

16 (A) changes in net agricultural produc17 tivity; 

18 (B) decreases in capital and labor produc19 tivity; 

20 (C) effects on human health; 

21 (D) property damage from increased sea 

22 level rise, flooding, wildfires, and frequency and 

23 severity of extreme weather events; 

24 (E) the value of ecosystem services; and 


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1 (F) any other type of economic, social, po2 litical, or natural disruption; 

3 (14) the term ‘‘transition risks’’ has meaning 

4 given the term in section 13(s) of the Securities Ex5 change Act of 1934. 

6 (15) the term ‘‘value chain’’— 

7 (A) means the total lifecycle of a product or 

8 service, both before and after production of the 

9 product or service, as applicable; and 

10 (B) may include the sourcing of materials, 

11 production, and disposal with respect to the 

12 product or service described in subparagraph 

13 (A); and 

14 (16) the term ‘‘well below 1.5 degrees scenario’’ 

15 means a widely-recognized, publicly-available anal16 ysis scenario in which human interventions to combat 

17 global climate change are likely to prevent the global 

18 average temperature from reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius 

19 above pre-industrial levels. 

20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that— 

22 (1) climate change poses a significant and in23 creasing threat to the growth and stability of the 

24 economy of the United States; 


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1 (2) many sectors of the economy of the United 

2 States and many American businesses are exposed to 

3 multiple channels of climate-related risk, which may 

4 include exposure to— 

5 (A) the physical impacts of climate change, 

6 including the rise of the average global tempera7 ture, accelerating sea-level rise, desertification, 

8 ocean acidification, intensification of storms, in9 crease in heavy precipitation, more frequent and 

10 intense temperature extremes, more severe 

11 droughts, and longer wildfire seasons; 

12 (B) the economic disruptions and security 

13 threats that result from the physical impacts de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) including conflicts 

15 over scarce resources, conditions conducive to 

16 violent extremism, the spread of infectious dis17 eases, and forced migration; and 

18 (C) the transition impacts that result as the 

19 global economy transitions to a clean and renew20 able energy, low-emissions economy, including fi21 nancial impacts as fossil fuel assets risk becom22 ing stranded and it becomes uneconomic for com23 panies to develop fossil fuel assets as policy24 makers act to limit the worst impacts of climate 

25 change by keeping the rise in average global temVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3623.RH H3623

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1 perature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-indus2 trial levels; 

3 (3) assessing the potential impact of climate-re4 lated risks on national and international financial 

5 systems is an urgent concern; 

6 (4) companies have a duty to disclose financial 

7 risks that climate change presents to their investors, 

8 lenders, and insurers; 

9 (5) the Commission has a duty to promote a 

10 risk-informed securities market that is worthy of the 

11 trust of the public as families invest for their futures; 

12 (6) investors, lenders, and insurers are increas13 ingly demanding climate risk information that is 

14 consistent, comparable, reliable, and clear; 

15 (7) including standardized, material climate 

16 change risk and opportunity disclosure that is useful 

17 for decision makers in annual reports to the Commis18 sion will increase transparency with respect to risk 

19 accumulation and exposure in financial markets; 

20 (8) requiring companies to disclose climate-re21 lated risk exposure and risk management strategies 

22 will encourage a smoother transition to a clean and 

23 renewable energy, low-emissions economy and guide 

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1 fects of climate change and limit damages associated 

2 with climate-related events and disasters; and 

3 (9) a critical component in fighting climate 

4 change is a transparent accounting of the risks that 

5 climate change presents and the implications of con6 tinued inaction with respect to climate change. 

7 SEC. 4. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 

9 (1) short-, medium-, and long-term financial 

10 and economic risks and opportunities relating to cli11 mate change, and the national and global reduction 

12 of greenhouse gas emissions, constitute information 

13 that issuers— 

14 (A) may reasonably expect to affect share15 holder decision making; and 

16 (B) should regularly identify, evaluate, and 

17 disclose; and 

18 (2) the disclosure of information described in 

19 paragraph (1) should— 

20 (A) identify, and evaluate— 

21 (i) material physical and transition 

22 risks posed by climate change; and 

23 (ii) the potential financial impact of 

24 such risks; 


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1 (B) detail any implications such risks have 

2 on corporate strategy; 

3 (C) detail any board-level oversight of mate4 rial climate related risks and opportunities; 

5 (D) allow for intra- and cross-industry 

6 comparison, to the extent practicable, of climate7 related risk exposure through the inclusion of 

8 standardized industry-specific and sector-specific 

9 disclosure metrics, as identified by the Commis10 sion, in consultation with the appropriate cli11 mate principals; 

12 (E) allow for tracking of performance over 

13 time with respect to mitigating climate risk ex14 posure; and 

15 (F) incorporate a price on greenhouse gas 

16 emissions in financial analyses that reflects, at 

17 minimum, the social cost of carbon that is at18 tributable to issuers. 

19 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURES RELATING TO CLIMATE CHANGE. 

20 Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

21 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(s) DISCLOSURES RELATING TO CLIMATE CHANGE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

24 ‘‘(A) the term ‘appropriate climate prin25 cipals’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the Administrator of the Environ2 mental Protection Agency; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Energy; 

4 ‘‘(iii) the Administrator of the Na5 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis6 tration; 

7 ‘‘(iv) the Director of the Office of Man8 agement and Budget; and 

9 ‘‘(v) the head of any other Federal 

10 agency determined appropriate by the Com11 mission; 

12 ‘‘(B) the term ‘climate change’ means a 

13 change of climate that is— 

14 ‘‘(i) attributed directly or indirectly to 

15 human activity that alters the composition 

16 of the global atmosphere; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) in addition to natural climate 

18 variability observed over comparable time 

19 periods; 

20 ‘‘(C) the term ‘covered issuer’ means an 

21 issuer that is required to file an annual report 

22 under subsection (a) or section 15(d); 

23 ‘‘(D) the term ‘physical risks’ means finan24 cial risks to long-lived fixed assets, locations, op25 erations, or value chains that result from expoVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3623.RH H3623

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1 sure to physical climate-related effects, includ2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(i) increased average global tempera4 tures and increased frequency of tempera5 ture extremes; 

6 ‘‘(ii) increased severity and frequency 

7 of extreme weather events; 

8 ‘‘(iii) increased flooding; 

9 ‘‘(iv) sea level rise; 

10 ‘‘(v) ocean acidification; 

11 ‘‘(vi) increased frequency of wildfires; 

12 ‘‘(vii) decreased arability of farmland; 

13 ‘‘(viii) decreased availability of fresh 

14 water; and 

15 ‘‘(ix) any other financial risks to long16 lived fixed assets, locations, operations, or 

17 value chains determined appropriate by the 

18 Commission, in consultation with appro19 priate climate principals; 

20 ‘‘(E) the term ‘transition risks’ means fi21 nancial risks that are attributable to climate 

22 change mitigation and adaptation, including ef23 forts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and 

24 strengthen resilience to the impacts of climate 

25 change, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) costs relating to— 

2 ‘‘(I) international treaties and 

3 agreements; 

4 ‘‘(II) Federal, State, and local 

5 policy; 

6 ‘‘(III) new technologies; 

7 ‘‘(IV) changing markets; 

8 ‘‘(V) reputational impacts rel9 evant to changing consumer behavior; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(VI) litigation; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) assets that may lose value or be13 come stranded due to any of the costs de14 scribed in subclauses (I) through (VI) of 

15 clause (i). 

16 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE.—Each covered issuer, in any 

17 annual report filed by the covered issuer under sub18 section (a) or section 15(d), shall, in accordance with 

19 any rules issued by the Commission pursuant to the 

20 Climate Risk Disclosure Act of 2019, include in each 

21 such report information regarding— 

22 ‘‘(A) the identification of, the evaluation of 

23 potential financial impacts of, and any risk24 management strategies relating to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) physical risks posed to the covered 

2 issuer by climate change; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) transition risks posed to the cov4 ered issuer by climate change; 

5 ‘‘(B) a description of any established cor6 porate governance processes and structures to 

7 identify, assess, and manage climate-related 

8 risks; 

9 ‘‘(C) a description of specific actions that 

10 the covered issuer is taking to mitigate identified 

11 risks; 

12 ‘‘(D) a description of the resilience of any 

13 strategy the covered issuer has for addressing cli14 mate risks when differing climate scenarios are 

15 taken into consideration; and 

16 ‘‘(E) a description of how climate risk is in17 corporated into the overall risk management 

18 strategy of the covered issuer. 

19 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

20 paragraph (2) may be construed as precluding a cov21 ered issuer from including, in an annual report sub22 mitted under subsection (a) or section 15(d), any in23 formation not explicitly referenced in such para24 graph.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. RULEMAKING. 

2 (a) CLIMATE RISK DISCLOSURE RULES.—The Com3 mission, in consultation with the appropriate climate prin4 cipals, shall not later than 2 years after the date of the 

5 enactment of this Act, issue rules with respect to the infor6 mation that a covered issuer is required to disclose pursu7 ant to section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

8 and such rules shall— 

9 (1) establish, in consultation with the appro10 priate climate principals, climate-related risk disclo11 sure rules, which shall— 

12 (A) be, to the extent practicable, specialized 

13 for industries within specific sectors of the econ14 omy, which shall include— 

15 (i) the sectors of finance, insurance, 

16 transportation, electric power, mining, and 

17 non-renewable energy; and 

18 (ii) any other sector determined appro19 priate by the Commission, in consultation 

20 with the appropriate climate principals; 

21 (B) include reporting standards for esti22 mating and disclosing direct and indirect green23 house gas emissions by a covered issuer, and any 

24 affiliates of the covered issuer, which shall— 


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1 (i) separate, to the extent practicable, 

2 total emissions of each specified greenhouse 

3 gas by the covered issuer; and 

4 (ii) include greenhouse gas emissions 

5 by the covered issuer during the period cov6 ered by the disclosure; 

7 (C) include reporting standards for dis8 closing, with respect to a covered issuer— 

9 (i) the total amount of fossil fuel-re10 lated assets owned or managed by the cov11 ered issuer; and 

12 (ii) the percentage of fossil fuel-related 

13 assets as a percentage of total assets owned 

14 or managed by the covered issuer; 

15 (D) establish a minimum social cost of car16 bon, which— 

17 (i) shall be considered a minimum 

18 price with respect to costs associated with 

19 carbon emissions; 

20 (ii) a covered issuer shall use in pre21 paring climate-related disclosure statements; 

22 and 

23 (iii) the Commission shall make pub24 licly available all assumptions and methods 

25 used in the calculations; 


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1 (E) not preclude a covered issuer from 

2 using and disclosing, as compared with the price 

3 established under subparagraph (D), a higher 

4 price of greenhouse gas emissions; 

5 (F) specify requirements for, and the disclo6 sure of, input parameters, assumptions, and an7 alytical choices to be used in climate scenario 

8 analyses required under paragraph (2)(A), in9 cluding— 

10 (i) present value discount rates; 

11 (ii) time frames to consider, including 

12 5, 10, and 20 year time frames; and 

13 (iii) minimum pricing of greenhouse 

14 gas emissions, as established under subpara15 graph (D) and subject to subparagraph (E); 

16 and 

17 (G) include, after consultation with the Ad18 ministrator of the Environmental Protection 

19 Agency, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of 

20 the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the 

21 Secretary of Transportation, the Chair of the 

22 Council on Environmental Quality, and the Di23 rector of the Office of Science and Technology 

24 Policy documentation standards and guidance 


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1 with respect to the information required under 

2 paragraph (2)(C); 

3 (2) require that a covered issuer, with respect to 

4 a disclosure required under section 13(s) of the Secu5 rities Exchange Act of 1934— 

6 (A) incorporate into such disclosure— 

7 (i) quantitative analysis to support 

8 any qualitative statement made by the cov9 ered issuer; 

10 (ii) the rules established under para11 graph (1); 

12 (iii) industry-specific metrics that 

13 comply with the requirements under para14 graph (1)(A); 

15 (iv) specific risk management actions 

16 that the covered issuer is taking to address 

17 identified risks; 

18 (v) a discussion of the short-, medium19 , and long-term resilience of any risk man20 agement strategy, and the evolution of ap21 plicable risk metrics, of the covered issuer 

22 under each scenario described in paragraph 

23 (1)(B); and 

24 (vi) the total cost of carbon attributable 

25 to the direct and indirect greenhouse gas 


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1 emissions of the covered issuer, using, at 

2 minimum, the social cost of carbon; 

3 (B) consider, when preparing any quali4 tative or quantitative risk analysis statement 

5 contained in the disclosure— 

6 (i) a baseline scenario that includes 

7 physical impacts of climate change; 

8 (ii) a well below 1.5 degrees scenario; 

9 and 

10 (iii) any additional climate analysis 

11 scenario considered appropriate by the 

12 Commission, in consultation with the ap13 propriate climate principals; 

14 (C) if the covered issuer engages in the com15 mercial development of fossil fuels, include in the 

16 disclosure— 

17 (i) an estimate of the total and a 

18 disaggregated amount of direct and indirect 

19 greenhouse gas emissions of the covered 

20 issuer that are attributable to— 

21 (I) combustion; 

22 (II) flared hydrocarbons; 

23 (III) process emissions; 

24 (IV) directly vented emissions; 


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1 (V) fugitive emissions or leaks; 

2 and 

3 (VI) land use changes; 

4 (ii) a description of— 

5 (I) the sensitivity of fossil fuel re6 serve levels to future price projection 

7 scenarios that incorporate the social 

8 cost of carbon into hydrocarbon pric9 ing; 

10 (II) the percentage of the reserves 

11 of the covered issuer that will be devel12 oped under the scenarios established in 

13 subparagraph (B), as well as a forecast 

14 for the development prospects of each 

15 reserve under the scenarios established 

16 in subparagraph (B); 

17 (III) the potential amount of di18 rect and indirect greenhouse gas emis19 sions that are embedded in proved and 

20 probable hydrocarbon reserves, with 

21 each such calculation presented as a 

22 total and in subdivided categories by 

23 the type of reserve; 

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1 gating fugitive methane emissions, 

2 which shall include the frequency with 

3 which applicable assets of the covered 

4 issuer are observed for methane leaks, 

5 the processes and technology that the 

6 covered issuer uses to detect methane 

7 leaks, the percentage of assets of the 

8 covered issuer that the covered issuer 

9 inspects under that methodology, and 

10 quantitative and time-bound reduction 

11 goals of the issuer with respect to meth12 ane leaks; 

13 (V) the amount of water that the 

14 covered issuer withdraws from fresh15 water sources for use and consumption 

16 in operations of the covered issuer; and 

17 (VI) the percentage of the water 

18 described in subclause (V) that comes 

19 from regions of water stress or that 

20 face wastewater management chal21 lenges; and 

22 (iii) any other information that the 

23 Commission, in consultation with the ap24 propriate climate principals and the Ad25 ministrator of the Environmental ProtecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3623.RH H3623

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1 tion Agency, the Secretary of Energy, the 

2 Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 

3 Agriculture determines is— 

4 (I) necessary; 

5 (II) appropriate to safeguard the 

6 public interest; or 

7 (III) directed at ensuring that in8 vestors are informed in accordance 

9 with the findings described in section 

10 4; 

11 (3) with respect to a disclosure required under 

12 section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 

13 require that a covered issuer include in such disclo14 sure any other information, or use any climate-re15 lated or greenhouse gas emissions metric, that the 

16 Commission, in consultation with the appropriate cli17 mate principals, determines is— 

18 (A) necessary; 

19 (B) appropriate to safeguard the public in20 terest; or 

21 (C) directed at ensuring that investors are 

22 informed in accordance with the findings de23 scribed in section 4; and 

24 (4) with respect to a disclosure required under 

25 section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 


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1 establish how and where the required disclosures shall 

2 be addressed in the covered issuer’s annual financial 

3 filing. 

4 (b) FORMATTING.—The Commission shall require 

5 issuers to disclose information in an interactive data for6 mat and shall develop standards for such format, which 

7 shall include electronic tags for information that the Com8 mission determines is— 

9 (1) necessary; 

10 (2) appropriate to safeguard the public interest; 

11 or 

12 (3) directed at ensuring that investors are in13 formed in accordance with the findings described in 

14 section 4. 

15 (c) PERIODIC UPDATE OF RULES.—The Commission 

16 shall periodically update the rules issued under this section 

17 to ensure that such rules further the findings in section 4(2). 

18 SEC. 7. COMPILATION OF INFORMATION DISCLOSED. 

19 The Commission shall, to the maximum extent prac20 ticable make a compilation of the information disclosed by 

21 issuers pursuant to section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange 

22 Act of 1934 publicly available on the website of the Commis23 sion and update such compilation at least once each year. 


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1 SEC. 8. BACKSTOP. 

2 If, 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Commission has not issued rules pursuant to section 

4 6, and until such rules are issued, a covered issuer shall 

5 be deemed in compliance with section 13(s) of the Securities 

6 Exchange Act of 1934 if disclosures set forth in the annual 

7 report of such issuer satisfy the recommendations of the 

8 Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures of the 

9 Financial Stability Board as reported in June, 2017, or 

10 any successor report, and as supplemented or adjusted by 

11 such rules, guidance, or other comments from the Commis12 sion. 

13 SEC. 9. REPORTS. 

14 (a) SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION.—The 

15 Commission shall— 

16 (1) conduct an annual assessment regarding the 

17 compliance of covered issuers with the requirements of 

18 section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 

19 as added by section 5; 

20 (2) submit to the appropriate congressional com21 mittees a report that contains the results of each as22 sessment conducted under paragraph (1); and 

23 (3) make each report submitted under paragraph 

24 (2) accessible to the public. 

25 (b) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.—The 

26 Comptroller General of the United States shall periodically 


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1 evaluate, and report to the appropriate congressional com2 mittees on, the effectiveness of the Commission in carrying 

3 out and enforcing section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange 

4 Act of 1934, as added by section 5. 

5 SEC. 10. SEVERABILITY. 

6 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

7 this Act, or the application of this Act (or an amendment 

8 made by this Act) to any person or circumstance is held 

9 to be invalid, that holding shall have no effect with respect 

10 to— 

11 (1) the remainder of this Act; and 

12 (2) the application of the provision or amend13 ment, as applicable, to any other person or cir14 cumstance. 

15 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com17 mission such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

18 Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 461 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3623 

[Report No. 116–563, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to 

ing to climate change, and for other purposes. require issuers to disclose certain activities relatOCTOBER 27, 2020 

Reported from the Committee on Financial Services with 

an amendment 

OCTOBER 27, 2020 

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 


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