ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would block the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from requiring additional disclosures from public companies, including the SEC’s proposed rules that would require publicly traded companies to disclose their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) plans.

P&I reports that that bill, The Mandatory Materiality Requirement Act of 2022, would insert statutory language into the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require that when imposing a disclosure obligation, the SEC must determine that "there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor of the issuer would consider the information disclosed to the commission under the requirement to be important with respect to an investment decision regarding the issuer."

Introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), the bill is a companion of one introduced in the Senate by Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) in September.

"American businesses should not be used as a gateway to advance climate change policy," Rounds said in a news release when announcing his bill. "The heavy-hand of government is hampering the growth of our businesses and economy. This legislation would seek to prevent the SEC from requiring reporting of unnecessary information and instead focus on protecting investors, maintaining fair and efficient markets and facilitating capital formation."

In June, NACS submitted comments on the two rules proposed in June by the SEC. The proposed changes would apply to certain registered investment advisers, advisers exempt from registration, registered investment companies and business development companies.

NACS has strong concerns about the proposal and the negative impacts it would have for its members with publicly traded equity and debt securities, as well as those that are entirely privately held and not subject to SEC regulation.

“The industry takes seriously its role in reducing carbon emissions and recognizes that structure and consistency in reporting are helpful goals,” said NACS in its letter. “In our view, however, the proposal exceeds the SEC’s statutory authority, conflicts with its mission, creates unwieldy economic burdens even on businesses entirely outside of its jurisdiction, and sets a precedent that would take securities regulation into a political sphere that would be harmful to the SEC and the future of regulation of the markets.”

Learn about how convenience stores, specifically Parkland USA and Hightowers Petroleum, are approaching ESG initiatives and reporting in the NACS Magazine article “Crafting Your ESG Story” in the September issue.

Also, here’s how ESG impacts small operators in the industry.