The New York State Assembly is considering a bill that would force major clothing and footwear brands to disclose the environmental impact of their manufacturing practices, according to Vogue Business. The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, or Fashion Act, strikes a particularly relevant chord as New York Fashion Week kicks off today.

The bill was introduced in October 2021 and officially taken up for review by the New York State Assembly’s Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee last month. If passed into law, the Fashion Act would have significant consequences for companies that operate in the State of New York and generate more than $100 million in annual revenue. If the law is approved, businesses that fail to comply would pay fines that could amount to two percent of their gross annual revenue, totaling $450 million or more

“The Fashion Act will bring much needed transparency and awareness to the climate impacts of current clothing manufacture practices and will pave the way to important changes to harmful manufacturing practices, and potentially more sustainable trend cycles too!” said Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest, a co-sponsor on the bill.

Due to obscure supply chain complexities, estimates for the global fashion industry’s carbon output range from anywhere between four (McKinsey) to 10 percent (United Nations) of total worldwide emissions. Analyzing 2018 data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel and the Council for Textile Recycling, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that of the 13 million tons of clothing and footwear waste produced nationwide that year, only 1.7 million tons were recycled.

Under the Fashion Act, the industry’s largest culprits would have to detail at least 50 percent of their supply chain, along with their water footprint and chemical usage. While supporters of the measure are glad to see it under serious consideration, many maintain that the bill alone is not enough.

Anupama Pasricha, professor of fashion design and merchandising at St. Catherine University, said the legislation allows companies “wiggle room” that could thwart climate activists’ efforts. She believes the bill “needs to be more concrete and comprehensive” to adequately address the intricacies of fashion’s supply chain and bring about true “transparency and accountability.”