Global Warming Potential For Public Project Materials

The department of personnel (department) is required to establish a maximum acceptable global warming potential for each category of eligible materials used in a public project. The bill specifies which building materials are eligible materials.

The department is required to set the maximum acceptable global warming potential at the industry average of facility-specific global warming potential emissions for that material and to express it as a number that states the maximum acceptable facility-specific global warming potential for each category of eligible materials.

The department is required to submit a report to the general assembly regarding the method it used to develop the maximum global warming potential for each category of eligible materials and may make periodic downward adjustments to the number to reflect industry improvements.

For invitations for bid for public projects issued after a certain date, the contractor that is awarded the contract is required to submit to the contracting agency of government a current facility-specific environmental product declaration for each eligible material proposed to be used in the public project.

A contracting agency of government is required to include in a specification for bids for a public project that the facility-specific global warming potential for any eligible material that will be used in the project shall not exceed the maximum acceptable global warming potential for that material determined by the department.

A contractor that is awarded a contract for a public project is prohibited from installing any eligible material on the project until the contractor submits a facility-specific environmental product declaration for that material.

The bill specifies that in administering the requirements of the bill, an agency of government is required to strive to achieve a continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over time. The department is required to submit a report to the general assembly regarding the implementation of the bill.

The bill includes the facility-specific global warming potential for each eligible material that will be used in the project and the cost of avoided emissions for the project in the factors to be considered when making an award determination for a competitive sealed best value bid.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)