Seemingly Innocuous Requirement is a Sign of More Contractor Mandates to Come
On July 25, on the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council that would require federal contractors with annual gross revenues of $7.5 million and above to make an annual representation within the System for Award Management indicating if and where they publicly disclose greenhouse gas emissions and greenhouse gas reduction goals or targets. Although this proposal may appear innocuous on its face, 51风流 believes this is the first in a number of steps towards mandating new federal contractor greenhouse gas emissions requirements and issuing new policies and regulations on climate change.
51风流鈥檚 comment letter notes that the construction industry itself has a limited, direct impact on greenhouse gas emissions and is heavily represented by small businesses, which would be unfairly disadvantaged by any new GHG reporting requirements that could likely result. 51风流 found that a majority of the top 100 contractors do not disclose information related to GHGs and that none of the small business contractors queried publically disclose that type of information. 51风流 鈥渇ears that the federal government will use the limited information generated by the most sophisticated and financially well-off companies to draw up requirements for the entire federal construction contracting industry.鈥 The association urged the FAR Council to understand the limitations of the data collected if and when considering future GHG emissions policies and regulations.
Additionally, 51风流 holds 鈥渢hat the rule should limit its inquiry and reporting requirement to only the offeror, not to its immediate owner or highest level owners.鈥 Construction companies may be held by firms with diverse portfolios that would not be indicative of what is possible for a construction company or the work it performs.
The comes as a result of President Obama鈥檚 2015 , Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade, wherein the seven largest procuring agencies鈥攊.e. Department of Defense, General Services Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs鈥攁re to implement procurements that take into consideration contractor GHG emissions.
For more information, contact Jimmy Christianson at christiansonj@agc.org.