Buy Clean

Production of high-volume materials associated with the construction of buildings and infrastructure, especially concrete and steel, is a major source of global GHG emissions. Reducing these emissions, referred to as "embodied" emissions because they are emitted during the manufacture of purchased products, is a critical piece of reducing emissions in the Federal supply chain.

Full Text

Sec. 303. Buy Clean. The Buy Clean Task Force established pursuant to section 508 of this order shall provide recommendations to the Chair of CEQ and the Director of OMB, through the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, on policies and procedures to expand consideration of embodied emissions and pollutants of construction materials in Federal procurement and federally funded projects, to include:

(a) identifying and prioritizing pollutants and materials, such as concrete and steel, to be covered under a Buy Clean policy, taking into account the availability of relevant data, including from environmental product declarations, and consistency with existing environmental reporting requirements;

(b) providing recommendations to increase transparency of embodied emissions, including supplier reporting; procedures for auditing environmental product declarations and verifying accuracy of reported emissions data; and recommendations for grants, loans, technical assistance, or alternative mechanisms to support domestic manufacturers in enhancing capabilities to report and reduce embodied emissions in priority materials they produce; and

(c) recommending pilot programs that incentivize Federal procurement of construction materials with lower embodied emissions.