II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1864 

To require transparency in reporting the greenhouse gas impacts of products 

procured by certain Federal agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Ms. SMITH, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. BENNET) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To require transparency in reporting the greenhouse gas 

impacts of products procured by certain Federal agencies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Buy Clean Trans5 parency Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) climate change will have devastating global 

9 impacts; 


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1 (2) an overwhelming amount of scientific evi2 dence points to the need to swiftly reduce green3 house gas emissions to avert the worst effects of cli4 mate change; 

5 (3) the effects of climate change are already ap6 parent in the United States, where scientists have 

7 determined that climate change is affecting— 

8 (A) human health; 

9 (B) water and air quality; 

10 (C) agricultural production; 

11 (D) labor productivity; 

12 (E) extreme weather; 

13 (F) ecosystems, biodiversity, and species 

14 loss; 

15 (G) historic resources; and 

16 (H) infrastructure stability; 

17 (4) the Federal Government should commit to 

18 reducing greenhouse gas emissions through regu19 latory and other actions; 

20 (5) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is 

21 necessary for Federal agencies— 

22 (A) to take climate change into account in 

23 making planning and investment decisions; and 

24 (B) to employ full life-cycle cost accounting 

25 to evaluate and compare infrastructure investVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:52 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1864.IS S1864

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1 ments and alternatives, which includes account2 ing for the effects that each product included in 

3 a public infrastructure project will have on the 

4 level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere— 

5 (i) throughout the life cycle of the 

6 product; or 

7 (ii) during the period of the life-cycle 

8 assessment; 

9 (6) large quantities of greenhouse gas emissions 

10 are released during the manufacture and transport 

11 of products used in public infrastructure and other 

12 projects; 

13 (7) by incorporating emissions information per14 taining to the supply chain and product life cycle 

15 into procurement decisions, and using that informa16 tion to help direct expenditures, the extensive pur17 chasing power of the Federal Government may be 

18 used to improve environmental, health, and economic 

19 outcomes and accelerate necessary greenhouse gas 

20 reductions— 

21 (A) to protect public health and the envi22 ronment; 

23 (B) to support economic stability; and 

24 (C) to conserve a livable climate; and 


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1 (8) incorporating emissions information into 

2 procurement decisions will— 

3 (A) allow the Federal Government to ac4 knowledge those companies that have invested 

5 in emissions reduction technologies and prac6 tices; and 

7 (B) encourage other companies to take ac8 tion to reduce emissions to become more com9 petitive in the bidding process of the Federal 

10 Government. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis14 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ15 mental Protection Agency. 

16 (2) CLIMATE PRODUCT COST.—The term ‘‘cli17 mate product cost’’ means the cost, denominated in 

18 dollars, of the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of 

19 a product, calculated in accordance with the method20 ology developed by the Administrator under section 

21 4(c). 

22 (3) CLIMATE PRODUCT DECLARATION.—The 

23 term ‘‘climate product declaration’’ means a prod24 uct-specific measurement of the life-cycle greenhouse 

25 gas emissions of a product that is— 


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1 (A) certified by a third party; and 

2 (B) in accordance with international stand3 ards, such as a Type III environmental declara4 tion (as defined by the International Organiza5 tion for Standardization in the report entitled 

6 ‘‘Environmental labels and declarations—Type 

7 III environmental declarations—Principles and 

8 procedures’’, numbered ISO 14025, and dated 

9 July 1, 2006). 

10 (4) ELIGIBLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

11 material’’ means any of— 

12 (A) carbon steel rebar; 

13 (B) flat glass; 

14 (C) mineral wool board insulation; and 

15 (D) structural steel. 

16 (5) FEDERAL CONTRACTING AGENCY.—The 

17 term ‘‘Federal contracting agency’’ means— 

18 (A) the Department of Defense; 

19 (B) the Department of Energy; 

20 (C) the Department of Transportation; 

21 (D) the Department of Commerce; 

22 (E) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

23 (F) the General Services Administration; 

24 and 

25 (G) the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


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1 SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Federal con3 tracting agency shall carry out an assessment to determine 

4 how the products procured by the Federal contracting 

5 agency and any contractors of the Federal contracting 

6 agency in connection with a Federal contract affect the 

7 levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by requiring 

8 each prospective contractor to disclose, in any response to 

9 a solicitation to offer for a Federal contract, the climate 

10 product declaration of all eligible materials the prospective 

11 contractor expects to manufacture or purchase during the 

12 course of constructing, reconstructing, or renovating the 

13 public project. 

14 (b) RELEASE OF ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 60 

15 days after the date on which an assessment under sub16 section (a) is completed, the head of the applicable Federal 

17 contracting agency shall— 

18 (1) publish the assessment in the Federal Reg19 ister; and 

20 (2) make the assessment publicly available— 

21 (A) on the website of the Federal con22 tracting agency; and 

23 (B) in appropriate offices of the Federal 

24 contracting agency. 

25 (c) METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATING THE CLIMATE

26 PRODUCT COST.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis3 trator, using an estimate of the cost of greenhouse 

4 gas emissions, such as the social cost of carbon, 

5 shall develop and publish in the Federal Register a 

6 methodology for calculating the climate product cost 

7 of each eligible material procured by a Federal con8 tracting agency or any contractor or subcontractor 

9 of a Federal contracting agency, including an assess10 ment of the climate product cost as a dollar cost per 

11 metric ton of greenhouse gas emissions for the eligi12 ble material, based on information in a climate prod13 uct declaration. 

14 (2) UPDATES.—Not less frequently than once 

15 every 5 years after submission of a report under 

16 subsection (d)(1), the Administrator shall— 

17 (A) review the method used to develop the 

18 methodology under paragraph (1); and 

19 (B) if necessary, update that methodology. 

20 (d) REPORTS.— 

21 (1) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

23 after the date on which the methodology under 

24 subsection (c)(1) is published in the Federal 

25 Register, the Administrator shall submit to 


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1 Congress a report that describes the method 

2 that the Administrator used to develop the 

3 methodology. 

4 (B) UPDATES.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after each review carried out by the Adminis6 trator under subsection (c)(2)(A), the Adminis7 trator shall submit to Congress a report that 

8 describes— 

9 (i) the review; and 

10 (ii) any updated methodology devel11 oped by the Administrator under sub12 section (c)(2)(B). 

13 (2) REPORTS TO THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Not 

14 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

15 this Act, and not less frequently than annually 

16 thereafter, the head of each Federal contracting 

17 agency shall submit to the Administrator and make 

18 publicly available a report that includes, for the pe19 riod of time covered by the report— 

20 (A) the total number and value of con21 tracts awarded by the Federal contracting 

22 agency; 

23 (B) the total number and value of con24 tracts and subcontracts awarded to foreign con25 tractors or suppliers; 


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1 (C) the dollar value of any articles, mate2 rials, or supplies that were manufactured out3 side of the United States; 

4 (D) the total procurement value of any 

5 funds expended on eligible materials manufac6 tured outside the United States; 

7 (E) the total climate product cost of con8 tracts awarded by the Federal contracting 

9 agency; 

10 (F) a comparison of— 

11 (i) the climate product cost of con12 tracts awarded by the Federal contracting 

13 agency; and 

14 (ii) the climate product cost of offers 

15 for contracts that the Federal contracting 

16 agency did not award; and 

17 (G) recommendations for additional disclo18 sures from prospective contractors to support 

19 accurate and comprehensive assessments of how 

20 contracts awarded by the Federal contracting 

21 agency affect— 

22 (i) emissions of greenhouse gases; and 

23 (ii) air, water, and land pollutants. 

Æ 


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