Title: Buy Clean Transparency Act of 2019
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Buy Clean Transparency Act of 2019
This bill requires federal contracting agencies to assess how the products they procure affect the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The term federal contracting agencies means the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the General Services Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agencies must publish their assessments.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1864 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Buy Clean Transparency Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) climate change will have devastating global impacts;
            (2) an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence points to 
        the need to swiftly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avert 
        the worst effects of climate change;
            (3) the effects of climate change are already apparent in 
        the United States, where scientists have determined that 
        climate change is affecting--
                    (A) human health;
                    (B) water and air quality;
                    (C) agricultural production;
                    (D) labor productivity;
                    (E) extreme weather;
                    (F) ecosystems, biodiversity, and species loss;
                    (G) historic resources; and
                    (H) infrastructure stability;
            (4) the Federal Government should commit to reducing 
        greenhouse gas emissions through regulatory and other actions;
            (5) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is necessary for 
        Federal agencies--
                    (A) to take climate change into account in making 
                planning and investment decisions; and
                    (B) to employ full life-cycle cost accounting to 
                evaluate and compare infrastructure investments and 
                alternatives, which includes accounting for the effects 
                that each product included in a public infrastructure 
                project will have on the level of greenhouse gases in 
                the atmosphere--
                            (i) throughout the life cycle of the 
                        product; or
                            (ii) during the period of the life-cycle 
                        assessment;
            (6) large quantities of greenhouse gas emissions are 
        released during the manufacture and transport of products used 
        in public infrastructure and other projects;
            (7) by incorporating emissions information pertaining to 
        the supply chain and product life cycle into procurement 
        decisions, and using that information to help direct 
        expenditures, the extensive purchasing power of the Federal 
        Government may be used to improve environmental, health, and 
        economic outcomes and accelerate necessary greenhouse gas 
        reductions--
                    (A) to protect public health and the environment;
                    (B) to support economic stability; and
                    (C) to conserve a livable climate; and
            (8) incorporating emissions information into procurement 
        decisions will--
                    (A) allow the Federal Government to acknowledge 
                those companies that have invested in emissions 
                reduction technologies and practices; and
                    (B) encourage other companies to take action to 
                reduce emissions to become more competitive in the 
                bidding process of the Federal Government.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Climate product cost.--The term ``climate product 
        cost'' means the cost, denominated in dollars, of the life-
        cycle greenhouse gas emissions of a product, calculated in 
        accordance with the methodology developed by the Administrator 
        under section 4(c).
            (3) Climate product declaration.--The term ``climate 
        product declaration'' means a product-specific measurement of 
        the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of a product that is--
                    (A) certified by a third party; and
                    (B) in accordance with international standards, 
                such as a Type III environmental declaration (as 
                defined by the International Organization for 
                Standardization in the report entitled ``Environmental 
                labels and declarations--Type III environmental 
                declarations--Principles and procedures'', numbered ISO 
                14025, and dated July 1, 2006).
            (4) Eligible material.--The term ``eligible material'' 
        means any of--
                    (A) carbon steel rebar;
                    (B) flat glass;
                    (C) mineral wool board insulation; and
                    (D) structural steel.
            (5) Federal contracting agency.--The term ``Federal 
        contracting agency'' means--
                    (A) the Department of Defense;
                    (B) the Department of Energy;
                    (C) the Department of Transportation;
                    (D) the Department of Commerce;
                    (E) the Environmental Protection Agency;
                    (F) the General Services Administration; and
                    (G) the Department of Veterans Affairs.

SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT.

    (a) In General.--The head of each Federal contracting agency shall 
carry out an assessment to determine how the products procured by the 
Federal contracting agency and any contractors of the Federal 
contracting agency in connection with a Federal contract affect the 
levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by requiring each 
prospective contractor to disclose, in any response to a solicitation 
to offer for a Federal contract, the climate product declaration of all 
eligible materials the prospective contractor expects to manufacture or 
purchase during the course of constructing, reconstructing, or 
renovating the public project.
    (b) Release of Assessment.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
on which an assessment under subsection (a) is completed, the head of 
the applicable Federal contracting agency shall--
            (1) publish the assessment in the Federal Register; and
            (2) make the assessment publicly available--
                    (A) on the website of the Federal contracting 
                agency; and
                    (B) in appropriate offices of the Federal 
                contracting agency.
    (c) Methodology for Calculating the Climate Product Cost.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator, using an estimate of 
        the cost of greenhouse gas emissions, such as the social cost 
        of carbon, shall develop and publish in the Federal Register a 
        methodology for calculating the climate product cost of each 
        eligible material procured by a Federal contracting agency or 
        any contractor or subcontractor of a Federal contracting 
        agency, including an assessment of the climate product cost as 
        a dollar cost per metric ton of greenhouse gas emissions for 
        the eligible material, based on information in a climate 
        product declaration.
            (2) Updates.--Not less frequently than once every 5 years 
        after submission of a report under subsection (d)(1), the 
        Administrator shall--
                    (A) review the method used to develop the 
                methodology under paragraph (1); and
                    (B) if necessary, update that methodology.
    (d) Reports.--
            (1) Reports to congress.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the 
                date on which the methodology under subsection (c)(1) 
                is published in the Federal Register, the Administrator 
                shall submit to Congress a report that describes the 
                method that the Administrator used to develop the 
                methodology.
                    (B) Updates.--Not later than 180 days after each 
                review carried out by the Administrator under 
                subsection (c)(2)(A), the Administrator shall submit to 
                Congress a report that describes--
                            (i) the review; and
                            (ii) any updated methodology developed by 
                        the Administrator under subsection (c)(2)(B).
            (2) Reports to the administrator.--Not later than 180 days 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less 
        frequently than annually thereafter, the head of each Federal 
        contracting agency shall submit to the Administrator and make 
        publicly available a report that includes, for the period of 
        time covered by the report--
                    (A) the total number and value of contracts awarded 
                by the Federal contracting agency;
                    (B) the total number and value of contracts and 
                subcontracts awarded to foreign contractors or 
                suppliers;
                    (C) the dollar value of any articles, materials, or 
                supplies that were manufactured outside of the United 
                States;
                    (D) the total procurement value of any funds 
                expended on eligible materials manufactured outside the 
                United States;
                    (E) the total climate product cost of contracts 
                awarded by the Federal contracting agency;
                    (F) a comparison of--
                            (i) the climate product cost of contracts 
                        awarded by the Federal contracting agency; and
                            (ii) the climate product cost of offers for 
                        contracts that the Federal contracting agency 
                        did not award; and
                    (G) recommendations for additional disclosures from 
                prospective contractors to support accurate and 
                comprehensive assessments of how contracts awarded by 
                the Federal contracting agency affect--
                            (i) emissions of greenhouse gases; and
                            (ii) air, water, and land pollutants.
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