Last week, the Federal Acquisition Regulations Council released an interim rule on green procurement, requiring that the head of each agency ensure that 95 percent of new contract actions are for products and services that are energy efficient, water efficient, bio-based, environmentally preferable or non-ozone depleting, adhering to criteria set out by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agriculture Department. The agencies also must aim to procure items that contain recycled content and are nontoxic.
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The General Services Administration's IT Commodity Division is asking for input from industry as it considers the possibility of several blanket purchase agreements for buying a variety of IT products. The BPA would include IT products and related services, such as hardware, laptop PCs, smart phones, maintenance and product training-- according to the GSA proposal they want companies to also show that their products are green-friendly.
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to unveil controversial new plans designed to curb emissions from US power plants and industrial facilities in the near future. According to various reports, the agency intends to set out a timeline for introducing new greenhouse gas emissions standards for power plants by July and for oil refineries by December of next year.
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Global companies are coming under increasing pressure to identify green alternatives for managing operations risks, particularly when it comes to the supply chain, new research reveals. According to a newly published report, there are "highly charged" climate change and sustainability risks that must be addressed as organizations seek to eliminate waste from their supply chains.
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Richard Goode is the Senior Director of Sustainability at Alcatel-Lucent has written a very interesting article outlining five policy considerations that buyers for corporations committed to environmentally conscious practices should value when dealing with contractors. Alcatel-Lucent is a major European telecommunications firm doing business globally beyond Europe in the Americas, Africa, Middle East and Pacific Asia the considerations Goode suggests for green purchasers has a common appeal that contractors would do well to bear in mind.
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Proposed rule seeks to encourage procurement to foster sustainability and efficiency when making purchases. The rule would take effect later this month. The Department of Energy (DOE) is amending the Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) to implement Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance. The intent of the rule is to leverage agency acquisitions to foster markets for sustainable technologies and energy efficient and environmentally sustainable materials, products, and services. Reference Federal Register: September 22, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 183). The effective date of the interim rule is October 22, 2010.
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A commissioner and four professional staff of the federal Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan (CWC) have joined two staffers from the CWC field office in Kabul for a week-long examination of U.S. construction contracts in war-torn Afghanistan. The United States has committed billions of dollars to construction projects in Afghanistan to support its military, diplomatic, and reconstruction efforts there. Projects include base facilities, power plants, office buildings, fuel storage, schools, and training centers for Afghan security forces. Contracting agencies include the U.S. Departments of Defense and State and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Another CWC team returned from Afghanistan last week after gathering information on security and logistics issues. Such commission trips provide on-the-ground evidence for research and hearings that will feed into reform recommendations to Congress.
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U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) urged the U.S. Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a more efficient process that affords innovative small businesses the opportunity to participate in the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. At a committee hearing, Senator Snowe criticized the federal government's efforts as woefully inadequate, given that the Interagency Alternative Technology Assessment Program (IATAP) was not fully operational until six weeks after the initial explosion, and that none of the roughly 1,900 concepts submitted has been accepted.
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The Environmental Protection Agency's acquisition officials today acknowledged problems with procurement data in its old contracting system, but expect that the agency's new contracting system shouldn't have the same weaknesses.
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Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) Wednesday unveiled a new approach to climate change legislation they say can achieve the 60 votes necessary to pass the Senate. However, no Republicans have expressed support for the package and today all six west coast Democrats came out in opposition to provisions they feel did not restrict off shore drilling enough. The 987-page American Power Act promises to cut U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050, consistent with President Obama's pledge to the international community in December 2009. It would still allow the EPA to regulate stationary sources under the Clean Air Act.
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The high visibility roll-out tomorrow of proposed climate change legislation collapsed this weekend after a Republican co-author threatened to withdraw his support for the bill amidst a concerns over immigration. Democrats were forced to postpone the much-hyped unveiling, putting a core Obama mission in jeopardy and further complicating international efforts to reach a deal on global warming.
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Companies seeking Energy Star certification for their products must furnish lab test results to verify energy use before they can use the famous label. The new requirement is the latest move by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to strengthen Energy Star. Despite broad recognition of the label, the brand's reputation has been tarnished in recent years because of reports that some labeled products failed to meet the program's standards.
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Global investment in clean technology will rise 35 percent this year, despite ongoing uncertainty over climate change policy in the US and EU, according to a report published today by Datamonitor. The report, entitled Challenges and opportunities for energy utility companies post-Copenhagen, predicts clean tech investment will bounce back strongly this year, led by the wind energy sector, which has received a major boost from government-backed economic stimulus packages.
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