Obama Administration Issues Executive Order to "Green" Government Operations
October 23, 2009
David H. Mann- Washington
On October 5, 2009, President Obama signed a new Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. The Order will drive demand in the federal marketplace and expand green and sustainability efforts across government supply chains. It also will create numerous opportunities for clients with innovative technologies or products to market themselves to federal agencies.
The Executive Order sets goals and procedures for federal agencies to do the following:
- increase energy efficiency
- measure, report and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from direct and indirect activities
- conserve and protect water resources through efficiency, reuse and stormwater management
- eliminate waste; recycle; prevent pollution
- leverage agency acquisitions to foster markets for sustainable technologies and environmentally-preferable materials, products and services; design, construct, maintain and operate high-performance sustainable buildings in sustainable locations
- strengthen the vitality and livability of the communities in which federal facilities are located
- inform federal employees about and involve them in the achievement of these goals
Link to the Ongoing Efforts
The Obama administration is tying the new Order to the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year. “This Executive Order builds on the momentum of the Recovery Act to help create a clean energy economy and demonstrates the Federal government’s commitment, over and above what is already being done, to reducing emissions and saving money,” President Obama said.
This Order is a follow on to and expansion of Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management (signed January 24, 2007).
The White House noted that the federal government occupies nearly 500,000 buildings, operates more than 600,000 vehicles, employs more than 1.8 million civilians and purchases more than $500 billion per year in goods and services. The improvement goals set out in the Order can have a large impact across these vast operations.
Summary of the Order
The Executive Order requires that federal agencies set 2020 greenhouse gas emission goals for three categories of emissions: (1) direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the federal agency; (2) direct greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the generation of electricity, heat or steam purchased by a federal agency; and (3) greenhouse gas emissions from sources not owned or directly controlled by a federal agency but related to agency activities such as vendor supply chains, delivery services and employee travel and commuting. It also requires the following:
- establishment of a comprehensive inventory of absolute greenhouse gas emissions by January 5, 2010, and annually thereafter
- 30 percent reduction in vehicle fleet petroleum use by 2020
- 26 percent improvement in water efficiency by 2020
- 50 percent recycling and waste diversion by 2015
- pollution prevention through source reduction, low toxicity or hazardous product selection, pest and chemical management
- meeting of sustainability requirements by 95 percent of all applicable contracts
- compliance with the “Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings,” a Memorandum of Understanding issued by various federal agencies, in new construction or major renovation or repair and alteration of federal buildings
- implementation of the 2030 net-zero-energy building requirement
- implementation of the stormwater provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Section 438
- promotion of electronics stewardship
- development of guidance for sustainable federal building locations in alignment with the livability principles put forward by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency
Agency Requirements
According to the White House, each agency will develop and carry out an integrated Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan that prioritizes the agency’s actions toward the goals of the Executive Order based on lifecycle return on investments. Implementation will be managed through the previously established Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, working in close partnership with the Office of Management and Budget, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the agencies. To be accountable for compliance, by November 4, 2009, each agency will appoint a Senior Sustainability Officer from among the senior management officials. The agencies are also required to actively participate in the existing Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.
Agencies are required to develop recommendations to help meet the objectives laid out by the Order. Recommendations developed by interagency teams will be established for the following:
- greenhouse gas accounting and reporting (Department of Energy with the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, General Services Administration, Department of Interior, Department of Commerce and other agencies)
- determining sustainable locations for federal facilities (Department of Transportation with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense and other agencies)
- use of public transportation by federal personnel (federal local transportation logistics) (General Services Administration with the Department of Transportation, Department of Treasury, Department of Energy, Office of Personnel Management and other agencies)
- acquisition and use of alternative fuels and vehicles in federal fleets, as well as vehicle-miles-traveled and petroleum reduction strategies (Department of Energy with the General Services Administration)
- working with the federal vendor and contractor community to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (General Services Administration with the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies)
- implementing the stormwater provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Section 438 (Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies)
About the Editor
Jeffrey Rubinger
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