This was GW Law’s 2024 “summer series” in procurement, which this year focused on environmentally sustainable procurement — also known as “green” procurement — through a series of free one-hour webinars.
Series Summary
We entered this “summer series” understanding that there are common strategies that governments around the world use for “green” (environmentally sustainable) public procurement, such as life cycle cost analysis, contractor qualification to screen for contractors committed to sustainability, eco-labels which identify “green” goods and services, technical evaluations which weigh sustainability, and procurement planning which takes environmental impacts into account. Our first session showed that, for a variety of cost, institutional, technical and legal reasons, “eco-labels” are emerging as the most common strategy around the world. Our second session addressed the international trade issues (and possible solutions) surrounding eco-labels and other green procurement strategies. Our third session confirmed that “eco-labels” are also a leading strategy across state and local governments in the United States, and discussed the institutional and legal building blocks (framed by NASPO’s cutting-edge research in this area (see below)) needed to make green procurement work.
Slides for Summer Series — All Sessions
This webinar series was presented with the kind cooperation of the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO).
International Green Procurement: Session 1
1. Tuesday, July 23, 12 pm Eastern / 18:00 CET: Introduction — An international perspective on green procurement: An expert panel from around the world, including the United Kingdom’s Abby Semple (Greenville Procurement Partners), Jellie Molino (post-doctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge), and Ezgi Uysal (from the SAPIENS Network project co-hosted by the University of Turin, who contributed separately) reviewed the options — and potential pitfalls — in green procurement. Program transcript and chat.
Trade Issues in Green Procurement: Session 2
2. Thursday, July 25, 12 pm Eastern / 18:00 CET: Green Procurement — International Trade Issues: Robert Anderson (World Trade Organization – retired), Tom Daley (DLA Piper) and Chris Yukins (GW Law) discussed how international trade and green procurement can collide — or work together. Program transcript and chat.
State & Local Green Procurement: Session 3
3. Tuesday, July 30, 12 pm Eastern / 18:00 CET: State and Local Procurement and Environmental Sustainability: Nationally recognized experts, including Emily Soontornsaratool (Department of General Services, Maryland), Julia Wolfe (Director of Environmental Purchasing, Massachusetts) and Cary Watters (Sustainable Procurement Program Manager, Portland, Oregon), discussed how green procurement is becoming a reality in state- and local-level procurement in the United States. Program transcript and chat.
Panelists
Research resources
Texts
National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO), State and Local Procurement: A Practical Guide (4th ed. 2024) (Amazon): Chapter 15 of NASPO’s Practical Guide, on “Sustainable Procurement” (available here) offers these practical recommendations:
- “For long-term viability, sustainability initiatives should be” based upon “an exercise of authority, such as a governor’s executive order, legislation, or administrative rule or regulation.”
- “Sustainable procurement programs and training should be developed with the cooperation and input from a wide range of stakeholders, including agency customers, [certifying] organizations . . . and suppliers.”
- A successful initiative needs “a policy that clearly outlines its purpose, the legal authority establishing that policy, the commodities and services covered, and the external verification tools used to make it credible.” That policy “should also identify the roles and responsibilities of the staff responsible for implementing it and the conditions under which waivers from the program will be granted.”
- Reporting on the public agency’s use of sustainable goods and services “is critical, either through [spend data] or, if not, through reports that contractors provide.” The initiative’s effectiveness “should be tracked and measured using techniques such as total cost of ownership and life-cycle costing.”
NIGP, 2019 Local Government Sustainable Procurement Study (contributing authors: Evelyn Trammell & Ana-Maria Dimand)
Robert D. Anderson & Antonella Salgueiro, The New EU-US Joint Catalogue of Best Practices on Green Public Procurement: A Breakthrough in International Dialogue on Sustainability and an Opportunity for the WTO Committee on Government Procurement to Move Forward, 33 Pub. Proc. L. Rev. 268 (2024).
International
Republic of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, Green Public Procurement
Federal
Federal Acquisition Regulation on “Green Procurement” – Final Rule (April 22, 2024) – Rule updates FAR on environmental sustainability matters, and implements a requirement for agencies to procure sustainable products and services to the maximum extent practicable. Regulatory history.
Federal Acquisition Regulation – Proposed Rule – Contractor Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Mandate (Nov. 14, 2022) — Would require larger contractors to gather and present data on GHG emissions attributable to their goods and services, or risk being found non-responsible (non-qualified). In a related development, in late 2023 Congress, per the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2024, barred the Defense Department from gathering GHG data from nontraditional contractors permanently, and from traditional defense contractors for one year. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, discussed here, may make it easier for affected vendors to challenge any final rule.
U.S. Office of Management & Budget, Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, 89 Fed. Reg. 30046 (Apr. 22, 2024) (2 CFR 300.323 — Federal grants recipients to purchase sustainable products and services “to the greatest extent practicable and consistent with law”).
State & Local
California
California laws call for climate risk disclosures by large companies (SB 261), and Scope 1, 2 (by 2026) and 3 (by 2027) GHG emissions disclosures by companies with revenues over $1 billion (SB 253).
California’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program (presentation by Mark Wriston, California Department of General Services)
Maryland
- Resources on green procurement
- Model specifications (by good and service)
- Annual reports (spend data on green purchasing)
Massachusetts
Executive Order 515: “On October 27, 2009, Executive Order 515 was signed, establishing an Environmental Purchasing Policy for all Commonwealth Executive Departments . . . . . This policy requires all Executive Departments to reduce their impact on the environment and enhance public health by procuring EPPs [Environmentally Preferable Products] whenever such products and services are readily available, perform to satisfactory standards, and represent best value to the Commonwealth.” (See Massachusetts’ statewide contracts for EPP products and services.)
Portland, Oregon
- City Sustainable Procurement Policy
- City Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Code 5.33.080
- City Climate Action Plan
- Green Building Policy
Procurement U – NASPO
111 – Introducing Sustainability in the Procurement Process
211 – Building a Sustainable Purchasing Program