Federal Building Clean Jobs Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2060 To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to fund job-creating improvements in energy and resiliency for Federal buildings, to enable a portfolio of clean buildings by 2030, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 18, 2021 Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. WELCH, Ms. NORTON, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. MATSUI, and Mr. NADLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Over- sight and Reform, Armed Services, Veterans’ Affairs, and Homeland Se- curity, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to fund job-creating improvements in energy and resiliency for Federal buildings, to enable a portfolio of clean buildings by 2030, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Building Clean 4 Jobs Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2060 IH SEC. 2. FEDERAL BUILDING LEASING. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 435 of the Energy Inde- 2 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17091) is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘SEC. 435. LEASING. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF LESSOR.—In this section, the 6 term ‘lessor’ means any individual, firm, partnership, lim- 7 ited liability company, trust, association, State, unit of 8 local government, or legal entity that is the rightful owner 9 of a property leased to the Federal Government. 10 ‘‘(b) LEASING REQUIREMENTS.—Except as provided 11 in subsection (c), effective beginning on the date that is 12 1 year after the date of enactment of the Federal Building 13 Clean Jobs Act of 2021, no Federal agency shall enter 14 into a contract to lease space unless— 15 ‘‘(1) the space is for a building or space in a 16 building that— 17 ‘‘(A) in the most recent year, has earned 18 the Energy Star label under the Energy Star 19 program established by section 324A of the En- 20 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 21 6294a); and 22 ‘‘(B) has obtained or will obtain as a re- 23 quired performance specification a green build- 24 ing certification consistent with recommenda- 25 tions of the Administrator of General Services 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2060 IH based on the review of high-performance build- 1 ing certification systems carried out by the Ad- 2 ministrator pursuant to section 436(h) (42 3 U.S.C. 17092(h)); and 4 ‘‘(2) the contract includes— 5 ‘‘(A) a requirement for the lessor of the 6 building to disclose data on consumption of util- 7 ities (energy and water)— 8 ‘‘(i) for the portion of the building oc- 9 cupied by the agency; and 10 ‘‘(ii) that is provided by the lessor 11 through submetering or an alternative 12 method identified by the Administrator for 13 buildings lacking submeters; and 14 ‘‘(B) 1 or more mechanisms to ensure that 15 the lessor of the building reasonably maintains 16 the requirements of the building described in 17 paragraph (1). 18 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 20 Federal agency may enter into a contract to lease 21 space that does not meet a requirement described in 22 subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1) if— 23 ‘‘(A) no other space is available that can 24 meet that requirement within a reasonable pe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2060 IH riod and meet the functional requirements of 1 the agency, including locational needs; 2 ‘‘(B) the agency proposes to remain in a 3 building or a space in a building— 4 ‘‘(i) that the agency has occupied pre- 5 viously; and 6 ‘‘(ii) less than 50 percent of the 7 leasable space of which is leased by the 8 Federal Government; 9 ‘‘(C) the agency proposes to lease a build- 10 ing or space in a building of historical, architec- 11 tural, or cultural significance (as defined in sec- 12 tion 3306(a) of title 40, United States Code); 13 or 14 ‘‘(D) the lease is for not more than 10,000 15 gross square feet of space in a building less 16 than 50 percent of the leasable space of which 17 is leased by the Federal Government. 18 ‘‘(2) WAIVER APPROVAL.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agency may 20 enter into a contract under paragraph (1) if— 21 ‘‘(i)(I) the agency submits a request 22 to the Federal Director of the Office of 23 Federal High-Performance Green Build- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2060 IH ings indicating the basis for the request 1 under paragraph (1); and 2 ‘‘(II) the Federal Director of that 3 Office approves the request; and 4 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a waiver under 5 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of para- 6 graph (1), the contract includes the re- 7 quirements described in subparagraph 8 (B)(ii), which— 9 ‘‘(I) in the case of a waiver under 10 subparagraph (A) of that paragraph, 11 shall be required to be implemented 12 prior to occupancy of the building or 13 space in the building by the Federal 14 agency; and 15 ‘‘(II) in the case of a waiver 16 under subparagraph (B) or (C) of 17 that paragraph, shall be required to 18 be implemented not later than 1 year 19 after the Federal agency signs the 20 contract. 21 ‘‘(B) CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.— 22 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF 23 NONBENCHMARKED SPACE.—In this sub- 24 paragraph, the term ‘nonbenchmarked 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2060 IH space’ means a building or space in a 1 building for which owners cannot access 2 whole building utility consumption data, 3 including buildings— 4 ‘‘(I) that are located in States 5 that do not require utilities to provide, 6 and utilities do not provide, such ag- 7 gregated information to multitenant 8 building owners; and 9 ‘‘(II) the tenants of which do not 10 provide energy consumption informa- 11 tion to the commercial building owner 12 in response to a request from that 13 owner. 14 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The require- 15 ments referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii) 16 are the following: 17 ‘‘(I) The building or space in a 18 building— 19 ‘‘(aa) meets the requirement 20 described in subsection (b)(1)(A); 21 or 22 ‘‘(bb) is renovated for all 23 feasible energy efficiency and 24 conservation improvements that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2060 IH will be cost effective over the life 1 of the lease (including any nego- 2 tiated optional extensions or re- 3 newals of the lease), including 4 improvements in lighting, win- 5 dows, heating, ventilation, and 6 air conditioning systems and con- 7 trols. 8 ‘‘(II) The building or space in a 9 building is— 10 ‘‘(aa) benchmarked under a 11 nationally recognized, online, and 12 free benchmarking program, and 13 the benchmark is publicly dis- 14 closed; or 15 ‘‘(bb) a nonbenchmarked 16 space. 17 ‘‘(III) In the case of a building 18 or space in a building that is a 19 nonbenchmarked space, the Federal 20 agency provides to the building owner, 21 or authorizes the owner to obtain 22 from the utility, the energy consump- 23 tion data of the space to enable 24 benchmarking of the building. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2060 IH ‘‘(C) INCORPORATION OF ASSISTANCE INTO 1 LEASE.—In the case of a contract to lease 2 space that receives a waiver under paragraph 3 (1)(A), the Administrator may— 4 ‘‘(i) include in the relevant lease pro- 5 curement documents a statement about the 6 availability of financial incentives and tech- 7 nical assistance under the pilot program 8 established under subsection (g); or 9 ‘‘(ii)(I) incorporate into the terms of 10 the lease with the lessor any financial in- 11 centive or technical assistance provided to 12 that lessor under that pilot program; and 13 ‘‘(II) if subclause (I) is carried 14 out, extend the deadline required 15 under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I). 16 ‘‘(d) REVISION OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.—Not 17 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Fed- 18 eral Building Clean Jobs Act of 2021, the Administrator 19 shall revise Part 102–73(c) of the Federal Management 20 Regulation and Part 570 of the General Services Adminis- 21 tration Acquisition Manual, as appropriate, to reflect the 22 requirements of this section. 23 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Administrator shall annually 24 publish on the website of the General Services Administra- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2060 IH tion a report on the aggregate compliance of all leased 1 buildings and spaces in buildings held by the General 2 Services Administration with the most recent version of 3 the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings. 4 ‘‘(f) COMPLIANCE IMPROVEMENT.—Not later than 5 180 days after the date of enactment of the Federal Build- 6 ing Clean Jobs Act of 2021, the Administrator shall de- 7 velop and implement a policy to improve lessor compliance 8 with energy efficiency provisions of leases, including by 9 considering a variety of approaches. 10 ‘‘(g) INCENTIVE PILOT PROGRAM.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es- 12 tablish a pilot program to provide financial incen- 13 tives for lessors to achieve an Energy Star label 14 under the Energy Star program established by sec- 15 tion 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation 16 Act (42 U.S.C. 6294a) in a building— 17 ‘‘(A) in which space is leased to a Federal 18 agency; and 19 ‘‘(B)(i) in which the total space leased by 20 the Federal Government is less than 50 percent 21 of the leasable space of the building; 22 ‘‘(ii) that is of historical, architec- 23 tural, or cultural significance (as defined 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2060 IH in section 3306(a) of title 40, United 1 States Code); or 2 ‘‘(iii) for which a waiver is granted 3 under subsection (c)(1)(A). 4 ‘‘(2) DIVERSITY.—In carrying out paragraph 5 (1), the Administrator shall ensure— 6 ‘‘(A) a diversity in the buildings and 7 spaces owned by lessors provided financial as- 8 sistance under that paragraph, including build- 9 ings with multiple, separate leases that individ- 10 ually do not trigger requirements under this 11 Act; and 12 ‘‘(B) geographical diversity, including the 13 representation of rural areas. 14 ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Adminis- 15 trator may provide technical assistance, directly or 16 through contracts, to lessors receiving financial as- 17 sistance under paragraph (1). 18 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 19 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad- 20 ministrator $50,000,000 to carry out this sub- 21 section, to remain available until expended.’’. 22 (b) REPORT ON REALTY SERVICES.—Section 102(b) 23 of the Better Buildings Act of 2015 (42 U.S.C. 17062(b)) 24 is amended by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2060 IH ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 1 the date of enactment of the Federal Building Clean 2 Jobs Act of 2021, the Administrator shall submit to 3 Congress, and make publicly available on the website 4 of the General Services Administration, a report on 5 the implementation of paragraph (3), including— 6 ‘‘(A) the results of the policies and prac- 7 tices described in that paragraph, including the 8 number of leases implementing the measures 9 described in that paragraph; 10 ‘‘(B) a description of any barriers to 11 achieving greater energy and water efficiency; 12 and 13 ‘‘(C) recommendations to address those 14 barriers.’’. 15 SEC. 3. ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY, NET-ZERO, AND 16 ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE 17 GOALS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part 3 of Title V of the National 19 Energy Conservation Policy Act (Public Law 96–619; 92 20 Stat. 3277; 42 U.S.C. 8251 et seq.) is amended by adding 21 after section 543 the following: 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2060 IH ‘‘SEC. 543a. 2030 ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY GOALS. 1 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to subsections (b), 2 (c), and (d), the head of each agency shall, for each of 3 fiscal years 2021 through 2030— 4 ‘‘(1) reduce average building energy intensity 5 (as measured in British thermal units per gross 6 square foot) at the Federal facilities of the agency 7 by 2.5 percent each fiscal year so that the average 8 building energy intensity of such facilities is reduced 9 by 25 percent or greater by 2030, relative to the av- 10 erage building energy intensity of the Federal facili- 11 ties of the agency in fiscal year 2018; 12 ‘‘(2) improve water use efficiency and manage- 13 ment at Federal facilities of the agency by reducing 14 average potable water consumption intensity (as 15 measured in gallons per gross square foot)— 16 ‘‘(A) by 54 percent by fiscal year 2030, 17 relative to the average water consumption of 18 the Federal facilities of the agency in fiscal year 19 2007; and 20 ‘‘(B) through reductions of 2 percent each 21 fiscal year; 22 ‘‘(3) reduce industrial, landscaping, and agricul- 23 tural water consumption at Federal facilities of the 24 agency (as measured in gallons)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2060.IH H2060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2060 IH ‘‘(A) by 20 percent by fiscal year 2030, 1 relative to the industrial, landscaping, and agri- 2 cultural water consumption of Feder [Text truncated for display. 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