NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2591A
SPONSOR: Carroll TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to provisions in
state procurement contracts involving the use of low embodied carbon
concrete
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would establish procurement guidelines for the procurement of
low embodied carbon concrete.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill requires the Office of General Services to estab-
lish guidelines concerning the procurement of low embodied carbon
concrete. Contractors doing this type of work would then need to follow
these guidelines and certify that their work and the concrete they are
procuring meets these minimum guidelines. The bill outlines what the
office will need to examine when crafting the guidelines including
incentives for the procurement and usage of low embodied carbon concrete
by contractors. The bill requires the guidance and any associated legis-
lative recommendations to be issued to the governor and the legislature.
Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION:
The bill now requires the issuance of procurement guidelines by the
Office of General Services. The tax credit associated with the bill has
been removed.
JUSTIFICATION:
More than 10 billion tons of concrete are produced globally each year,
making it the second-most used substance on earth after water. The
production of concrete's core ingredient cement accounts for up to 8% of
total global emissions. To bring the concrete and cement sectors in line
with the targets agreed upon in the Paris Agreement, annual emissions
must fall by 16% by 2030. However, current trajectories project that
demand for both materials could increase by as much as 23% by 2050.Under
this business as usual scenario, production escalation on this scale
will release extraordinary levels of CO2 during the next three pivotal
decades.
Therefore reducing the embodied carbon of concrete - a measure of emis-
sions generated during the production process of materials before they
are utilized - is a critical front in the collective global effort to
preserve the climate. At the same time, concrete's unique potential to
permanently store and mineralize carbon must be unlocked and advanced
through both private and public sector commitments. Indeed, deep
reductions in cement-based emissions paired with technological inno-
vations that maximize concrete's carbon storage potential could ulti-
mately result in carbon negativity to an outcome in which less carbon is
emitted in concrete production than is permanently secured in its utili-
zation or storage. Given the present-day volume of concrete utilized
annually and the rate of growth projected over the coming decades,
transforming concrete from a net carbon source to a net carbon sink
would have highly meaningful and quantifiable implications for the
climate. This bill proposes a new procurement standard for construction
projects that would place our state firmly in a leading position to
bring about this transition. And this is a role that New York is excep-
tionally well positioned to assume given the bold commitments estab-
lished by the Climate Leadership and Community Production Act of 2019,
and the size and dynamism of the state's economy and construction indus-
tries.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.8617/S.8965 of 2019-20
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law and shall apply to any state contracting oppor-
tunities advertised on or after such date and shall exclude contracts
for which an invitation for bid, request for proposal, or similar solic-
itation has been issued prior to the effective date of this act.
