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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2591--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 19, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL, DICKENS, RODRIGUEZ, GOTTFRIED, ABINANTI,
STIRPE, FAHY, BARRON, DAVILA, NIOU, L. ROSENTHAL, EPSTEIN, ANDERSON,
PAULIN, DINOWITZ, REYES, COLTON, DE LA ROSA, GALEF, OTIS, JACKSON,
STECK, GALLAGHER, PERRY, THIELE, GONZALEZ-ROJAS -- Multi-Sponsored by
-- M. of A. COOK, CYMBROWITZ, ENGLEBRIGHT, SIMON -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to provisions in
state procurement contracts involving the use of low embodied carbon
concrete
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section
2 136-d to read as follows:
3 § 136-d. Contracts involving low embodied carbon concrete. 1. Any
4 state agency contract for low embodied carbon concrete shall include
5 provisions regarding contractor, subcontractor and worker product
6 certification as follows:
7 (a) Contractors and subcontractors doing work involving low embodied
8 carbon concrete shall certify that all work completed meets the minimum
9 standards established under this section by the office of general
10 services.
11 (b) Contractors and subcontractors doing work involving low embodied
12 concrete shall certify that all procured low embodied carbon concrete
13 utilized on projects meets the minimum standards established under this
14 section by the office of general services.
15 2. Any certifications required by this section shall be kept current
16 for the duration of all contracts.
17 3. (a) The office of general services shall establish guidelines
18 requiring the procurement of low embodied carbon concrete on projects
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01244-18-1
A. 2591--A 2
1 deemed appropriate by such office. Such guidelines shall implement a
2 process with minimum standards for contractors and subcontractors to
3 file with the contracting agency upon completion of a project. When
4 establishing guidelines related to low embodied carbon concrete, the
5 office of general services shall consider industry standards and shall
6 consult with a stakeholder advisory group selected by the commissioner
7 of general services consisting of:
8 (i) two licensed professional engineers;
9 (ii) two licensed registered architects;
10 (iii) two representatives of the construction industry;
11 (iv) two representatives of the concrete testing and validation indus-
12 try;
13 (v) two representatives of an accredited school of civil engineering;
14 (vi) one representative from the New York State Energy Research and
15 Development Authority; and
16 (vii) one representative each from the department of transportation,
17 the department of state, and the department of environmental conserva-
18 tion.
19 (b) The office of general services shall consult with any relevant
20 associations that set industry standards for the procurement of low
21 embodied carbon concrete and shall consult with affected contractors
22 and subcontractors to consider environmental impact as well as the
23 impact on public health and safety.
24 4. The office of general services shall also examine the use of incen-
25 tives, including bid credits, related to bids within five percent of the
26 lowest price, to encourage the usage and innovation of low embodied
27 carbon concrete on state agency projects.
28 5. In addition, the office of general services shall also examine the
29 use of implementing standards for performance based specification,
30 including but not limited to requirements that a structural material
31 achieve specified performance based outcomes from the use of the struc-
32 tural material, including but not limited to, outcomes related to
33 strength, durability, permeability or other attributes related to the
34 function of the building material for applied uses, as opposed to
35 requiring that a structural material be produced using a specified
36 manufacturer process, design features, technologies, or proportion of
37 materials. The office of general services shall examine the use of
38 methods of compliance, including, but not limited to, maximum cement
39 content specifications and specifications based on maximum potential for
40 global warming.
41 6. The commissioner of general services, in consultation with the
42 department of transportation and the stakeholder advisory group estab-
43 lished in subdivision three of this section, shall examine the use of an
44 expedited product evaluation protocol for low embodied carbon concrete
45 products.
46 7. As used in this section, the term "state agency" shall mean the
47 same as defined in section one hundred sixty of this chapter.
48 8. The guidelines established pursuant to this section as well as any
49 recommendations for subsequent legislative action resulting from examin-
50 ing the use of incentives related to bid credits shall be submitted to
51 the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of
52 the assembly within thirty days of the issuance of such guidelines or
53 within one year from the effective date of this section, whichever may
54 come sooner.
55 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
56 it shall have become a law and shall apply to any state contracting
A. 2591--A 3
1 opportunities advertised on or after such date and shall exclude
2 contracts for which an invitation for bid, request for proposal, or
3 similar solicitation has been issued prior to the effective date of this
4 act.
