Sec. 873. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON ACQUISITION PRACTICES AND POLICIES

659 words·~3 min read·/statute-compilations/comps-16861/sec-873

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

## SEC. 873 INDEPENDENT STUDY ON ACQUISITION PRACTICES AND POLICIES ###

(a)Study Required Not later than March 30, 2022, the Secretary of Defense shall enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center under which such center shall conduct a study on the acquisition practices and policies described in subsection (b). ###

(b)Study Elements The study required under subsection

(a)shall identify the knowledge and tools needed for the acquisition workforce of the Department of Defense to— ####

(1)engage in acquisition planning practices that assess the cost, resource, and energy preservation differences resulting from selecting environmentally preferable goods or services when identifying requirements or drafting statements of work; ####

(2)engage in acquisition planning practices that promote the acquisition of resilient and resource-efficient goods and services and that support innovation in environmental technologies, including— #####

(A)technical specifications that establish performance levels for goods and services to diminish greenhouse gas emissions; #####

(B)statements of work or specifications restricted to environmentally preferable goods or services where the quality, availability, and price is comparable to traditional goods or services; #####

(C)engaging in public-private partnerships to design, build, and fund resilient, low-carbon infrastructure; #####

(D)collaborating with local jurisdictions surrounding military installations, with a focus on reducing environmental costs; and #####

(E)technical specifications that consider risk to supply chains from extreme weather and changes in environmental conditions; ####

(3)employ source selection practices that promote the acquisition of resilient and resource-efficient goods and services and that support innovation in environmental technologies, including— #####

(A)considering resilience, low-carbon, or low-toxicity criteria as competition factors on the basis of which the award is made in addition to cost, past performance, and quality factors; #####

(B)using accepted standards, emissions data, certifications, and labels to verify the environmental impact of a good or service and enhance procurement efficiency; #####

(C)evaluating the veracity of certifications and labels purporting to convey information about the environmental impact of a good or service; and #####

(D)considering the costs of a good or service that will be incurred throughout its lifetime, including operating costs, maintenance, end of life costs, and residual value, including costs resulting from the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions associated with the good or service; and ####

(4)consider external effects, including economic, environmental, and social, arising over the entire life cycle of an acquisition when making acquisition planning and source selection decisions. ###

(c)Submission to Department of Defense Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the federally funded research and development center that conducts the study under subsection

(a)shall submit to the Secretary of Defense a report on the results of the study in an unclassified form but may include a classified annex. ###

(d)Submission to Congress Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary of Defense receives the report under subsection (c), the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees an unaltered copy along with any comments the Secretary may have with respect to the report. ###

(e)Definitions In this section: ####

(1)The term “environmentally preferable”, with respect to a good or service, means that the good or service has a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing goods or services that serve the same purpose or achieve the same or substantially similar result. The comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, or disposal of the good or service. ####

(2)The term “resource-efficient goods and services” means goods and services— #####

(A)that use fewer resources than competing goods and services to serve the same purposes or achieve the same or substantially similar result as such competing goods and services; and #####

(B)for which the negative environmental impacts across the full life cycle of such goods and services are minimized.