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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle H—Other Matters

P. L. 117-81

Joint Explanatory Statement

(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.

The House bill contained provisions (secs. 852 and 855) that would direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a 5-year pilot program to determine the cost competitiveness of the fully burdened cost of drop-in fuels compared with the fully burdened cost of traditional fuel using a commercially available scenario-based strategic sourcing tool and to submit an annual report on the impact of the pilot program. The provisions would also direct the Department of Defense Climate Working Group to assess and develop recommendations for implementing sustainable acquisition practices and policies in regulations and to submit a report on the assessment and recommendations.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The agreement includes the House provision with an amendment that would require an independent study on certain acquisition practices and policies, remove the requirements for the Department of Defense Climate Working Group, and provide technical and clarifying changes.

In evaluating various tools to be used by the acquisition workforce, we encourage the federally funded research and development center to include scenario-based strategic sourcing tools, which can be used to evaluate supply chain effects over time using automated software to model various scenarios relating to contract management, spend analysis, supplier management, sourcing, and external market variables.

H. R. 4350--House Report 117-118

Section 852--Pilot Program to Determine the Cost Competitiveness of Drop-In Fuels

This section would direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a 5-year pilot program to determine the cost competitiveness of the fully burdened cost of drop-in fuels compared with the fully burdened cost of traditional fuel using a commercially available scenario-based strategic sourcing tool, and to submit an annual report on the impact of the pilot program.

Section 855--Acquisition Practices and Policies Assessment

This section would direct the Department of Defense Climate Working Group to assess and develop recommendations for implementing sustainable acquisition practices and policies in regulations and to submit a report on the assessment and recommendations.