Important News Update Concerning Executive Order 14057 Members of the NFDA Board of Directors (Kendall, Peck, and Owens-Test) and a sustainability expert (Pierce with Easterly), met with key GSA leasing officials on February 3 to dialogue about the new sustainability EO and industry concerns. These GSA officials are working with the President’s Council on Environmental Quality in the drafting of implementation guidance that is due to be published by April 7. GSA made a brief presentation and raised their own concerns, principally about how the requirement for leases greater than 25,000 square feet be restricted to only zero-emission buildings from 2030 onward, might limit competition, raise lease costs, and impair the viability of small lessors seeking to do business with the government. NFDA representatives made a number of observations, among them:
NFDA also learned at this meeting that two additional guidance documents have already been promulgated relating to EO 14057. One of these, OMB Directive M-22-06, provides that “Agencies must ensure all new construction and modernization projects greater than 25,000 gross square feet entering the design phase in fiscal year 2022 and beyond are designed to be net-zero emissions by 2030, and where feasible, net-zero water and waste buildings.” This, we were given to understand, applies to leases involving new, ground-up construction, as well as to leases where the lessor will modernize the building as a consequence of the lease award. NFDA is providing below links to Executive Order 14057; the Federal Sustainability Plan; OMB Directive M-22-06; and a White House Fact Sheet on the Executive Order. These foregoing materials are difficult to summarize. NFDA suggests that members review these primary documents themselves to ensure capture of the critical information they contain. Ron Kendall |