Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has forwarded correspondence to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council, expressing opposition to proposed small business greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) requirements.
On Nov. 14, 2022, the FAR Council, which includes the General Services Administration (GSA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), proposed a rule requiring federal contractors to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks and to set science-based targets to reduce emissions.
Proposed rule opponents maintain the total estimated cost of the guidance to small businesses is more than $103 million in the first year of implementation and over $62 million in the following years.
“In addition to being confusing, contradictory, and misaligned with existing longstanding federal contracting standards, the proposed rule will disproportionately harm small businesses, including and especially those small, disadvantaged businesses the Administration purports to support, and will result in broader, deleterious impacts to the small business industrial base, affecting our national security posture and national economy,” Ernst wrote in the FAR Council comment letter.
Per Ernst, the proposed rule amounts to additional costs and red tape for small contractors and will result in the loss of valuable companies from the federal marketplace. She has encouraged the FAR Council to rescind the proposed rule in its entirety.