Colorado § 24-92-118 - Maximum global warming potential for materials used in public projects - road - highway - bridge projects - environmental product declaration - short title - report - definitions.

§ 24-92-118. Maximum global warming potential for materials used in public projects - road - highway - bridge projects - environmental product declaration - short title - report - definitions.

(1) The short title of this section and section 24-92-117 is the "Buy Clean Colorado Act".

(2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Department" means the department of transportation.

(b) "Eligible material" means materials used in the construction of a public project, including, but not limited to:

(I) Asphalt and asphalt mixtures;

(II) Cement and concrete mixtures; and

(III) Steel.

(c) "Greenhouse gas" has the same meaning as set forth in section 25-7-140 (6).

(d) "Public project" means all publicly bid construction projects, projects from within the asset management, or other projects as determined by the department.

(3) (a) By January 1, 2025, the department shall establish a policy to determine and record greenhouse gas emissions from eligible materials used in a public project with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the following requirements:

(I) The department shall use the nationally or internationally recognized databases of environmental product declarations and may include transportation-related emissions as part of the global warming potential emissions; and

(II) The department shall develop a tracking and reporting process in a manner that is consistent with criteria in an environmental product declaration. The department may establish additional subcategories within each eligible material with distinct maximum global warming potential limits.

(b) In establishing the policy pursuant to this section, the department may consult with any other relevant department or division of state government.

(c) By January 1, 2027, and every four years thereafter, the department of transportation shall review the policy created pursuant to this section and may adjust the policy to reflect industry conditions. The department shall not adjust the policy for any eligible material to be less stringent.

(4) (a) For invitation for bids for contracts for public projects issued on or after July 1, 2022, the department shall require the contractor who is awarded the contract to submit a current environmental product declaration, type III, as defined by the international organization for standardization standard 14025:2006, or similarly robust life cycle assessment methods that have uniform standards in data collection, for each eligible material proposed to be used in the public project.

(b) For invitation for bids for contracts for public projects issued on or after July 1, 2025, the department shall require the contractor who is awarded the contract to submit a current environmental product declaration, type III, as defined by the international organization for standardization standard 14025:2006, or similarly robust life cycle assessment methods that have uniform standards in data collection, as set by policy by the department for each eligible material proposed to be used in the public project.

(c) For invitation for bids for contracts for publicly bid public projects issued on or after July 1, 2025, the department of transportation shall specify the eligible materials that will be used in the project based on the policy and reasonable minimum usage thresholds below which the requirements of this section shall not apply.

(d) A contractor that is awarded a contract for a public project shall not install any eligible materials on the project until the contractor submits an environmental product declaration for that material pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section. The environmental product declaration shall be deemed approved if it complies with the policy established by the department pursuant to this section. If an environmental product declaration is not available for an eligible material, the contractor shall notify the department and install an alternative eligible material with an environmental product declaration. If a product meeting the policy requirements for a category of eligible materials is not reasonably priced or is not available to the contractor on a reasonable basis, the department may waive the requirements of this section for that product.

(5) In administering this section, the department shall strive to achieve a continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over time. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions achieved under this section shall be credited under the process created in section 25-7-105 (1)(e).

(6) Beginning in 2026, the department shall annually present the following information to the transportation legislation review committee, or any successor committee:

(a) For the presentation in 2026 only, a description of the method that the department used to develop the policy requirements for each category of eligible materials;

(b) What the department has learned about how to identify and quantify embodied carbon in building materials, including life cycle costs; and

(c) Any obstacles the department as well as bidding contractors have encountered in identifying and quantifying embodied carbon in building materials.

Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (HB 21-1303), ch. 454, p. 3026, § 2, effective September 7.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1303, see section 1 of chapter 454, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.

PART 2

PREVAILING WAGE FOR PUBLIC PROJECTS