AB 262: Public contracts: bid specifications: Buy Clean California Act.

The State Contract Act governs the bidding and award of public works contracts by specific state departments and requires an awarding department, before entering into any contract for a project, to prepare full, complete, and accurate plans and specifications and estimates of cost.

Other existing law establishes specific requirements for competitive bidding for building and improvement projects by the Regents of the University of California, including requiring the regents to prepare plans and specifications before entering into a contract for a project.

The California State University Contract Law governs contracting for building and improvement projects by the California State University and imposes specific competitive bidding requirements for the Trustees of the California State University, including requiring the trustees to prepare full, complete, and accurate plans and specifications for a project.

This bill, the Buy Clean California Act, would, by January 1, 2019, require the Department of General Services to establish, and publish in the State Contracting Manual, a maximum acceptable global warming potential for each category of eligible materials, in accordance with requirements set out in the bill. The bill, by January 1, 2022, and every 3 years thereafter, would require the department to review the maximum acceptable global warming potential for each category of eligible materials established, and would authorize the department to adjust that number downward for any eligible material to reflect industry improvements, as provided.

The bill, for specified types of contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2019, would require an awarding authority to require a successful bidder to submit a current Environmental Product Declaration, developed in accordance with specified standards, for that type of product. The bill would require an awarding authority to include in a specification for a bid for an eligible project, as defined, that the facility-specific global warming potential for any eligible materials does not exceed the maximum global warming potential for that material determined by the department in accordance with the process described above. The bill would also authorize an awarding authority to include in a specification for bids for an eligible project a facility-specific global warming potential for any eligible material that is lower than the maximum global warming potential for that material as determined by the department in accordance with the process described above. The bill would prohibit a successful bidder from installing any eligible materials on an eligible project until that bidder submits an Environmental Product Declaration to the awarding authority for that project. The bill would require an awarding authority, in carrying out its duties under the act, to strive to continuously reduce emissions over time. The bill would define awarding authority for these purposes to include state departments and entities subject to the State Contract Act, the Regents of the University of California, and the Trustees of the California State University.

The bill, by January 1, 2022, would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature on any obstacles to the implementation of this article, and the effectiveness of this article in reducing global warming potential.