Reminder: Register for EPA’s Webinar on the Draft Approach for a New Label Program for Cleaner Construction Materials
Released on Feb. 22, 2024
Join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Feb. 27, 2024, from noon – 1 p.m. ET, for a webinar to solicit feedback on the draft approach for implementing a Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials. This program, which was made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, aims to cut climate pollution linked to the manufacturing of construction products and materials
On Feb. 15, EPA announced the draft approach and the opportunity for the public comment on how the label program proposes to standardize and improve the data that manufacturers use in developing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which disclose products’ key environmental impacts. It also proposes a process by which EPA would use data from EPDs and other sources to set thresholds for the amount of embodied carbon a product can have, relative to similar products, to qualify for the low embodied carbon label. The final phase of the draft approach is for the program to certify materials and products and to create a central registry of certified products.
As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s landmark Federal Buy Clean Initiative, the label program will help to define what constitutes “clean” construction materials and leverage the Federal Government’s power as the world’s largest purchaser to spur demand for low-emissions manufacturing.
EPA developed the draft approach for the label program with input from stakeholders, including the Federal Highway Administration in the Department of Transportation, the General Services Administration, other federal agencies, and members of the public who responded to a Request for Information that EPA published last year.
Written comments should be submitted to docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2024-0038 on www.regulations.gov by March 15, 2024.
Learn more about these new programs funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.