The House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would not require federal contractors to disclose any of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a rejection of a proposed Biden administration rule that would require emissions reporting.
The committee’s action follows approval in June by the House Armed Services Committee of an amendment to prevent the Defense Department from requiring certain of its contractors to disclose their GHG emissions.
The Mission not Emissions Act (H.R. 3358), was introduced by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas). The vote tally was 22 to 20 with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. The legislation applies to Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions just as the amendment to the HASC defense bill does.
Businesses and other organizations have more control over their Scope 1 emissions and include things like industrial processes and vehicle fleets. Scope 2 emissions are indirect and include things such as acquired energy produced elsewhere. The third category of emissions are outside the control of an organization and in the case of DoD would include downstream uses of tanks and aircraft.
Defense contractors are already working toward environmental sustainability targets and associations that represent these entities have asked the Biden administration to halt the GHG rulemaking process to address concerns such as extending reporting deadlines and giving businesses more flexibility in working with various standards bodies related to carbon emissions.