Reliable Federal infrastructure Act
The Reliable Federal Infrastructure Act would roll back federal building energy efficiency requirements that were put in place under the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA) and linked green-building provisions from the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). Specifically, the bill repeals the revised federal building energy efficiency performance standards created under Section 305(a)(3)(D) of the ECPA and treats those standards as if they never took effect. It also makes conforming amendments to remove related high-performance/green federal building requirements from EISA 2007, including sections that previously set high-performance building criteria and reporting. In short, the bill would revert federal building energy performance rules to the pre-revision baseline, reducing or eliminating several federal “green building” mandates. The changes affect federal agencies, notably those that own, manage, or construct federal buildings (e.g., GSA, DOD, DOE, and other agencies). It also involves adjustments to how those agencies must plan, design, and operate buildings, potentially reducing compliance costs but potentially increasing federal energy use and reducing alignment with climate and energy efficiency goals currently embedded in federal policy.
Key Points
- 1Repeal of revised federal building energy efficiency standards: Strikes Section 305(a)(3)(D) of the Energy Conservation and Production Act, and assigns that the revised standards “shall have no force or effect,” treating them as never having taken effect.
- 2Conforming amendments to remove green-building mandates in EISA 2007:
- 3- Repeals or removes Section 433(a) of EISA 2007.
- 4- Removes or substantially trims the high-performance green federal buildings provisions in Section 436, including related subsections and references.
- 5- Removes references to the 305(a)(3)(D) standards in Section 437(a)(1).
- 6Retroactive/retrofit-like effect: The standards are to be treated as though they never took effect, effectively reverting federal building policy to the earlier baseline.
- 7Scope of impact: Changes apply to federal building energy performance requirements and related design, construction, and operation standards, and to the federal “green building” performance requirements established in law.