[Senate Report 109-358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 660
109th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     109-358

======================================================================



 
              HIGH-PERFORMANCE GREEN BUILDINGS ACT OF 2006

                                _______
                                

                November 9, 2006.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Inhofe, from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                         [To accompany S. 3591]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Environment and Public Works, to which was 
referred a bill (S. 3591) to improve the efficiency in the 
Federal Government through the use of high-performance green 
buildings, and for other purposes, having considered the same 
reports favorably thereon and recommends that the bill, as 
amended, do pass.

                    GENERAL STATEMENT AND BACKGROUND

    On April 24, 2002, the Senate Committee on Environment and 
Public Works hosted a roundtable that involved all relevant 
Federal agencies, State and local green building officials, the 
U.S. Green Building Council, universities, and environmental 
building experts, including designers and architects. The 
purpose of the roundtable was to begin a dialogue between the 
Congress and green building interests. The findings and 
recommendations that came out of the roundtable were summarized 
in a report entitled, ``Building Momentum: National Trends and 
Prospects for High-Performance Green Buildings.''
    In addition, the Environment and Public Works Committee 
conducted a hearing on October 1, 2002, to assess green school 
initiatives: environmental standards for schools, school siting 
in relation to toxic waste sites, and ``green'' building codes. 
The Committee reviewed activities undertaken by the EPA's 
Office of Children's Environmental Health, the Office of Indoor 
Air Quality, and the Department of Energy concerning 
environmental and energy issues relevant to school properties.
    In September 2003, the White House Office of the Federal 
Environmental Executive published a report entitled, ``The 
Federal Commitment to Green Building: Experiences and 
Expectations,'' that included a list of recommendations to 
improve the Federal effort on green building activities. These 
recommendations included better coordination of all green 
building activities, better guidance and direction for Federal 
agencies, a need for research on the benefits of green 
buildings, and the development of green building tools. Soon 
after, the Federal Green Building Council, whose members 
include senior officials of many Federal agencies including 
GSA, EPA, DOE, DOD and ten others was established in 2003 to 
guide policy development and research on green building 
initiatives within each Federal agency.
    Federal green practices for buildings and operations have 
been started through various directives such as Executive Order 
13123, ``Greening the Government through Efficient Energy 
Management'' (June 1999) and Executive Order 13101, ``Greening 
the Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal 
Acquisition'' (September 1998). The Interagency Sustainability 
Working Group (ISWG) was established in 2001 in response to 
Executive Order 13123, and was designed as a forum for the 
exchange of information on sustainable design activities within 
the Federal government.
    Earlier this year, the White House Summit on Federal 
Sustainable Buildings resulted in the signing of a Memorandum 
of Understanding (MOU) for Federal Leadership in High 
Performance and Sustainable Buildings between the Office of the 
Federal Environmental Executive and 19 Federal agencies. A copy 
of the MOU is attached.
    With regard to school environments, the President's Task 
Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to 
Children was created in 1998 under Executive Order 13045 (April 
21, 1997) to coordinate and promote children's environmental 
health issues across the Federal government. The task force 
addressed a number of important environmental school issues, 
including asthma, lead-based paint, childhood cancers, and 
unintentional injuries. In 2001, the task force created a 
schools workgroup, which developed a Federal inventory of 
school environmental health programs and activities and 
supported the development of a government-wide web portal on 
school environmental health issues. The task force expired in 
2005. In early 2005, OFEE convened an interagency task force to 
address promoting environmental and energy stewardship in 
schools by having agencies share their case studies and best 
practices with the educational community. This group was merged 
with the Education Initiative Team under the Cooperative 
Conservation Executive Order 13352 Task Force.
    In the 108th Congress, Senator Jeffords introduced S. 2620, 
the High-Performance Green Buildings Act of 2004 based upon the 
recommendations and findings of both reports mentioned above. 
No Committee action was taken on S. 2620.
    In the 109th Congress, Senator Jeffords reintroduced his 
original green building legislation, slightly modified, as S. 
3591, the High-Performance Green Buildings Act of 2006.

                     OBJECTIVES OF THE LEGISLATION

    S. 3591 creates an office within the General Services 
Administration to ensure full coordination of all Federal green 
building activities including agency performance with green 
initiatives, research on the latest tools, findings and impacts 
of green buildings on the environment, health and productivity 
of occupants, to improve the leadership of the Federal 
government in this area, and to address barriers for building 
high-performance green buildings.
    This bill also strives to assist schools with the 
identification of potentially hazardous environmental 
conditions and solutions for addressing and correcting these 
conditions through a Federal grant program administered by the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to qualified State 
agencies.
    In addition, passage of this bill would codify green 
building policies present in various executive orders and the 
recent Federal MOU.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    This section provides that this Act may be cited as the 
``High-Performance Green Buildings Act of 2006.''

Section 2. Definitions

    This section defines the terms ``Administrator,'' 
``Committee,'' ``Director,'' ``Federal Facility,'' ``High-
Performance Green Building,'' ``Life-Cycle,'' ``Life-Cycle 
Assessment,'' ``Life-Cycle Costing,'' and ``Office.''

          TITLE I--OFFICE OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE GREEN BUILDINGS

Section 101. Oversight

    This section establishes and appoints an SES career 
individual to serve as Director for the Office of High-
Performance Green Buildings and provides compensation.
    Subsection (a) establishes the Director position and 
appoints a career SES individual to manage the office in 
accordance with section 102.
    Subsection (b) provides compensation for the Director at a 
maximum rate of basic pay for a Senior Executive Service under 
section 5382 of title 5, U.S. Code.

Section 102. Office of High-Performance Green Buildings

    This section establishes an office within the General 
Services Administration as the Office of High-Performance Green 
Buildings and outlines the duties of the Director of the 
Office.
    Subsection (a) establishes the Office of High-Performance 
Green Buildings within the General Services Administration.
    Subsection (b) outlines the duties of the Director to 
include: (1) ensuring full coordination of all green building 
activities within the General Services Administration and all 
relevant Federal agencies that at a minimum include: the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of the Federal 
Environmental Executive, Department of Energy, Office of the 
Federal Procurement Policy, Department of Health and Human 
Services, and the Department of Defense; (2) establishing a 
senior-level green building advisory committee to provide 
advice and recommendations to the Director; (3) identifying and 
biennially reassessing improved or higher rating standards; (4) 
establishing a high-performance green building clearinghouse; 
(5) ensuring full coordination of research and development 
information; (6) identifying and developing green building 
standards; (7) establishing green building practices for 
Federal facilities; (8) reviewing and analyzing Federal budget 
practices relating to green buildings; and (9) providing a 
report to Congress.
    Subsection (c) requires that a report be submitted to 
Congress within 2 years of enactment and biennially thereafter 
that includes: (1) a description of green building initiatives 
under this act and other programs in effect prior to this Act 
along with the current status of each and funding levels; (2) 
identification of barriers within the planning, budgeting and 
construction process that prevent new and existing facilities 
from becoming high-performance green buildings as defined by a 
silver rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental 
Design Building Rating System (LEED) established by the U.S. 
Green Building Council or an equivalent rating obtained through 
a comparable, or an improved or higher rating standard; (3) 
identification of inconsistencies within current law; (4) 
recommendations of language for uniform standards for all 
Federal agencies; (5) a review of the budget process for 
alternatives to address energy and environmental cost 
accounting and include benefits to health and productivity, 
permitting Federal agencies to retain savings accrued through 
life-cycle costing, and identifying short and long term savings 
from high-performance green building initiatives, including 
those related to health and productivity; (6) identification of 
green self-sustaining technologies to address operational needs 
of Federal facilities in times of national security 
emergencies, natural disasters, or other dire emergencies; (7) 
a summary of developments at the State and local levels; and 
(8) recommendations to address these issues.
    A variety of green building rating systems are currently 
available for use by the U.S. building industry. While this 
bill specifically references the United States Green Building 
Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), 
the Committee intends that other rating systems be eligible 
under this bill to determine high-performance green buildings. 
Both LEED and the Green Globes rating system from the Green 
Building Initiative (GBI) have U.S.-specific versions; examples 
of other rating systems include (but are not limited to) the 
Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment 
Method (BREEAM), the Comprehensive Assessment System for 
Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE), and GBTool. The 
Committee intends that the Office of High-Performance Green 
Buildings evaluate all credible green building rating systems 
as they develop to determine how they may be applied to help 
new and existing facilities become high-performance green 
buildings.
    Subsection (d) requires that the Office carry out a plan 
for implementing these initiatives.

Section 103. Green Building Advisory Committee

    This section establishes a Green Building Advisory 
Committee of both Federal and non-Federal entities, sets 
specific parameters on the membership, and requires that the 
Director set a regular schedule of meetings. This section 
explains the role of the Committee and provides an exemption to 
section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
    Subsection (a) establishes that no later than 180 days 
after enactment, the Director shall create the Green Building 
Advisory Committee.
    Subsection (b) outlines the membership of the Committee to 
include all relevant Federal agencies and at least one 
representative of each of the following: state and local 
government green building programs, independent green building 
associations or councils, building experts, security advisors, 
and environmental health experts for both adults and children. 
The Committee may not have more than 15 non-Federal members.
    Subsection (c) requires that a regular schedule of meetings 
be set. The Committee recommends that the Green Building 
Advisory Committee meet as often as 6 times each year, if 
deemed necessary by the Director in consultation with other 
members of the Advisory Committee, but realizes that a physical 
meeting may not always be necessary.
    Subsection (d) explains that the role of the Committee is 
to provide advice and expertise to the Director for carrying 
out his duties under this Act.
    Subsection (e) exempts the Committee from section 14 of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act that dissolves committees after 
2 years.

Section 104. Public outreach

    This section requires the Director to carry out public 
outreach to inform individuals and entities of green building 
activities government-wide through the creation of a national 
high-performance green building clearinghouse that identifies 
similar green building activities and provides direct links to 
each Federal agency's green building activities, as well as 
major developments, findings or studies at the State and local 
level, the private sector, and other relevant organizations, 
including those of other countries. The clearinghouse shall 
also provide access to technical information, including tools 
and resources helpful for making decisions that are more cost-
effective, energy-efficient, health-protective and 
environmentally beneficial, and that would be useful for 
constructing a high-performance green building, as well as 
information on how to certify a green building.

Section 105. Research and development

    This section requires the Director to coordinate ongoing 
green building activities, to survey recent findings and 
developments, and to develop a research plan on high-
performance green buildings. The research shall involve the 
relationship between human health, occupant productivity and 
each of the following: emissions from materials and products in 
the building, natural day lighting, ventilation choices and 
technologies, heating and cooling systems, moisture control and 
mold, maintenance and cleaning, pest control, and other issues 
relating to health, comfort, productivity, and performance of 
the occupants of the building.
    The research plan shall also include the development and 
dissemination of tools to measure the life-cycle performance of 
a building, a review of the benefits of using high-performance 
green buildings during a natural disaster or national 
emergency, as well as other areas the Director deems necessary.

Section 106. Budget and life-cycle costing and contracting

    This section requires the Director to identify, review, and 
analyze current budget and contracting practices for building a 
high-performance green building, to develop guidance and 
conduct training sessions on life-cycle costing, to identify 
tools to aid in life-cycle cost decision making, and to explore 
the feasibility for including the benefits of green buildings, 
such as security benefits, into life-cycle cost decision 
making.

Section 107. Authorization of appropriations

    This section authorizes $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2008 through 2012, to remain available until expended.

               TITLE II--HEALTHY HIGH-PERFORMANCE SCHOOLS

Section 201. Definition of high-performance school

    This section defines a healthy high-performing school.

Section 202. Grants for healthy school environments

    This section authorizes the Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency in consultation with the 
Secretary of Education to provide grants to qualified State 
agencies to provide technical assistance in implementing EPA 
school environmental programs such as the Tools for Schools 
Program and the Healthy School Environmental Assessment Tool. 
The grant money may also be used to develop State school 
environmental quality plans that include standards for school 
building design, construction and renovation that would achieve 
a healthy high-performing school and plans that would identify 
ongoing environmental problems in the school and include 
recommendations on how to address these problems that would 
also include an assessment of information on the exposure of 
children to environmental hazards in school facilities.
    The Committee intends that such grants may also be made 
available to tribes.

Section 203. Model guidelines for siting of school facilities

    This section directs the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, in consultation with the Secretaries of 
Education and Health and Human Services to develop school site 
selection guidelines that take into account the special 
vulnerability of children to hazardous substances or pollution 
exposures in any case where possible contamination would exist, 
modes of transportation available to students and staff, and 
the potential use of the school facility as an emergency 
shelter in the event of a natural disaster or other national 
emergency.

Section 204. Public outreach

    This section requires the Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency to report to the Director on 
all activities carried out under this Title. The Director is 
required to make this information available on the 
clearinghouse established in section 104 to the maximum extent 
practicable, in particular, information on the exposure of 
children to environmental hazards in school facilities.

Section 205. Authorization of appropriations

    This section authorizes $5,000,000 for the period of fiscal 
years 2008 through 2012, to remain available until expended.

              TITLE III--STRENGTHENING FEDERAL LEADERSHIP

Section 301. Incentives

    This section requires that the Director identify incentives 
to encourage the use of green buildings and related 
technologies in the operations of the Federal Government that 
would include recognition awards and the ability of an agency 
to keep any financial savings they accrue by utilizing green 
building initiatives.

Section 302. Federal procurement

    This section requires that regulations be issued requiring 
that to the maximum extent practicable, all Federal building 
projects for new construction, major repair and renovation be 
sustainable and that leases be in facilities that are both 
energy efficient and constructed or repaired with high-
performing and sustainable design. In addition, guidance shall 
also be issued to aid in the redesign of proposed facilities.
    Subsection (a) directs the Director of the Office of 
Federal Procurement Policy, in consultation with the Director 
of the Office of High-Performance Green Buildings and the Under 
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, 
within two years of enactment, to revise applicable regulations 
directing Federal procurement executives to apply, to the 
maximum extent practicable, the key principles of the 
Memorandum of Understanding signed by 19 Federal agencies in 
January of 2006 to every Federal project for new construction, 
major repair and renovation. These principles of integrated 
design, optimizing building and systems energy performance, 
protecting and conserving water, enhancing indoor environmental 
quality, and reducing environmental impacts of materials and 
waste flows will assist the Federal government in utilizing 
more high-performing green buildings.
    The regulations shall also be revised to give preference, 
to the maximum extent practicable, to the leasing of facilities 
that are energy efficient and have applied high-performance and 
sustainable design principles during construction and 
renovation.
    Subsection (b) requires that 90 days after the regulations 
have been revised, guidance be issued by the Director of the 
Office of Federal Procurement Policy providing direction and 
the option to renegotiate the design of proposed facilities to 
incorporate improvements consistent with this section.

Section 303. Federal Green Building performance

    This section requires that a General Accountability Office 
(GAO) report be issued on the implementation of this Act and 
its initiatives and provides for specific requirements of the 
report. In addition, authorization is given for the Director to 
enhance and expand the existing scorecard system currently used 
to rate agency performance in green initiatives.
    Subsection (a) requires that by October 31 of each of the 
two fiscal years following the fiscal year of enactment, the 
Comptroller General of the United States conduct an audit on 
the implementation of this Act and submit a report on its 
findings to the Office, the Committee, the Administrator and 
Congress.
    Subsection (b) outlines that the report shall include an 
assessment of budget, life-cycle costing and contracting 
issues, the level of coordination among the Office, OMB and 
relevant agencies, the performance of the Office in carrying 
out the implementation plan, the design stage of high-
performance green building measures and findings associated 
with high-performance green building data that has been 
collected and reported to the office, as well as other issues 
the Comptroller deems appropriate.
    Subsection (c) requires the Director consult with the 
Advisory Committee on how best to enhance and implement the 
existing Environmental Stewardship Scorecard system to measure 
the performance of each Federal agency in implementing 
sustainable design and green building initiatives.

                    TITLE IV--DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

Section 401. Coordination of goals

    This section establishes guidelines for implementing a 
Federal demonstration project in the State of Vermont that 
would achieve the highest rating under the U.S. Green Building 
Council's LEED rating system or equivalent rating of a 
comparable system.
    Subsection (a) authorizes the Director to establish a 
demonstration project.
    Subsection (b) provides for a Federal demonstration project 
in the State of Vermont to evaluate green building initiatives 
covered under the Act and requires that the facility achieve a 
platinum rating under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED 
rating system or equivalent rating under a comparable system.
    Subsection (c) outlines the criteria of the Federal 
demonstration project to ensure that the project be an 
appropriate model on the effectiveness of high-performing green 
building technologies, to provide an analysis of materials, 
components and systems used in the building on occupant health 
and productivity, to analyze life-cycle costing and life-cycle 
assessment of materials and systems, to provide a location and 
design that promotes access to the facility through walking, 
hiking, and mass transit, and that possesses sufficient 
technological and organizational adaptability.
    Subsection (d) requires that a report be provided to the 
Administrator one year after enactment, and annually thereafter 
through September 30, 2013, on the current status and findings 
of the demonstration project.

Section 402. Authorization of appropriations

    This section authorizes $5,000,000 for the period of fiscal 
years 2008-2012, to remain available until expended.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 3591 was introduced by Senator Jeffords on June 28, 
2006, with Ms. Snowe, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Chafee, Mrs. Boxer, 
Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Obama as 
original cosponsors. Additional cosponsors include Mr. Wyden, 
Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Bingaman. S. 3591 was referred to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works and ordered reported 
favorably out of Committee with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute on September 13, 2006.
    In the 108th Congress, a similar bill, S. 2620, was 
introduced by Senator Jeffords and referred to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.

                                HEARINGS

    There were no legislative hearings held on S. 3591.
    A public hearing was held by the Senate Committee on 
Environment and Public Works on October 1, 2002, entitled, 
``Green Schools: Environmental Standards for Schools.''

                             ROLLCALL VOTES

    The Committee on Environment and Public Works met to 
consider S. 3591 on September 13, 2006. The Committee accepted 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute to the introduced 
bill. The Committee members completed action on the bill and 
reported S. 3591, as amended, favorably by voice vote. Senator 
Bond was recorded as voting against the bill and Senator 
Lautenberg was recorded as voting in support of the bill.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT

    In compliance with section 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes evaluation of 
the regulatory impact of the reported bill.
    The bill does not create any additional regulatory burdens, 
nor will it cause any adverse impact on the personal privacy of 
individuals.

                          MANDATES ASSESSMENT

    In compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Pub. L. 104-4), the Committee finds that S. 3591 would impose 
no Federal intergovernmental unfunded mandates on State, local, 
or tribal governments.

                          COST OF LEGISLATION

    Section 403 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
Control Act requires that a statement of the cost of the 
reported bill, prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, be 
included in the report. That statement follows:

S. 3591--High-Performance Green Buildings Act of 2006

Summary

    S. 3591 would authorize the appropriation of $25 million 
over the 2008-2012 period to make federal buildings more energy 
efficient, develop building technologies that minimize adverse 
effects on the natural environment to build structures known as 
``green buildings,'' and provide environmental grants to 
schools. Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO 
estimates that implementing S. 3591 would cost $4 million in 
2008 and about $20 million over the 2008-2011 period. An 
additional $5 million in outlays would fall in 2012. Enacting 
the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues.
    S. 3591 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). 
The bill would benefit state and local governments, and any 
costs to those governments would result from complying with 
grant conditions.

Estimated cost to the Federal Government

    The estimated budgetary impact of S. 3591 is shown in the 
following table. The costs of this legislation fall within 
budget functions 300 (natural resources and environment) and 
800 (general government).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   By fiscal year, in millions of dollars
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
                                                              2007     2008     2009     2010     2011     2012
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Office of High-Performance Green Buildings:
    Authorization Level...................................        0        3        3        3        3        3
    Estimated Outlays.....................................        0        2        3        3        3        3
Healthy High-Performance Schools:
    Estimated Authorization Level.........................        0        1        1        1        1        1
    Estimated Outlays.....................................        0        1        1        1        1        1
Demonstration Project:
    Estimated Authorization Level.........................        0        1        1        1        1        1
    Estimated Outlays.....................................        0        1        1        1        1        1
Other Provisions:
    Estimated Authorization Level.........................        *        *        *        0        0        0
    Estimated Outlays.....................................        *        *        *        0        0        0
Total Changes:
    Estimated Authorization Level.........................        *        5        5        5        5        5
    Estimated Outlays.....................................        *        4        5        5        5       5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: * = less than $500,000.

Basis of estimate

    For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 3591 will be enacted 
near the start of fiscal year 2007 and that amounts authorized 
will be appropriated beginning in 2008. Estimates of outlays 
are based on historical spending patterns for similar programs. 
S. 3591 would authorize the appropriation of $25 million over 
the 2008-2012 period. These amounts would be used to make 
federal buildings more energy efficient, develop green 
buildings, and provide environmental grants to schools.
            Office of High-Performance Green Buildings
    Title I would authorize the appropriation of $3 million 
annually over the 2008-2012 period to establish an Office of 
High-Performance Green Buildings within the General Services 
Administration to coordinate and promote green building 
technologies within the federal government. The office would 
conduct research, outreach programs, and coordinate budget and 
procurement issues. Assuming appropriation of the authorized 
amounts, CBO estimates that the office activities would cost 
about $15 million over the 2008-2012 period.
            Healthy High-Performance Schools
    Title II would authorize the appropriation of $5 million 
over the 2008-2012 period for the Environmental Protection 
Agency to award grants to states to assist schools in 
addressing environmental issues. CBO expects that $1 million 
would be provided each year over the 2008-2012 period. 
Appropriation of the authorized amount would result in 
discretionary spending of $5 million over the 2008-2012 period.
            Demonstration project
    Title IV would authorize the appropriation of $5 million 
over the 2008-2012 period to the Office of High-Performance 
Green Buildings to fund a demonstration project of a federal 
building in Vermont that employs green building technologies. 
CBO expects that $1 million would be provided each year over 
the 2008-2012 period. Assuming appropriation of the authorized 
amount, CBO estimates that the project would cost $5 million 
over the 2008-2012 period.
            Other provisions
    Title III would require the Office of Federal Procurement 
Policy to revise procurement regulations to encourage the use 
of energy efficient and green building technologies. In 
addition, the legislation would require the Government 
Accountability Office to provide reports to the Congress on the 
impact of the legislation. CBO estimates that these provisions 
would cost less than $500,000 a year.

Intergovernmental and Private-Sector Impact

    S. 3591 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in UMRA. Title II would authorize $5 
million in grants to build environmentally friendly schools and 
to remedy environmental problems at current schools. Any costs 
to state, local, or tribal governments would result from 
complying with grant conditions.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Matthew Pickford. 
Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Sarah Puro. 
Impact on the private sector: Amy Petz.
    Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    Section 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate 
requires the committee to publish changes in existing law made 
by the bill as reported. Passage of this bill will make no 
changes to existing law.

                    ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF SENATOR BOND

    Mr. Bond, from the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works, submitted the following additional views to accompany 
the report on S. 3591, the High-Performance Green Buildings Act 
of 2006.

          TITLE I--OFFICE OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE GREEN BUILDINGS

    Section (c) requires a report to be submitted to Congress 
within 2 years of enactment and biennually thereafter. Section 
(c)(2)(A) indicates that this report is to identify within the 
planning, budgeting and construction process all types of 
Federal facility procedures that inhibit new and existing 
Federal facilities from becoming high-performance green 
buildings as measured by--(A) a silver rating, as defined by 
the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 
Building Rating System standard established by the United 
States Green Building Council (or equivalent rating obtained 
through a comparable system).
    While S. 3591 specifically references the United States 
Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental 
Design (LEED), the Committee intends other rating systems to be 
eligible under this bill to determine high performance green 
buildings under this bill. Both LEED and the Green Globes 
rating system from the Green Building Initiative (GBI) have 
U.S.-specific versions. Examples of other rating systems 
include, (but are not limited to) the Building Research 
Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), the 
Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental 
Efficiency (CASBEE), and GB Tool. The Committee expects the 
Office of High-Performance Green Buildings to evaluate all 
credible green building rating systems as they develop to 
determine how they may be applied to help new and existing 
facilities become high-performance green buildings. Under no 
circumstances does this legislation favor one rating system 
over another.

                 TITLE II--HEALTHY PERFORMANCE SCHOOLS

    Section 203 of Title II directs the EPA in consultation 
with the Department of Education and the Department of Health 
and Human Services to develop model (non-mandatory) guidelines 
for the siting of local schools. Increasing unnecessary 
paperwork on local schools in a system already overburdened by 
paperwork and bureaucracy is a concern. When selecting school 
sites, schools already take into consideration potential 
hazardous substance/pollution exposure, transportation concerns 
and the use of the facility as an emergency shelter. The 
involvement of the EPA may create additional bureaucratic steps 
without necessarily adding any benefit to the process. Further, 
school facilities are primarily funded with local dollars and 
additional EPA involvement could create delays and add costs to 
the construction projects as schools have to expend additional 
resources to file paperwork and wait for approvals.

                                               Christopher S. Bond.

                   ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF SENATOR VITTER

    S. 3591 contains language referencing to the Leadership in 
Energy Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building rating system 
designed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) which is of 
great concern to the forestry and chemical industries in 
Louisiana.
    Specifically, section 102 of the bill defines ``high-
performance green buildings'' must meet the USGBC's LEED silver 
standard. In addition, Title IV of the bill specifies federal 
buildings must meet the USGBC's LEED platinum standard. These 
two sections of S. 3591 essentially create a congressionally 
mandated monopoly requiring the General Services Administration 
to the USGBC's LEED rating standard for government building. 
The LEED rating system discriminates against the use of 
renewable wood products and plastics.
    S. 3591 should include language which ensures that all 
alternative rating systems are made eligible to participate in 
the bill's objectives. Until other alternative rating systems 
are included I believe the Louisiana forestry and chemical 
industries will be adversely affected. The exclusion of wood 
products and plastics in this legislation could possible harm 
the recovery efforts being made post Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita.

                                                      David Vitter.

ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF SENATORS JEFFORDS, LAUTENBERG, LIEBERMAN, CLINTON, 
                            OBAMA, AND BOXER

    The High-Performance Green Buildings Act of 2006 has 
received wide support from many organizations, including the 
American Institute of Architects, the National Association of 
Realtors, the Healthy Schools Network, Center for Health, 
Environment, and Justice, the U.S. Green Building Council, the 
Environment and Energy Study Institute, the American Society of 
Civil Engineers, and the Greenguard Environmental Institute.
    At the direction of Congress through Section 609 of the 
Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, The 
Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies 
Appropriations Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-115), the General Services 
Administration (GSA) was asked to report on their progress of 
recognizing other building ratings systems within their 
sustainable building process. To do so, GSA contracted a third 
party, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), to 
study available sustainable rating systems and measure how each 
rating system meets the building needs of GSA. The findings of 
this study were published in a July 2006 report, ``Sustainable 
Building Rating Systems.''
    The PNNL report does not recommend a particular rating 
system to GSA, but provides a complete summary of each rating 
system and its ability to address the different building 
projects of GSA. In addition, a review is made on the 
reliability and completeness of each rating system and its 
ability to achieve an end rating that is understood and clearly 
conveyed.
    In a September 15, 2006, letter submitted to Congress, GSA 
stated, ``Based upon the results of the study, GSA finds that 
the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system continues 
to be the most appropriate and credible sustainable building 
rating system available for evaluation of GSA projects.''
    The purpose of this report is not to endorse or reject any 
particular green building rating system but to provide to the 
Congress and the public objective and fact based information on 
currently available green building rating systems and a third 
party examination of their utility and credibility for the 
primary federal agency that constructs and renovates real 
property for use by the government.
    We believe a credible rating system is one that has been 
proven, has the ability to track quantifiable aspects of 
building design, is verified by trained professionals, and 
enables buildings to achieve a high-performing green 
certification that is easily understood and measured.
                                   Jim Jeffords,
                                   Frank R. Lautenberg,
                                   Joe Lieberman,
                                   Hillary Rodham Clinton,
                                   Barack Obama,
                                   Barbara Boxer.

                                  
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