COVER MEMO – EPA’s Interim Determination for GSA & DOT/FHWA on low greenhouse gas construction materials under IRA Sections 60503 and 60506

https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-01/2022.12.22%20COVER%20MEMO%20Interim%20Determination%20under%20IRA%20Sections%2060503%20and%2060506_508.pdf

EPA

The composites industry will gain an advantage over other construction products and materials if the composites industry can prove that their products and materials are in the 20th percentile of embodied greenhouse gas emissions when compared to other similar construction products and materials.

The EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention wrote this document to declare that the EPA will prioritize reducing GHG emission impacts in construction materials and products that have the highest global warming potential impact in the production stage. This declaration is notable, as the IRA directs the EPA to consider GHG emission impacts in the use and disposal stages of materials and products. However, the EPA writes that later phases of the GHG emission reduction initiative will have a broad approach that incorporates use and disposal. The document also defines substantially lower global warming potential to mean the 20% top performing products and materials, which means the emissions of those products and materials are in the lowest 20% of embodied GHG emissions when compared to similar products and materials.