82 FR 3794 - Submission for OMB Review; Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 8 (January 12, 2017)

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a new information collection requirement regarding OMB Control No: 3090-00XX; Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 81 FR 57911 on August 24, 2016. Three comments were received.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3794-3796]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00483]


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 GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 3090-00XX; Docket No. 2016-0001; Sequence 11]


Submission for OMB Review; Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure

AGENCY: Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), General Services 
Administration (GSA).

ACTION: Notice of request for comments regarding a new request for an 
OMB clearance.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 
Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a new 
information collection requirement regarding OMB Control No: 3090-00XX; 
Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure. A notice was published in the 
Federal Register at 81 FR 57911 on August 24, 2016. Three comments were 
received.

DATES: Submit comments on or before February 13, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 3090-
00xx; Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure by any of the following 
methods:
     Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit 
comments

[[Page 3795]]

via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching for ``Information 
Collection 3090-00xx; Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas reporting''. Select the 
link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds with ``Information 
Collection 3090-00xx; Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure''. Follow the 
instructions provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please 
include your name, company name (if any), and ``Information Collection 
3090-00xx; Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure'' on your attached 
document.
     Mail: General Services Administration, U.S. General 
Services Administration, Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F 
Street NW., Washington, DC 20405. ATTN: Ms. Flowers/IC 3090-00XX, 
Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 3090-00XX; Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas Disclosure, in all 
correspondence related to this collection. Comments received generally 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including 
any personal and/or business confidential information provided. To 
confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check www.regulations.gov, 
approximately two to three days after submission to verify posting 
(except allow 30 days for posting of comments submitted by mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dana Arnold, Director, Federal 
Acquisition Service Office of Acquisition Management, Special Programs 
Branch, at telephone 703-605-0534, or via email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    President Obama has made Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions reduction 
nationwide and in the Federal community a priority. The President's 
Executive Order 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next 
Decade, published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 15871, on March 25, 
2015, requires the seven largest procuring agencies to implement 
procurements that take into consideration contractor GHG emissions and 
GHG management practices.
    GSA has selected the Alliant2 Government-wide Acquisition Contract 
(GWAC) acquisition for inclusion of contractor GHG emissions disclosure 
requirements. Alliant, GSA's premier enterprise GWAC, provides flexible 
access to customized IT solutions from a large, diverse pool of 
industry partners. Alliant2 will offer both large and small 
contractors. It is GSA's intent to require the large (unrestricted) 
Alliant2 contractors to inventory and publicly disclose their 
operational GHG emissions, set targets for reducing those emissions, 
and disclose progress toward meeting their targets. Of the current 
Alliant contractors, approximately 40 percent already publicly disclose 
their GHG emissions in response to requests from their non-government 
customers, investors, insurers, and corporate sustainability policies.
    Public disclosure of GHG emissions and GHG reduction goals or 
targets has become standard practice in many industries, and companies 
are increasingly asking their own suppliers about their GHG management 
practices. More than 4,000 companies provided public disclosure through 
third-party organization CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) 
in 2015. Performing a GHG inventory provides insight into operations 
and opportunities for energy and operational savings that can result in 
both environmental and financial benefits.
    The Allliant2 GHG disclosure requirement will require the 
unrestricted (large and medium-sized) Alliant2 contractors to 
inventory, and publicly disclose their operational GHG emissions, set 
targets for reducing those emissions, and report progress toward 
meeting their targets. This will be an annual requirement.

B. Discussion and Analysis

    GSA received three comments from one individual and one industry 
association.
    Comment: A commenter noted that contracting law with respect to GHG 
disclosures should be established in the Federal Acquisition 
Regulation, not an individual acquisition.
    Response: E.O. 13693 requires the seven largest purchasing agencies 
to include GHG management in five acquisitions annually. As one of the 
seven agencies, GSA selected the Alliant2 contract as one of its five 
acquisitions for FY2017.
    Comment: A commenter stated that requirements for GHG disclosure 
should be limited to the reporting on the existence of a GHG inventory 
and targets for reductions, with the corresponding provision of a URL 
to a publicly available Web site where this information has already 
been disclosed.
    Response: GSA believes that simply reporting that GHG emissions 
information has been disclosed through a third-party portal or a 
corporate Web site is not enough. Rather, the sharing of information 
about GHG management will be useful to the Alliant2 contractors, 
particularly to provide best practices proven to increase energy 
efficiency and reduce costs. GSA can review the disclosures for best 
practices and share them with the Alliant2 community.
    Comment: The commenter supports the approach to GHG disclosure laid 
out by the Alliant2 contracting office, noting that it is the least 
invasive and should be the pattern across government as additional GHG 
inventory and disclosure requirements become more prevalent. The 
Alliant2 awardees should be required to disclose whether they have a 
GHG inventory and goals or targets, and if so where they make the 
inventory and goals or targets publicly available. The commenter 
believes that a Paperwork Reduction Act waiver is not necessary.
    Response: GSA thanks the commenter for the comment.
    Comment: The commenter stated that the estimated annual reporting 
burden was too low and estimated that for large companies operating 
globally the burden could exceed 200 hours annually.
    Response: The Alliant2 contractors under the unrestricted contract 
will be a mix of large and medium-sized businesses, not all of whom 
operate globally. Taking into account the new information provided by 
the commenter, previous research, as well as its own experience 
conducting a GHG inventory across a large set of buildings, GSA is 
increasing the estimated burden to 120 hours per respondent annually.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    Respondents: 60.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 60.
    Hours per Response: 120.
    Total Burden Hours: 7,200.
    Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this 
collection of information is necessary, whether it will have practical 
utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection 
of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and 
methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and ways in which we can minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, 
through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB),

[[Page 3796]]

1800 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20405, telephone 202-501-4755.
    Please cite OMB Control No. 3090-00XX, Alliant2 Greenhouse Gas 
Disclosure, in all correspondence.

    Dated: January 4, 2017.
David A. Shive,
Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-00483 Filed 1-11-17; 8:45 am]
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