1 of 1
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1910 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3002
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Daniel Cahill
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to low-embodied carbon concrete.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Daniel Cahill10th Essex1/18/2023 1 of 6
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1910 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3002
By Representative Cahill of Lynn, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3002) of Daniel
Cahill for legislation to further regulate provisions in state procurement contracts involving the
use of low embodied carbon concrete. State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
_______________
An Act relative to low-embodied carbon concrete.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. For the purposes of this act, the following terms shall have the following
2meaning:
3 (i)“concrete” shall mean structural and non-structural masonry, precast and ready mixed
4concrete building and construction materials.
5 (ii)“concrete mix” shall mean a specific combination of components including water,
6cement aggregate and other materials which are used to produce concrete products
7 (iii)"Environmental product declaration" (EPD) shall mean product specific Type Ill
8EPDs that conform to ISO Standard 14025 and enable the numeric GWP and environmental
9impact comparisons between concrete mixes fulfilling the same functions.
10 (iv)"Global warming potential" (GWP) shall mean a numeric value that measures the
11total contribution to global warming from the emission of greenhouse gases, or the elimination of 2 of 6
12greenhouse gas sinks, provided that results from the production and/or utilization outside
13Massachusetts shall be prohibited from inclusion in Lower carbon concrete green procurement
14specifications.
15 (v)“low embodied carbon concrete” shall mean concrete that has been verified to embody
16lower carbon emissions compared to the baseline embodied carbon emissions of conventional
17concrete.
18 (vi)“Low carbon concrete producer incentives” shall mean financial inducements offered
19to private concrete manufacturers and/or contractors to encourage the incorporation of lower
20carbon concrete materials and methods in concrete products procured by state agencies. Producer
21incentives include but are not limited to i.) bid discounts applied to offeror prices for concrete
22materials included in proposals for state projects, and ii. monetary performance bonuses that are
23awarded to concrete manufacturers that produce and deliver concrete products for state projects
24that have been verified to attain exceptionally low levels of embodied carbon.
25 (vii)“lower carbon emissions” shall be defined by the Division of Capital Asset
26Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) with input from the stakeholder advisory group
27established in Section 2, subsection A 3(a) of this bill.
28 (viii)"Performance based specification" shall mean a contract provision that requires that
29a structural material achieve specified performance outcomes from the use of the structural
30material, including, but not limited to, outcomes related to the strength, durability, permeability,
31or other attributes related to the function of the building material for applied uses, as opposed to
32requiring that a structural material be produced using a specific prescribed manufacturing
33process, design features, technologies, or proportions of constituent materials. 3 of 6
34 SECTION 2. State contract law is amended in Massachusetts Building Code CMR 780,
35Chapter 81 and Chapter 90 by adding a new section
36 Section ___A to read as follows:
37 Subsection A. Contracts involving low embodied carbon concrete.
38 1. Any state or local contract for low embodied carbon concrete shall include provisions
39regarding contractor, subcontractor and worker product certification as follows:
40 (a) contractors and subcontractors doing work involving low embodied carbon concrete
41shall certify that all work completed or utilized on projects meets the minimum standards
42established under this section by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance
43(DCAMM)
44 2. Any certifications required by this section shall be kept current for the duration of all
45contracts. The Contractor shall issue periodic test reports to the Division from a laboratory
46certified to evaluate low embodied carbon concrete. The Contractor shall report any changes to
47the Division.
48 3. (a) the office of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, in
49consultation with the Department of Energy Resources, shall establish guidelines requiring the
50procurement of low embodied carbon concrete on projects deemed appropriate by such office.
51Such guidelines shall implement a process with minimum standards for contractors and
52subcontractors to file with the contracting agency upon completion of a project. When
53establishing guidelines related to low embodied carbon concrete, the office of the Division of
54Capital Asset Management and Maintenance shall consider industry standards. The Division, in 4 of 6
55conjunction with the Department of Energy Resources shall establish a stakeholder advisory
56group appointed by the commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and
57Maintenance consisting of: (i) two licensed professional engineers; (ii) two licensed registered
58architects; (iii) two representatives of the construction industry; (iv) two representatives of the
59concrete testing and validation industry; (v) two representatives of an accredited school of civil
60engineering; (vi) one representative from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC);
61and (vii) one representative each from the executive office of transportation, the executive office
62of housing and community development, the department of energy resources, and the department
63of environmental protection.
64 (b) the office of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance shall
65consult with any relevant associations that set industry standards for the procurement of low
66embodied carbon concrete and shall consult with affected contractors and subcontractors to
67consider environmental impact as well as the impact on public health and safety.
68 (d) the office of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance shall create
69a licensure process and establish a fee schedule for certification of low embodied carbon
70concrete.
71 4. The office of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance shall also
72examine i. the use of incentives, including bid credits and performance bonuses to encourage the
73usage and innovation of low embodied carbon concrete on state agency projects; ii. the
74application of performance-based specification standards for concrete procured by state agencies;
75iii.the implementation of expedited Department of Transportation (DOT) evaluation, testing, and
76approval protocols for lower carbon concrete materials and methods; iv. the implementation of 5 of 6
77mandatory maximum global warming potential thresholds for concrete procured by state
78agencies; the utilization of environmental product declarations and/or other methodologies and
79tools that quantify the climate and environmental impact of materials, including but not limited
80to global warming potential.
81 5. In addition, the office of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance
82shall also examine the use of implementing standards for performance-based specification,
83including but not limited to requirements that a structural material achieves specified
84performance-based outcomes from the use of the structural material, including but not limited to,
85outcomes related to strength, durability, permeability or other attributes related to the function of
86the building material for applied uses, as opposed to requiring that a structural material be
87produced using a specified manufacturer process, design features, technologies, or proportion of
88materials. The office of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance shall
89examine the use of methods of compliance, including, but not limited to, maximum cement
90content specifications and specifications based on maximum potential to impact for global
91warming.
92 6. The commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance in
93consultation with the Department of Transportation and the stakeholder advisory group
94established in subdivision three of this section, shall examine the use of an expedited product
95evaluation protocol for low embodied carbon concrete products.
96 7. The guidelines established pursuant to this section as well as any recommendations for
97subsequent legislative action resulting from examining the use of incentives related to bid credits
98shall be submitted to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the House, the 6 of 6
99Transportation Committee and the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, the
100Housing Committee and the Committees on Ways and Means within thirty days of the issuance
101of such guidelines or within one year from the effective date of this section, whichever may
102come sooner.
103 SECTION 3. Whereas, the deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose,
104which is to establish standards for low embodied carbon contracts to assist to combat climate
105change, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate
106preservation of the public convenience.