CUT RULES:  A new FAR rule issued Monday, which not in coincidentally was Earth Day, requires government agencies to obtain sustainable acquisition solutions “to the maximum extent practicable.”  Although most of the requirements fall on companies selling products to the government, service contractors should be aware of this as well.  The rule making in the Federal Register ran several pages and can be found here:  https://shorturl.at/npsHS.  Ironically, contractor compliance with the sustainability rule creates new tracking and reporting requirements, efforts that will use both electric and personal energy.  Indeed, the best way to use government procurement to positively impact the environment would be to roll back the myriad rules that govern acquisition.  While each new rule requires both a “Reg Flex” and Paperwork Reduction Act review to assess the burden associated with its compliance, agencies can’t always be counted on to evaluate these factors as would their private sector counterparts.  The sustainability rule, for example, requires that contractors check their compliance with seven separate sustainable acquisition standards created by the Environmental Protection Agency.  The FAR Council does not believe, though, that this constitutes a significant new burden.  A more accurate assessment of the impact of procurement rules would assess the time needed to assess compliance, the time needed to ensure compliance, including the creation of any new processes, the energy expended to participate in company meetings, either virtual or in person, and the amount of paper that is inevitably still used to keep track of compliance efforts.  These are just some of the factors that are not currently accounted for, although they most definitely impact the climate in various ways.  Reducing rules would likely have at least as significant an impact on the environment as the creation of new “environmentally friendly” rules.  Such actions also have the positive benefit of making acquisitions faster and easier to complete.  This not only improves government efficiency, another positive climate impact, but improves national security, while driving increased innovation and competition.  Contractors and their representatives may want to raise these points in future discussions with federal rule makers.