OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Letter to Martha Johnson, Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration

Letter

Date: June 23, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Energy Environment

June 23, 2011

Ms. Martha Johnson
Administrator
U.S. General Services Administration
1800 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20405

Dear Administrator Johnson:

We write today to respectfully request that the General Services Administration receive input from all interested parties as part of the study required under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to recommend a green building certification system. The GSA is required to review its green building certification system every 5 years, and the newest recommendation is expected to come out later this year. We support GSA's efforts to use environmentally sustainable materials, however, we are concerned that the system chosen for new building construction may have unintended consequences for American forestry and result in fewer forestry jobs.

As the result of the 2006 evaluation by GSA of sustainable building rating systems, United States Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system was chosen for new building construction. This decision has been a concern for us because the LEED rating system does not give credit to two of the largest, independently audited forest certification programs in the United States - the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the American Tree Farm system (ATFS). Over 84 million acres of forests in the United States are SFI or ATFS certified. We are concerned that the GSA will again recommend a rating system that will place domestically forested wood at a disadvantage, thereby distorting the market and costing jobs.

The upcoming decision to recommend a green building certification system should be based on sound policy and peer-reviewed scientific analysis. An important part of making sound policy decisions is taking input from those that are affected by a decision. We call on GSA to have a period of public comment before making a decision on what certification system to recommend. We also call on GSA to ensure that the scientific basis of its recommendation is accepted in the scientific community. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

Max Baucus
U.S. Senator

David Vitter
U.S. Senator

James Inhofe
U.S. Senator

John Boozman
U.S. Senator


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