FAR 23.5—Subpart 23.5

Scope of subpart.

FAR 23.500 is the scope statement for Subpart 23.5, and it tells readers that this subpart is about public disclosure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and GHG reduction goals. In practical terms, it frames the government’s expectations for transparency around climate-related reporting, including what contractors may need to disclose publicly and how reduction targets fit into that disclosure framework. Because it is only a scope provision, it does not itself impose detailed reporting procedures or thresholds; instead, it identifies the subject matter covered by the subpart and signals that the operative requirements will appear in the sections that follow. For contracting officers and contractors, this section matters because it alerts them that climate disclosure obligations may be part of the acquisition environment and may affect proposal preparation, contract administration, and corporate sustainability reporting. It also helps distinguish this subpart from other FAR provisions dealing with environmental compliance, energy efficiency, or sustainability more generally.

Policy.

FAR 23.501 establishes a greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure policy tied to federal procurement. It applies to offerors that are registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and that received $7.5 million or more in Federal contract awards in the prior Federal fiscal year. The section requires those offerors to make specific representations about whether they publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and whether they publicly disclose a quantitative greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal, and to provide the website for any such disclosures. In practical terms, this policy is designed to help the Government better understand both direct and indirect emissions associated with Federal contracting activity and to improve visibility into contractor climate-related transparency and commitments. For contractors, the rule creates a recurring compliance and proposal-preparation obligation; for contracting personnel, it adds a screening and documentation point that may affect responsibility determinations, solicitation responses, and award processing. The section is narrow in scope but important because it links environmental reporting expectations to eligibility and representation requirements in the procurement process.

Solicitation provision.

FAR 23.502 is a narrow solicitation rule that tells contracting officers when to include the representation provision at 52.223-22, Public Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Goals—Representation. Its only subject is the trigger for using that provision: it must be included only when the solicitation also includes 52.204-7, System for Award Management, as part of the annual representations and certifications framework referenced in 52.204-8. In practice, this section links a climate-related representation to the broader SAM registration/representation process rather than making it a stand-alone solicitation requirement. The purpose is to ensure consistency in when offerors are asked to make this representation and to avoid inserting it into solicitations that do not use the standard SAM representation structure. For contracting officers, the rule is a simple but important checklist item; for offerors, it means the disclosure/representation requirement appears only in solicitations that already require the SAM-based representation package.