Chad Whiteman Chad Whiteman
Vice President, Environment and Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Published

January 23, 2025

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An efficient federal contracting system allows the government to obtain specialized goods and services from diverse industries such as aerospace and defense, healthcare, infrastructure, technology, energy, and many more.

Accordingly, we applaud the decision to withdraw the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s (FAR) restrictive proposal that would have reduced competition, small business contractor participation, and increased the costs of fulfilling government missions. 

Why it matters: Withdrawing the FAR’s greenhouse gas reporting and climate risk disclosure proposal for federal contractors represents a significant step toward promoting an environment that supports competition and efficiency.

The Chamber represents a diverse set of small and large federal contractors that are already leading the way by disclosing their GHG emissions. The business community recognizes the importance of environmental stewardship and supports these voluntary efforts by companies to disclose their GHG emissions and climate-related strategies. 

Chamber in action: Chad Whiteman, Vice President, Environment and Regulatory Affairs testified before the House Science, Space, and Technology's Investigation and Oversight Subcommittee on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Whiteman underscored that the rule's overreaching compliance requirements would have created high compliance costs and administrative burdens, discouraging companies from participating in federal contracting opportunities.

Looking back: Last year, we submitted comments urging the FAR Council to drop these overly burdensome mandates.

Fill me in: The FAR proposal, as initially crafted, raised serious concerns about its practicality, statutory authority, and potential impact on businesses, particularly the disproportionate burden on small and medium-sized enterprises both directly as federal contractors and indirectly as suppliers.

The withdrawal of the FAR proposal also recognizes the serious national security concern of delegating federal contractor oversight functions, including defense, to private entities supported by foreign governments.  This concern along with others necessitated a more effective and collaborative policy approach.

Recently: The new administration revoked the presidential order that directed the FAR Council to draft the proposal, further supporting this withdrawal.

The bottom line: Halting the FAR proposal will allow federal contractors to concentrate on delivering cost-effective and efficient products and services to the government.

About the authors

Chad Whiteman

Chad Whiteman

Chad S. Whiteman is vice president for environment and regulatory affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute.

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