Federal Requirements

In This Section

In addition to being part of the Agency's mission, EPA's efforts to reduce energy consumption at its many facilities help it meet a variety of federal energy reduction requirements.* These requirements include a new, comprehensive environmental executive order signed by President Bush in January 2007. The energy reduction guidelines below require that agencies report and reduce energy use at the facilities where they pay utility bills. Since the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) provides most of EPA's office space and pays those utility bills, EPA's energy use reduction program focuses mainly on its laboratories.

Executive Order 13423 Energy and Water Efficiency and Renewable Energy Requirements

Signed on January 24, 2007, Executive Order (E.O.) 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management,” mandates new sustainability goals for the federal government that match or exceed previous statutory and E.O. requirements. The new order consolidates and strengthens the sustainable practices of five existing E.O.s, including E.O. 13123, which are all now revoked.

Energy efficiency: E.O. 13423 mandates an annual 3 percent reduction and cumulative 30 percent reduction in energy intensity by 2015 (compared to an FY 2003 baseline):
- 3 percent by FY 2006
- 6 percent by FY 2007
- 9 percent by FY 2008
- 12 percent by FY 2009
- 15 percent by FY 2010
- 18 percent by FY 2011
- 21 percent by FY 2012
- 24 percent by FY 2013
- 27 percent by FY 2014
- 30 percent by FY 2015
Renewable energy: At least 50 percent of current renewable energy purchases must come from new renewable sources (defined as those that began operation after January 1, 1999). While EPAct 2005 set a renewable energy goal, E.O. 13423 is the first legislation to require a percentage of renewable energy to come from new sources.
Water efficiency: Federal agencies must reduce water consumption intensity (measured in gallons per gross square foot) by 2 percent annually through 2015 (compared to an FY 2007 baseline):
- 2 percent by FY 2006
- 4 percent by FY 2007
- 6 percent by FY 2008
- 8 percent by FY 2009
- 10 percent by FY 2010
- 12 percent by FY 2011
- 14 percent by FY 2012
- 16 percent by FY 2013
- 18 percent by FY 2014
- 20 percent by FY 2015
This is the first E.O. to include these kinds of water reduction requirements.

EPAct 2005 Energy Reduction Requirements

Signed into law on August 8, 2005, EPAct 2005 requires federal agencies to reduce energy intensity every year in their facilities by 2 percent per year beginning in FY 2006, up to a cumulative 20 percent reduction by the end of FY 2015 (compared to an FY 2003 baseline):

2 percent by FY 2006
4 percent by FY 2007
6 percent by FY 2008
8 percent by FY 2009
10 percent by FY 2010
12 percent by FY 2011
14 percent by FY 2012
16 percent by FY 2013
18 percent by FY 2014
20 percent by FY 2015

E.O. 13123 Energy Reduction and Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Requirements

Signed in 1999, E.O. 13123, "Greening the Government Through Efficient Energy Management" (PDF) (12 pp, 108K, About PDF), established the following separate energy reduction requirements for energy intensive industrial and laboratory facilities and other, less energy intensive facilities:

Industrial and laboratory facilities (compared to a FY 1990 baseline):

20 percent by 2005
25 percent by 2010

Other federal facilities (compared to a FY 1985 baseline):

30 percent by 2005
35 percent by 2010

These energy reduction goals have been superseded by the more stringent requirements included in EPAct 2005 and E.O. 13423.

E.O. 13123 also required each federal agency to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions attributed to facility energy use by 30 percent by FY 2010 compared to FY 1990 baseline emissions. This requirement has been superceded by E.O. 13423.

Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct 1992) and Energy Reduction Requirements

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct 1992) required, among other things, that federal agencies reduce the energy intensity at all non-industrial facilities according to the following guidelines (compared to a FY 1985 baseline):

10 percent by FY 1995
20 percent by FY 2000

Energy intensive facilities such as EPA laboratories were exempt under EPAct 1992.

*Note: Since energy reductions are measured in terms of energy intensity (energy use per square foot of space), energy reduction requirements are relative. As a result, new facilities and additions of square footage of laboratory space do not theoretically affect EPA's progress in meeting energy use reduction goals.