Buy Clean got its start in the states and work continues in earnest to adopt Buy Clean policies in statehouses across the nation.  After some initial research on how Buy Clean could be adapted at the state level, the BlueGreen Alliance launched a multi-state campaign to expand Buy Clean work to Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, and other states. Check the tracker below to learn more about efforts to bring Buy Clean to the states.

Washington

On March 28, 2024, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed the Buy Clean, Buy Fair Act into law. The law will put in place environmental and labor reporting for public building construction and renovation materials. The bill’s signing builds on previous legislation that created a tracking system to ensure public dollars are spent wisely and level the playing field for manufacturers that invest in pollution controls and treat workers fairly.

The BlueGreen Alliance worked alongside multiple coalition partners to secure this bill’s passage. The law promotes transparency around public spending, leverages state spending to cut embodied carbon, and promotes high-labor standards in manufacturing. With the signing, Washington joins states across the country—and the federal government—in moving forward Buy Clean policies that achieve ambitious climate goals in a way that creates good-paying jobs. Unlike the laws before it, Buy Clean Buy Fair in Washington includes timber alongside other infrastructure materials for the first time.

Oregon

In Oregon, Representative Dan Rayfield (D-16) introduced a version of Buy Clean policy, giving the BlueGreen Alliance an ally in the state as well as a solid place to start working with more state partners. On March 3, 2022, the bill passed the state’s legislature with huge bipartisan support and headed to Governor Brown’s desk for signature.

Minnesota

The Buy Clean Buy Fair Minnesota Act became law on May 24, 2023. The components of the bill included two omnibus bills signed by Gov. Tim Walz. The new law establishes an Environmental Standards and Procurement Task Force to help the state navigate how to procure materials for infrastructure products made in a cleaner, more efficient, environmentally-friendly manner to reduce pollution and the negative health impacts while supporting good jobs across our nation.

Buy Clean was first introduced in the Minnesota Legislature in 2018.  It was championed by Representative Frank Hornstein (DFL-61A) and the Buy Clean Minnesota Act (HF2203) was introduced in that session. The act was re-introduced in 2019 by Rep. Hornstien and Rep. Rob Ecklund (DFL-03A). Buy Clean garnered bipartisan support in 2020 before the COVID-19 Pandemic, which necessarily shifted the focus of the state legislature. At that time, companion bills HF3702/SF4181 were introduced. These bills provide funding for a study to examine the costs and benefits of requiring environmental assessments of building materials used in state buildings to be included in bids. At the same time Reps. Hornstein and Ecklund built a BlueGreen Caucus at the legislature and the BlueGreen Alliance in Minnesota built a coalition of organizations to move passage of Buy Clean. In 2021, the coalition was able to get a Buy Clean study and a Buy Clean/Buy Fair pilot program added to the Climate and Energy Omnibus Bill. 

Colorado

In Colorado, Buy Clean legislation had made its way through the state legislature in the form of HB21-1303, the bill in sponsored by Rep. Tracey Bernett, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, and Sen. Chris Hansen. The bill was passed out of the legislature on June 7, 2021, and was signed into law by Gov. Polis on July 6, 2021.

The Buy Clean Colorado Act reduces industrial upstream emissions by directing state agencies to accept and evaluate Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) information from architects, engineers, and contractors, and to define methods that prioritize the use of the cleanest materials available in capital public projects. The Colorado Act applies both to vertical buildings infrastructure, as well as horizontal infrastructure, including roads and bridges.

Colorado’s legislation specifies several eligible materials requiring EPDs in public projects, including post-tension steel, reinforcing steel, structural steel, cement and concrete mixtures, asphalt and asphalt mixtures, glass, and wood structural elements. State agencies will regularly report their progress in reducing embodied carbon emissions, lessons learned, and any emerging recommendations to improve Buy Clean processes.