Read the full stored bill text
1
1 ______________________________ 2 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 3 4 5 A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 6 7 ______________ 8 9 10 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 11 12 __________________ 13 14 15 To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Green 16 Building Act of 2006 to exempt certain District owned and funded residential and nonresidential 17 projects from complying with net-zero-energy standards and to modify net-zero-energy standard 18 compliance requirements for nonresidential and residential projects; to amend section 2 of the 19 Clean Energy DC Building Code Amendment Act of 2022 to modify the definition of the net-20 zero-energy standard and the types of projects to which the net-zero-energy standard applies; and 21 for other purposes. 22 23 RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 24 resolution may be cited as the “Net Zero Continuity Emergency Declaration Resolution of 25 2026”. 26 Sec. 2. (a) On January 12, 2023, Mayor Bowser signed into law the Greener Government 27 Buildings Amendment Act of 2022, effective March 10, 2023 (D.C. Law 24-306; 70 DCR 658) 28 (“GGBA”), which amended the Green Building Act of 2006 to require construction of new or 29 substantially improved projects owned or financed by the District to adhere to a net-zero-energy 30 (NZE) standard. 31 (b) Since passage of the GGBA, the Council has enacted several pieces of non-permanent 32 legislation exempting District-financed affordable housing projects from the requirements of the 33 GGBA in order to ensure predictability in project design and development. 34
2
(c) On November 4, 2025, the Council passed the most recent iteration of the Green 35 Housing Coordination Emergency Amendment Act of 2025, effective November 24, 2025 (A26-36 0207; 72 DCR 13506), which removed the NZE provisions established by the GGBA that 37 applied to residential and mixed-use projects and created separate green building requirements 38 for certain residential and mixed-use projects in the Housing Production Trust Fund Act of 1988, 39 effective March 16, 1989 (D.C. Law 7-202; D.C. Official Code § 42-2801). The accompanying 40 temporary bill, the Green Housing Coordination Temporary Amendment Act of 2025, effective 41 February 12, (D.C. Law 26-90; 73 DCR 3) expires on September 26, 2026. 42 (d) On February 3, 2026, the Council considered and passed the Net Zero Modification 43 and Preservation Emergency Amendment Act of 2026, effective March 6, 2026 (A26-275; 73 44 DCR 3779), which, as introduced, updated the NZE standard, including the definition of this 45 standard, and how it is applied to both residential and nonresidential projects covered by the 46 GGBA. The accompanying temporary bill, the Net Zero Modification and Preservation 47 Temporary Amendment Act of 2026, effective May 21, 2026 (D.C. Law 26-123; 73 DCR 5075), 48 expires on January 01, 2027. 49 (e) As the provisions related to the GGBA-covered residential projects were removed 50 through an amendment at the February 03, 2026 Legislative Meeting, there is a significant gap 51 between the expiration of the NZE standard definition that was created by the Net Zero 52 Modification and Preservation Emergency Amendment Act of 2026, effective March 6, 2026 53 (A26-275; 73 DCR 3779) and the expiration of the green housing provisions for residential 54 projects as codified in the Green Housing Coordination Temporary Amendment Act of 2025, 55 effective February 12, 2026 (L26-0090; 73 DCR 3). As a result, when the residential provisions 56 expire, GGBA-covered residential projects will revert to the permanent NZE requirements of the 57 Green Building Act of 2006, which rely on the definition of the NZE standard in the Clean 58
3
Energy DC Building Code Amendment Act of 2022, effective September 21, 2022 (D.C. Law 59 24-177; D.C. Official Code § 6-1453.01). The permanent residential requirements will not align 60 with that definition, which will remain in its temporarily modified form until January 1, 2027, 61 and the standard would change again when the temporary definition expires. 62 (f) Therefore, the Council must act now to provide continuity and advanced certainty of 63 NZE standards for all projects subject to the GGBA and align these standards so they operate on 64 a unified timeline. If the Council does not act at the July 14, 2026 Legislative Meeting, the 65 Council would not have opportunity again until the next scheduled Legislative Meeting on 66 September 22, 2026—just three days before the expiration of the Green Housing Coordination 67 Temporary Amendment Act of 2025, effective February 12, 2026 (L26-0090; 73 DCR 3), thus 68 creating uncertainty for affordable housing developers applying for District financing. In 69 addition, without passage of the accompanying emergency and temporary bills, the Council 70 would again need to consider the NZE standard definition and provisions for GGBA non-71 residential projects later in the fall to ensure continuity for non-residential projects given the 72 limitations on passage of permanent legislation at the end of Council Period 26. By repealing 73 both temporary legislations now, the Council will align the various provisions impacting the 74 NZE standard so all considerations can be made and adjusted on one timeline in the new Council 75 Period. 76 Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances in 77 section 2 constitute emergency circumstances, making it necessary that the Net Zero Continuity 78 Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2026 be adopted after a single reading. 79 Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 80