Legislative and Policy Analysis
Section 60022: Rescission of funding for GSA emerging and sustainable technologies
Executive Summary
Section 60022 rescinds the unobligated balances of Inflation Reduction Act funding that had been made available for General Services Administration emerging and sustainable technologies.[1] The underlying Inflation Reduction Act provision, section 60504 of Public Law 117-169, appropriated $975 million to the Administrator of General Services, deposited in the Federal Buildings Fund, for emerging and sustainable technologies and related sustainability and environmental programs, with availability through September 30, 2026.[2]
The practical effect is to cancel the remaining uncommitted portion of a federal buildings decarbonization and technology-deployment funding stream. Congressional Budget Office materials identify this section as producing an estimated $227 million reduction in budget authority or outlays associated with GSA emerging and sustainable technologies.[3] GAO reported that, as of January 31, 2025, GSA had $975 million available for the emerging and sustainable technologies program, had obligated $683 million, and had expended $49 million.[4] Those figures show that much of the program had been selected or obligated, but only a small share had actually been spent by early 2025.
The section does not repeal GSA’s general authority to manage federal buildings, procure sustainable technologies, use performance contracts, or pursue energy efficiency where other authority and funding remain available. But it removes dedicated IRA funding for emerging and sustainable technologies at federal facilities. That is likely to slow or shrink federal building electrification, energy-efficiency upgrades, smart-building controls, grid-interactive systems, low-carbon technology demonstrations, and related sustainability programs.
What Section 60022 Actually Does
Section 60022 is a rescission provision. It states that the unobligated balances of amounts made available to carry out section 60504 of Public Law 117-169 are rescinded.[1] The rescission applies only to unobligated balances, meaning funds not legally committed through obligations before the rescission takes effect.
The funding being rescinded traces back to Inflation Reduction Act section 60504, which appropriated $975 million for fiscal year 2022 to the Administrator of General Services, to remain available until September 30, 2026, for deposit in the Federal Buildings Fund for “emerging and sustainable technologies, and related sustainability and environmental programs.”[2]
| Program or activity | Amount | What the money supports |
|---|---|---|
| GSA emerging and sustainable technologies under IRA section 60504 | $975 million originally appropriated | Emerging and sustainable technologies, related sustainability and environmental programs, and deployment through the Federal Buildings Fund.[2] |
| Estimated rescission effect for Section 60022 | $227 million estimated by CBO-related budget materials | Cancellation of remaining unobligated balances for the GSA emerging and sustainable technologies funding stream.[3] |
| GSA emerging and sustainable technologies obligations as of January 31, 2025 | $683 million obligated out of $975 million available | Previously selected or committed IRA-supported projects, including sustainable building technologies and related federal facility improvements.[4] |
| GSA emerging and sustainable technologies expenditures as of January 31, 2025 | $49 million expended out of $975 million available | Actual outlays already spent by that date, showing that implementation was still early relative to obligations.[4] |
The section therefore changes the status of funds that had not yet been obligated. Already obligated amounts generally are not rescinded by this language, but unobligated balances are withdrawn from the program and no longer remain available for GSA’s emerging and sustainable technology work under IRA section 60504.
Legislative Mechanism
The legislative mechanism is a direct rescission of unobligated balances. Congress does not rewrite the whole Federal Buildings Fund statute, create a new procurement rule, or impose a new project-by-project prohibition. Instead, it removes remaining budget authority from a specific prior appropriation.
That structure matters because GSA’s existing building-management and procurement authorities remain in place. GSA may still pursue sustainability, efficiency, electrification, or emerging technology projects using other lawful funding sources, ordinary Federal Buildings Fund resources, performance contracts, utility energy service contracts, or future appropriations. But Section 60022 removes the dedicated IRA funding stream that was intended to accelerate those projects.
The rescission also changes the timing baseline. IRA section 60504 funds were available through September 30, 2026.[2] Without Section 60022, GSA would have had additional time to obligate remaining balances. Section 60022 cuts off that runway for unobligated funds.
Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol
The affected funding runs through GSA and the Federal Buildings Fund. The original appropriation was deposited in the Federal Buildings Fund established under 40 U.S.C. 592, and GSA implemented the funding through federal building projects, technology demonstrations, contracts, performance-contracting structures, and related sustainability programs.[2]
Public tracking is likely to be partially visible but difficult to isolate cleanly. GAO reported that GSA selected 362 IRA-funded federal building projects and that selected applications included low-emissions concrete, electric heat pumps, and building-level energy meters.[4] GAO also found that GSA’s estimated costs for selected projects accounted for 99 percent of its total available IRA funding, while obligations and expenditures remained much lower as of January 31, 2025.[4] That gap means the rescission may affect planned, selected, or not-yet-fully obligated work differently depending on obligation status.
Likely tracking channels include:
| Tracking channel | What it would show | Visibility limits |
|---|---|---|
| Treasury and OMB budget execution | Rescission of unobligated budget authority and apportionment controls | Public views may be aggregated at account or program level. |
| GSA Federal Buildings Fund execution | Internal obligations, expenditures, project allocations, and cancellations | Section-specific detail may require agency reporting, GAO review, or congressional oversight. |
| USAspending.gov | Reportable federal awards funded by GSA | May not clearly isolate Section 60022 rescission effects from broader project funding. |
| FPDS or SAM.gov | Contract awards and modifications | Contract data may show vendors and awards but not always the rescinded unobligated balance. |
| GAO and Inspector General oversight | Reviews of program design, obligations, expenditures, and project outcomes | Oversight is periodic and may lag implementation. |
| Congressional budget materials | Estimated budgetary effects of rescission | Estimates may differ from later execution data because obligations can change over time. |
flowchart TD
A[IRA section 60504 funds] --> B[GSA Federal Buildings Fund]
B --> C[Selected building projects]
B --> D[Technology pilots]
B --> E[Contracts and performance deals]
B --> F[EV and building systems]
A --> G[Section 60022 rescission]
G --> H[Unobligated balances canceled]
C --> I[GSA budget execution]
D --> I
E --> J[FPDS and SAM data]
F --> K[USAspending data]
I --> L[Treasury and OMB reporting]
J --> M[Public visibility]
K --> M
L --> M
I --> N[GAO and IG oversight]
M --> O[Clear for some awards]
M --> P[Aggregated for balances]
N --> Q[Delayed oversight findings]
The reporting protocol is therefore split across budget execution, procurement reporting, public award databases, and oversight reviews. GSA reports obligations and expenditures internally and through federal financial channels; contracts and awards may appear in procurement and spending databases; OMB and Treasury track budget authority and rescissions; and GAO or Inspectors General may review execution. The main limitation is that the public may be able to see individual awards or high-level account changes but still have difficulty isolating exactly which planned projects were canceled, delayed, reduced, or restructured because of Section 60022.
Day-to-Day Government Process Changes
For GSA, the immediate operational change is budget execution triage. Staff must identify which IRA section 60504 balances were unobligated, stop or revise planned obligations, coordinate with OMB and Treasury on rescission implementation, and determine which selected projects remain viable with existing obligations or alternate funding.
Project managers may need to separate work into categories: already obligated and still proceeding; selected but not obligated and now at risk; partially funded and needing scope changes; or projects that can continue through performance contracts, utility energy service contracts, annual appropriations, or other funds. Because GAO found that GSA had obligated 70 percent but expended only 5 percent of the emerging and sustainable technologies funding as of January 31, 2025, many projects may have been in planning, contracting, procurement, or early execution rather than completed construction or installation.[4]
Procurement staff may see fewer solicitations, fewer contract options exercised, or reduced scope for sustainable technology work. Building managers may see slower deployment of electric heat pumps, advanced controls, meters, grid-interactive systems, EV infrastructure, and other technologies. Sustainability staff may have to revise climate and energy plans for individual buildings and the federal portfolio.
Oversight staff may also face a more complicated tracking environment. GAO already reported that GSA had not made information about some IRA funding goals readily available to Congress and the public.[4] A rescission layered onto a partially obligated, partially expended portfolio can make it harder for outside observers to distinguish completed work, protected obligations, canceled balances, and substituted funding.
Effects on Consumers
The direct consumer effect is limited because Section 60022 concerns federal buildings, not household rebates, tax credits, consumer appliance standards, or direct public benefits. Most households will not see a line-item change in their personal finances.
The indirect consumer effect is more meaningful. GSA had announced that the $975 million program was expected to support upgrades across federal buildings, reduce harmful carbon pollution, save energy, and avoid $467 million in energy costs for taxpayers over two decades.[5] If the rescission reduces the scale or speed of those projects, taxpayers may lose some of the expected long-term savings from lower federal building energy use. Those savings are indirect because they flow through federal operating costs rather than household bills.
People who use federal buildings may also experience indirect effects. Courthouses, federal offices, land ports of entry, service centers, and other public-facing facilities can benefit from improved ventilation, efficient heating and cooling, resilience, building controls, and electrification. Reduced funding may slow improvements in comfort, reliability, indoor environmental quality, and resilience, depending on which projects lose funding.
Effects on Businesses
The business impact is concentrated in construction, energy services, building technology, engineering, controls, electrification, EV charging, and clean-technology firms. GSA had planned to use the IRA funds for building upgrades, performance contracts, direct investments, Green Proving Ground activities, Applied Innovation Learning Lab work, and EV infrastructure.[5] Businesses positioned to supply those technologies may see fewer federal opportunities or smaller scopes of work.
Energy service companies may be affected because GSA expected to leverage private-sector funds through Energy Savings Performance Contracts and Utility Energy Service Contracts.[5] If fewer federal dollars are available to pair with private financing, some projects may no longer pencil out or may be delayed. Contractors may also face uncertainty where projects were selected but not fully obligated before the rescission.
The effect is not uniform. Firms with already obligated contracts may continue work. Businesses that can compete for non-IRA federal building funds may still find opportunities. But the rescission weakens a demand signal from the federal government for emerging sustainable building technologies. That can matter because federal facilities can serve as early demonstration sites, helping vendors validate technologies, build performance records, and scale products into broader commercial markets.
Environmental and Climate Impact
The environmental and climate impact is negative. Section 60022 rescinds funding that was specifically intended for emerging and sustainable technologies and related sustainability and environmental programs in federal buildings.[2] The section does not itself increase fossil-fuel extraction or repeal building standards, but it reduces the dedicated funding available to lower emissions, improve energy efficiency, electrify buildings, test emerging technologies, and reduce environmental impacts from federal facilities.
The immediate legal effect is cancellation of unobligated IRA section 60504 balances.[1] The reasonably foreseeable implementation effect is a smaller or slower portfolio of GSA sustainability projects. GSA had announced plans for the $975 million to help upgrade federal buildings with emerging and sustainable technologies, leverage total public and private investment of about $1.9 billion, avoid 2.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over equipment lifetimes, and save enough energy to power more than 300,000 American homes.[5] Reducing available funding therefore reduces the pathway for those emissions and energy savings.
The impact is also cumulative. Federal buildings are a large asset class. GAO reported that GSA owns more than 1,500 buildings that have been identified as a major source of federal greenhouse gas emissions and energy and water use.[4] Slower upgrades can lock in higher energy consumption, fossil-fuel building systems, older controls, and deferred efficiency improvements for years. The magnitude depends on which unobligated projects are canceled, whether other funding replaces the rescinded funds, and how GSA reprioritizes its portfolio.
Existing safeguards and authorities remain partly intact. GSA can still use other procurement and building-management tools, and federal sustainable acquisition rules continue to apply where relevant.[6] But the section weakens the funding side of the safeguard and innovation system. It does not repeal sustainability goals in words; it removes money that would have made implementation faster and broader.
Environmental justice and local community effects are indirect but plausible. Federal buildings and land ports of entry operate in specific communities. Energy-efficiency, electrification, and cleaner building systems can reduce local combustion, improve indoor and nearby air quality, reduce grid stress when paired with smart controls, and support cleaner public infrastructure. The rescission makes those benefits less likely or slower in affected communities, especially where older federal facilities remain energy-intensive or rely on fossil-fuel heating systems.
Impact Summary
Section 60022 cancels remaining unobligated IRA funding for GSA emerging and sustainable technologies. The original program was a $975 million federal buildings investment deposited in the Federal Buildings Fund, while budget materials identify an estimated $227 million rescission effect for this section.[2][3]
The main government-process effect is to force GSA to stop, narrow, or re-fund work that had not been obligated before the rescission. The biggest implementation risk is not that every project disappears, but that selected, planned, or early-stage projects become harder to complete, especially where federal IRA funds were intended to leverage private capital or support technology demonstrations.
Consumers are affected indirectly through possible loss of taxpayer energy savings, slower improvement of public-facing federal facilities, and reduced emissions benefits. Businesses are affected more directly if they supply clean building technologies, electrification equipment, controls, energy services, engineering, construction, or EV infrastructure.
The environmental and climate effect is negative because the section rescinds funding for technologies and programs designed to reduce federal building energy use, greenhouse-gas emissions, and environmental impacts. The harm is contingent in project-level details but reasonably foreseeable in direction: fewer dedicated dollars for sustainable federal building upgrades means slower decarbonization, weaker technology deployment, reduced cumulative emissions benefits, and less support for clean-building market transformation.
Key References and Sourcing
| Source | Relevance |
|---|---|
| Public Law 119-21 | Provides the enacted text of Section 60022 rescinding unobligated balances for IRA section 60504. |
| Public Law 117-169 | Provides the original IRA section 60504 appropriation of $975 million for GSA emerging and sustainable technologies. |
| Congressional Budget Office, Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21 | Provides budgetary scoring materials for Public Law 119-21 and related section-level estimates. |
| GAO, Inflation Reduction Act: Opportunities Exist to Help Ensure GSA Effectively Uses Funding for Federal Buildings | Provides obligations, expenditures, project-selection information, and oversight findings for GSA IRA federal buildings funding. |
| GSA, June 20, 2023 announcement on nearly $1 billion for cleaner and more energy efficient federal buildings | Describes GSA’s planned use of IRA section 60504 funding, expected emissions reductions, energy savings, jobs, and project types. |
| Federal Acquisition Regulation, Subpart 23.1, Sustainable Products and Services | Provides background on continuing federal sustainable acquisition policies relevant to procurement even after the rescission. |
| Inflation Reduction Act Tracker, IRA Section 60504 | Summarizes program status, rescission status, and implementation context for IRA section 60504. |
[1] Public Law 119-21, “SEC. 60022. Rescission of funding for GSA emerging and sustainable technologies,” https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ21/html/PLAW-119publ21.htm.
[2] Public Law 117-169, “SEC. 60504. General Services Administration emerging technologies,” https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-117publ169/html/PLAW-117publ169.htm.
[3] Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21, to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14, Relative to the Budget Enforcement Baseline for Consideration in the Senate,” July 21, 2025, and accompanying section-level spreadsheet, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61569.
[4] U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Inflation Reduction Act: Opportunities Exist to Help Ensure GSA Effectively Uses Funding for Federal Buildings,” GAO-25-107349, April 29, 2025, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107349.
[5] U.S. General Services Administration, “Biden-Harris Administration announces nearly $1 billion through investing in America agenda to make federal buildings cleaner and more energy efficient, support thousands of clean energy jobs,” June 20, 2023, https://www.gsa.gov/about-gsa/newsroom/news-releases/bidenharris-administration-announces-nearly-1-bi-06202023.
[6] Federal Acquisition Regulation, “Subpart 23.1 - Sustainable Products and Services,” https://www.acquisition.gov/far/subpart-23.1.
[7] Inflation Reduction Act Tracker, “IRA Section 60504 – Funding for Sustainable Technologies and Programs at Federal Facilities,” https://iratracker.org/programs/ira-section-60504-funding-for-sustainable-technologies-and-programs-at-federal-facilities/.
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