The Product Category Rule (PCR) for Concrete, developed and published by the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) in November 2012, is being revised in order to address editorial and technical comments received during recent reviews by Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) program operators. NRMCA, an EPD Program Operator for concrete products, provided input to the PCR during the verification process of the first North American concrete EPD developed and verified in April of this year. At the same time, ASTM International, also an EPD Program Operator, reviewed the CLF PCR while considering adoption of the PCR under its EPD program. The comments, which are primarily focused on issues related to reference standards and mandatory environmental impact reporting, will help ensure the PCR remains current.

NRMCA will continue to verify EPDs under the current CLF PCR, version 1.0, until version 1.1 is published. Any EPDs verified against version 1.0 of the CLF PCR will remain valid for a period of five years. NRMCA and ASTM have agreed to adopt version 1.1 and begin verifying EPDs once the new standard is published. Version 1.1 of the CLF PCR for Concrete is scheduled to be released in September 2013.