my $has_approved_records = 0;
my $reqs;
while (my $row = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref) {
    $has_approved_records 1 = if $row->{status} eq 'Approved';
    push @$reqs, $row;
}
...
$template->param(REQS => $reqs, HAS_APPROVED_RECORDS => $has_approved_records);