S-EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
(5305)
Office of Solid Waste
Environmental
Fact Sheet
EPA530-F-94-015
April 1994
EPA Proposes Comprehensive
Procurement Guideline
EPA is proposing a Comprehensive
Procurement Guideline (CPG) which
designates 21 items. Once the CPG
is finalized, procuring agencies will
be required to develop affirmative
procurement programs, or modify
their existing programs, to assure
that designated items are
purchased with the highest
percentage of recovered materials
practicable. To assist procuring
agencies with purchasing the
designated items, EPA has
concurrently published a draft
Recovered Materials Advisory
Notice (RMAN) which recommends
procurement practices and ranges
of recovered materials content
levels within which the designated
items are available.
21 Designated Items
Vehicular Products
Engine Coolants
Construction Products
Structural Fiberboard
and Laminated Paperboard
Plastic Pipe and Fittings
Geotextiles
Carpet
Floor Tiles and Patio Blocks
Cement Containing Blast
Furnace Slag
Building Insulation*
Transportation Products
Traffic Control Cones
and Barriers
Park and Recreation Products
Playground Surfaces
and Running Tracks
Landscaping Products
Hydraulic Mulch
Yard Trimming Compost
Non-paper Office Products
Office Recycling Containers
and Waste Receptacles
Plastic Desktop Accessories
Remanufactured Toner Cartridges
Binders
Plastic Trash Bags
Recycled/Recyclable
Printed on paper that contains
at least 50% recycled fiber
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Background
Congress set forth the provisions of
Section 6002 of the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) to increase government
purchases of recycled products.
This, in turn, stimulates markets
for materials recovered from solid
waste by using the power of
government purchasing. Under the
statute, EPA is required to
designate items that can be made
with recovered materials and to
recommend practices for procuring
these items. Once an item is
designated by EPA, procuring
agencies are required to buy the
item with the highest recovered
materials content level practicable.
EPA has previously issued five
guidelines designating the following
specific items for procurement by
procuring agencies: (1) paper and
paper products; (2) re-refined
lubricating oils; (3) retread tires; (4)
building insulation products; and
(5) cement and concrete containing
coal fly ash.
President Clinton reiterated the
need to develop markets for
products made with recovered
materials when he signed Executive
Order 12873 on October 20, 1993.
Among other things, the Order
establishes an expedited process by
which EPA designates items and
issues recommendations for
procuring these items.
Under the new process, EPA
designates items that are or can be
made with recovered materials by
issuing a Comprehensive
Procurement Guideline (CPG).
To assist federal agencies in
procuring items designated in the
CPG, EPA will provide
procurement recommendations,
such as recommended recovered
materials content levels, by
issuing Recovered Materials
Advisory Notices.
To Whom Do These Proposed
Guidelines Apply?
RCRA defines procuring agencies
to include federal agencies, state
and local agencies using
appropriated federal funds, and
their contractors. The guidelines
apply to procuring agencies that
spend more than $10,000 a year
on a designated item. For
example, if a county agency
spends more than $10,000 a year
on carpet, and part of that money
is from appropriated federal
funds, then the agency must
purchase carpet made from
recovered materials.
Purchases unrelated or incidental
to the purpose of federal funding
are not subject to the
procurement guidelines. However,
when it is not apparent whether a
purchase is subject to RCRA, EPA
encourages procuring agencies to
follow the guidelines to help
expand markets for products
made of recovered materials.
What is an Affirmative
Procurement Program?
An affirmative procurement
program is an agency's strategy
for maximizing its purchases of an
EPA-designated item. The
affirmative procurement programs
should be developed in a manner
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that assures that the agencies
purchase items composed of
recovered materials to the
maximum extent practicable
consistent with federal
procurement law. In fulfilling this
requirement, EPA recommends
that each agency develop one
comprehensive affirmative
procurement program with a
structure that provides for the
integration of new items as they
are designated.
Each affirmative procurement
program must consist of at least
four components:
1. a recovered materials
preference program,
2. an agency promotion
program,
3. a program for requiring
vendors to reasonably estimate,
certify, and verify the recovered
materials content of their
product, and
4. a program to monitor and
annually review the
effectiveness of the affirmative
procurement program.
Additionally, within one year after
EPA designates an item, RCRA
Section 6002 requires that
procuring agencies revise their
specifications to require the use of
recovered materials to the
maximum extent possible without
jeopardizing the intended end use
of the item.
Preference Program
\
A preference program is the
system by which an agency
implements its stated "preference"
for purchasing products
containing recovered materials.
The statute provides three options
for a preference program.
• Minimum Content Standards -
identify the minimum content of
recovered materials that an item
should contain. In the draft
RMAN, EPA recommends ranges
of recovered materials content
levels within which the proposed
designated items are available.
However, it is the procuring
agency's responsibility to establish
its own minimum content
standards.
• Case-by-case Policy
Development - policy of awarding
contracts to the vendor offering an
item composed of the highest
percentage of recovered materials
practicable. This approach is
generally used when a procuring
agency has been unable to
purchase a designated item at the
minimum content standard it has
established for that particular
designated item.
• Substantially Equivalent
Alternative - used where minimum
content standards are
inappropriate. For example, in
the draft RMAN, EPA recommends
that agencies establish service
contracts for remanufacturing of
toner cartridges.
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Promotion Program
Agencies must actively promote
their desire to buy recycled
products, both within the agency
and externally to product vendors.
Internal promotion may consist of
initiatives such as wide distribution
of copies of the agency's affirmative
procurement policy, articles in
agency newsletters and technical
and staff manuals, and workshops
to educate employees. Examples of
external promotion are publishing
articles in trade journals,
participating in vendor shows and
trade fairs, placing statements in
solicitations, and discussing an
agency's affirmative procurement
program at bidders' conferences.
Estimation, Certification and
Verification Program
Agencies must establish procedures
for estimating, certifying, and,
where appropriate, reasonably
verifying the amount of recovered
materials content utilized in the
performance of a contract.
Procedures to Monitor and
Review the Procurement
Program
Procuring agencies must monitor
their affirmative procurement
programs to ensure that they are
fulfilling their requirements to
purchase items composed of
reecovered materials. In addition,
Executive Order 12873 requires the
Environmental Executive of each
federal agency to track and report
on agency purchases of designated
items.
When May an Agency
Purchase Items Not
Containing Recovered
Materials?
Procuring agencies may choose
not to purchase a guideline item
containing recovered materials if:
the item's price is unreasonable;
there is inadequate competition;
obtaining the designated item
results in unusual and
unreasonable delays; or the item
does not meet all reasonable
performance specifications.
For More Information
To obtain further information, or a
copy of the Federal Register
notices for the CPG or RMAN,
please call the RCRA Hotline
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.
to 7:30 p.m. EST. The national
toll-free number is (800) 424-
9346; for the hearing impaired it
is (TDD) (800) 553-7672. In
Washington, D.C., the number is
(703) 412-9810 or TDD (703) 412-
3323.
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