Thursday
November 17, 1988
Part V
Environmental
Protection Agency
40 CFR Part 253
Guideline for Federal Procurement of
Retread Tires; Final Rule
Printed on Recycled Paper
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46558
Federal Register / Vol. 53.-No. 222 / Thursday. November17. 1988 / Rules and Regulations
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY .
40 CFR Part 253
[SWH-FRL FR 3467-8]
Guideline for Federal Procurement of
Retread Tires
AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection
, - Agency.
ACTION; Final rule.
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) today is issuing a
guideline for Federal procurement of
retread tires. The guideline implements
section 6002(e) of the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976,
as amended (RCRA), which requires
EPA (1) to designate items which can be
produced with recovered materials and
(2) to prepare guidelines to assist.
procuring agencies in complying with
the requirements of section 6002. Once
EPA has designated a procurement item,
. section 6002 requires that any procuring
agency using Federal funds to procure
that item must purchase such items
containing the highest percentage of
recovered materials practicable.
The guideline issued today designates
tires as products for which the
procurement requirements of section
6002 apply. The guideline also contains
recommendations for implementing the
section 6002 procurement requirements
as well as the requirements for revising'
specifications.
EFFECTIVE DATES: The guideline is / - '"
' effective November 17,1988. Prbcurmg '
agencies must implement the
requirements: of RCRA section 6002 with
respect to procurement of tires
according to the following schedule:
Completion of specification revisions
and development of affirmative
procurement programs: November 17,
1989.
Commencement of procurement of
tires in accordance with RCRA section
6002: November 17,1989.
ADDRESS: The piibJic docket is available
for viewing in Room LG-100, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M
Street SW., Washington, DC from 9:00
a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding holidays. To review
docket materials, the public must make
an appointment by calling (202) 475-
9327. Materials may be copied from any
regulatory docket at a cost of 15 cents
per page. Copying totaling less than $15
is free.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
RCRA Hotline, toll free, at (800) 424-
9346 or at (202) 382-3000. For technical
information, contact William Sanjour,
Office of Solid Waste, OS-330, U.S.
EPA, 401M Street, SW., Washington,
DC 20460, telephone: (202) 382-4502
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: L-, f.
Preamble Outline ' .".''" ;'"!
I. Authority
n. Introduction - -'': ''.
A. Purpose and Scope , ''_-"'."
B. Requirements of Section 6002 *'".
C. Rationale for Selecting Tires for a T'"':
Procurement Guideline . -'.-' ^
D. Background Information on Tire ". 1:V V*
Retreading -.''"'
E. Current Retread Tire Procurement '
Procedures . .
1. Procurement of Services -"..'." ..".'
2. Procurement of Products :-:' '_-"'' '
IIL Contents of the Guideline .'''- : "»-
A. Purposes and Scope ... ... :.'' ... .-.f;'
1. Airplane Tires --" ''"'""-" .-''".'
2. Original Equipment Tires . . ~''
3. Tires Manufactured with Recovered-
Rubber . / . . . j V
B.Applicability ' ..... ,-
1. Procuring Agencies
2. Direct Purchases . '/ '
3. Indirect Purchases
4. The $10,000 Threshold . ' "
C. Definitions " "-'"'
D. Requirements vs. Recommendations
E. Specifications
1. Federal Agencies
2. Procuring Agencies ' '_._
3. Public Comments on the Proposed
Specifications Provisions
a. EPA recommendations for ".
specification revisions
' "' b'. Impact of NHTSA regulations " ;:'"-*"
c. Use of a single specification for new
and retread tires .
d.Miscellaneous^comments !"''.'
4. Sources of Specifications ;
- 5. Exclusions ' . ;
F. Affirmative Procurement Program"
' 1. Recovered Materials Preference Program
- a. Proposed recommendations for a'
preference program
b. Final recommendations for a
preference program
c. Other preference program -
recommendations ' .
d. Other procurement approaches
considered
2. Promotion Program
3. Estimates, Certification, and Verification
a. Estimation
b. Certification .. . '
c. Verification . .
4. Annual Review and Monitoring
IV. Price, Competition, Availability, and
Performance
A. Price - .
B. Competition and Availability
C. Performance ,
V. Miscellaneous Comments
VI. Implementation
VII. Regulatory Analyses
A. Environmental and Energy Impacts
B. Executive Order No. 12291
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
_., L Authority
~.*~:. This guideline is issued under the
r.T. authority of sections 2002(a) and 6002 of
". ,s the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as
' amended by the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended.
: 42 U.S.C. 6912(a) and 6962.
.-' n. Introduction
.' . A, Purpose and Scope
-,;.-".-. The Environmental Protection Agency
--' (EPA) today is issuing one in a series of
guidelines designed to encourage the use
.;-. of products containing materials
recovered from solid waste, section 6002
-; :..;pf the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as
;'". .amended by the Resource Conservation
--.and Recovery Act (RCRA or the Act), as
.:\. amended, 42 U.S.C. 6962, states that if a
-. Federal, State, or local procuring agency
uses Federal funds to procure certain
-;-; designated items, such items must be
.- composed of the highest percentage of
recovered materials practicable. EPA is
required to designate these items and to
prepare guidelines to assist procuring
. agencies in complying with the
requirements of Section 6002.
EPA issued the first of these
guidelines, for cement and concrete
:. containing fly ash, on January 28,1983
,(48 FR 4230; 40 CFR Part 249). EPA
issued a guideline for paper and paper
products containing recovered materials
on October 6,1987 (52 FR 37293; 40 CFR
Pai125°] with concurrently proposed
.;. amendments (52 FR 37335). A revised
final paper guideline was" promulgated
on June 22,1988 (53 FR 23546). EPA
. promulgated a final guideline for
lubricating oils containing re-refined oil
-.on June 30,1988 (53 FR 24699; 40 CFR
Part 252). A guideline for asphalt
materials containing ground tire rubber
was proposed on February 20,1986 (51
FR 6202), a guideline for retread tires
was proposed on May 2,1988 (53 FR
15624), and a guideline for building
insulation products was proposed on
August 2,1988 (53 FR 29165). Today.
EPA is promulgating the final retread
tires guideline.
This preamble describes the
requirements of section 6002, explains
the basis for designating tires as a
procurement item subject to section
6002, discusses EPA's recommendations
for implementing section 6002 with
respect to procurement of tires, and
responds to comments on the proposed
guideline. It also provides information
regarding the price, availability, and
performance of retread tires.
B. Requirements of Section 6002
Section 6002 of RCRA, "Federal
Procurement," directs all procuring
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Federal Register / Vol. 53. No. 222 / Thursday. November 17. 1988 / Rules and Regulations 46559
agencies which use Federal funds to
procure items composed of the highest
percentage of recovered materials
practicable, considering competition,
availability, technical performance, and
cost. Two factors trigger this
requirement. First, EPA must designate
the items to which this requirement
applies. Second, the requirement only
applies when the purchase price of the
item exceeds $10,000 or when the
quantity of such items or of functionally
equivalent items purchased or acquired
Jn the course of the preceding fiscal year
was $10,000 or more.
Section 6002(c) requires procuring
agencies to obtain from suppliers an
estimate of and certification regarding
the percentage of recovered materials
contained in their products.
Federal agencies responsible for
drafting or reviewing specifications for
procurement items were required under
section 6002(d)(l) to review and revise
the specifications by May 8,1988 in
order to eliminate both exclusions of
recovered materials and requirements
that items be manufactured from virgin
materials. In addition, within one year
after the date of publication of a
procurement guideline by EPA, the
Federal agencies must revise their
specifications to require the use of
recovered materials in such items to the
maximum extent possible without
jeopardizing the intended end use of the
item.
Section 501 of the Hazardous and
Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (Pub.
L. 98-616) added paragraph (i) to section
C002 of RCRA. This provision requires
procuring agencies to develop an
affirmative procurement program for
purchasing items designated by EPA.
The program must assure that items
composed of recovered materials will be
purchased to the maximum extent
practicable, be consistent with
applicable provisions of Federal
procurement law, and contain at least
four elements:
(1) A recovered materials "preference
program:
(2) An agency promotion program;
(3) A program for requiring estimates,
certification, and verification of
recovered material content; and
(4) Annual review and monitoring of
the effectiveness of the procurement
program.
Under section 6002(e), EPA is required
to Issue guidelines for use' by procuring
agencies in complying with the
requirements of section 6002. The EPA
guidelines must designate those items
which can be produced with recovered
materials and whose procurement by
procuring agencies will fulfill the
objectives of section 6002. They also
must provide recommendations for
procurement practices and information
on availability, relative price, and
performance.
Section 6002 is designated to promote
materials conservation and thereby to
reduce the quantity of materials in the
solid waste stream. By using products
containing recovered materials. Federal
procurement can demonstrate their
technical and economic viability. In
addition. Federal procurement
guidelines can provide guidance to state
and local governments interested in
procuring products containing recovered
materials, and Federal procurement of
such products is expected to result in
increased procurement of them by these
o ther groups as well.
C. Rationale for Selecting Tires for a
Procurement Guideline
In the preamble to the fly ash
guideline, EPA established criteria for
the selection of procurement items for
which guidelines will be prepared.
However, section 6002(e) of RCRA, as
amended by the Hazardous and Solid
Waste Amendments of 1984, specifically
directs the EPA Administrator to issue
procurement guidelines for tires. The
portion of the Conference Committee
report describing the amendments to
section 6002 explains that the term
"tires" includes "the use of retreaded
tires." [H.R. 2867 Conference Report, p.l,
Cong. Rec. H11138 (October 3,1984).]
Since Congress already has selected
tires as an appropriate subject for a
procurement guideline, it is not
necessary for EPA to demonstrate that
tires satisfy the EPA criteria for
selectingprocurement items.
However, commenters on the
proposed retread tires guideline stressed
to EPA that by providing information on
the environmental benefits of using
retread tires, EPA would help to'
convince buyers to purchase retread
tires. EPA agrees-and is providing the ,
following summary of information on
tires as a solid waste disposal problem.
In 1988,220 million tires were .
discarded. Passenger car and light truck
tires account for approximately 80
percent of the total number of tires . --,
scrapped, the remainder being bus,-.
truck, and off-road tires (e.g.,
construction equipment and agricultural
equipment tires). While scrap tires often
can be retreaded, sold as used tires, or
otherwise reused or recycled, they
generally wind up in landfills, tire .
stockpiles, and along roadsides or
waterways. *
Tires cannot be easily managed in
landfills. They do not biochemically . .
degrade and tend to rise or float to the
surface after burial, create voids in the .
landfills, and provide a home for rodents
and insects. Some landfills have
equipment to shred or slice tires prior to
burial, but shredding is a costly process.
As a result, many landfills will not
accept tires at all or charge additional
tipping fees for tires, often at a level
high enough to discourage tires from
being brought to the facility.
Scrap tires often are disposed of on
private property in tire stockpiles.The
tire industry estimates that there are
between 2 and 3 billion tires in piles
scattered throughout the United States
and that these piles are increasing by
150 to 200 million tires per year. Efforts
to regulate or to eliminate these piles
have been largely unsuccessful. While
some of these tires will be recycled into
crumb rubber or used as fuel, the .
majority of the tires have no known use.
The tire piles pose a serious threat to
both public health and the environment
as a home for rodents and insects and
as fuel for fires. For example, a'4 million
tire pile ignited in Winchester,'Virginia
in 1983. It took eight months and the
combined efforts of the Federal, State,
and county governments to contain the
fire, which ultimately burned itself out.
EPA alone spent $1.2 million of
Superfund monies to contain and
remove the oily residue generated by the
burning tires.
Thus, it is desirable to encourage a -
reduction in used tire disposal, and tire
retreading is one means of
accomplishing this end.
D. Background Information on Tire
Retreading
The retreading industry was started in
the 1910s. Today there are
approximately 2,600 retreading plants in
the United States. They retread tires for
aircraft (commercial and military),
agricultural equipment, automobiles,
light- and heavy-duty trucks, buses
(school and mass transportation), off- '
road, vehicles (i.e.; earthmovers,'
graders, loaders, and dozers) and racing
cars.
Tire retreading is the application of a
new tread to a worn tire. The tire
retreading process involves the
following steps:
Inspection and selection of tires
suitable for retreading.
Removal of the old tire tread .
through a buffing process.
Repair of the tire casing,'if
necessary. . .' ' ' '
Application of rubber cement.
Application of a hew tread.
Curing. - ;
Inspection of the retreaded tire.
There are two methods for applying a
new tread: the mold-cured process, u; .
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46560 FederarRegster^/ Vol. 53V No.' 222" /-Thiirsday, November 17. 1988_/ Jules and Regulations
which an uncured rubber tread is
applied, and the pre-cured process, in
which a pre-cured, pre-molded rubber
tread is applied.
During the mold-cured process,
uncured (i.e., nonvulcanized) rubber is
applied to the tire. The tire then is
placed in a mold to form the tread
pattern, the tire is internally pressurized,
and the mold is heated. The .
combination of heat and air pressure
applied for an appropriate period of time
vulcanizes the rubber and bonds it to
the tire body.
During the pre-cure process, a thin
layer of uncured rubber (the bonding
layer) is applied to the tire body. The
pre-cured, pre-molded rubber tread is
applied over the bonding layer. The tire
is then placed in an autoclave to bond
the tread to the tire body. Again, the
combination of heat and air pressure
applied over time vulcanizes the
bonding layer and bonds it and the tread
to the tire body.
Two U.S. manufacturers use a bead-
to-bead process, which involves
replacing the sidewall and shoulder
rubber in addition to the tread. These
processes, which are also known as
remolding or remanufacturing, are used
to manufacture passenger car tires and
ligh truck tires.
A properly retreaded tire can provide
the same mileage as a new tire, thus
substantially extending a tire's useful
life. Tires also can be retreaded multiple
times. Truck tires, for example, are often
. retreaded two or three times.,
E. Current Retread Tire Procurement
Procedures
Procuring agencies can procure either
a servicetire retreadingor a
productretread tires. Agencies
currently use different methods for
procuring retreading services than for
procuring retread tires as a product.
These approaches are described below.
1. Procurement of Services. The U.S.
General Services Administration (GSA)
awards contracts for tire retreading
services. Retreading contracts are
awarded by the GSA regional offices.
The regional offices then issue a supply
schedule, Federal Supply Schedule No.
753II, Tire Retreading and Repairing,
identifying the vendors of tire retreading
services within the GSA region. The
individual Federal agencies ' can bring
their tires to these vendors for
retreading. The vendor retreads the tire
and returns it to the procuring agency. If
the tire is not retreadable (e.g., the
1 The Department of Defense uses Schedule No.
7S3H for retreading of tactical equipment and
heavy-duty truck tires, as well as for administrative
and light-duty vehicle tires.
casing is damaged), the vendor returns it
to the agency for disposal.
Vendors retread tires in accordance ,
with GSA Specification ZZ-T-441,
which details the retreading procedures
to be followed, including inspection of
the worn tire casing for suitability for
retreading, and inspection of the
finished product. It applies to both the
mold-cured and pre-cured retreading
processes and to tire repairs. It covers
four groups of tires: (1) Passenger car
and cycles, (2) light truck and high speed
industrial, (3) truck, bus and trailer, and
(4) special service (including military,
agricultural, off-highway, and slow
speed industrial).
The specification also requires that
the retreader receive a mandatory pre-
award facility certification of approval.
According to the specification, there are
two acceptable approaches that a
retreader may use to have his facility
certified: either a GSA inspector can
perform the retreading facility
inspection or the retreader can provide
evidence that within the previous 12
months the facility has received an
approved certification from a nationally
recognized retread tire trade
association. While the specification
does not identify any particular
association, EPA knows of two such
organizations, the National Tire Dealers
and Retreaders Association (NTDRA)
and the American Retreaders
Association (ARA). '
With the exception of the Department
of Defense, very few Federal
government agencies have central motor
pools to maintain and repair vehicles.
Nor are tires stockpiled in Federal
government warehouses or depots.
Instead, replacement tires are obtained
from the commercial marketplace.
For example, replacement tires for
GSA Interagency Fleet Management
System vehicles are, for the most part,
obtained from retail tire distribution
outlets. In a limited number of locations
where GSA has in-house maintenance
and repair facilities, a small number of
replacement tires may be stored.
Operators of GSA fleet vehicles contact
one of eleven GSA maintenance control
centers for authorization of maintenance
and repairs, including tire replacement.
GSA automotive technicians, using
established criteria on minimum tread
depth, and in conjunction with other
relevant information provided by the
operator, make the decisions on tire
replacement. Retread tires may be
purchased depending on the type of
vehicle (non-passenger carrying), the
intended vehicle use, cost, and the
availability of retread tires through the
retail distribution system.
GSA has issued two policy statements
regarding use of retread tires, which
provide vehicle operators with some
criteria to use in making the decision to
procure a new tire or a tire retreading
service * GSA does not monitor
procuring agencies' use of the retreading
contracts, however.
Several states also procure tire
retreading services. Some states use
prison retreading facilities, while others
use contractors. For example, the State
of Vermont procures retreading services
for truck and aircraft tires. The state
uses a specification which identifies the
retreading process to be used (mold-
cured), retread size, and tread design. It
requires that the retreader use the
state's casings. The state invites bids to
supply retreading services in
accordance with the specification and
awards one-year contracts with two
options to renew.
Vermont has a central motor pool
which warehouses replacement parts,
including a mix of new and retreaded
tires. The motor pool staff are trained in
tire inspection procedures. Each tire
casing is inspected to determine
whether it can be retreaded; if it is
suitable for retreading, it is sent to the
contract retreader.
2. Procurement of Products. Several
methods can be used to procure retread
tires as products. They generally are
purchased through open competition
. (although the Federal Government does
not use this method of procurement for
retread tires). The procuring agency
invites bids from both vendors of new
toes and vendors of retread tires. The
contract is awarded to the lowest-priced
responsible bidder.
One method is to invite bids to sell a
mix of new and retread tires, in which
agencies identify particular types or
sizes of tires that they wish to purchase
as retreads. Vendors then bid against
the mixed list.
Another method of procuring retread
tires as a product is through mileage
guarantees. The tire specification
requires the contractor to guarantee an
average mileage and to submit a
' GSA't written policies provide that truck, bus
and heavy equipment tires should be examined for
retreadability. Tires of 6 ply or greater with a
minimum remaining tread depth of at least ^32"
should be submitted to a government retread
contractor for possible retreading. Retreads are
recommended for use-on low speed (25 miles per
hour or less) on- and off-road vehicles. GSA
recommends that retreads not be used on steering
axles of high speed, over-the-road vehicles. Further.
GSA policies prohibit use of retreads on passenger
carrying vehicles or on the steering axle of any
Interagency Fleet Management Vehicle used on
public highways but allows use of retreads on the
rear wheels of large trucks, truck tractors, trailers.
and off-road vehicles.
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Federal Register / Vol. 53. No. 222 /
November 17, 1968 / Rules and Regulations 46561
performance bond. The price of each tire
is divided by the guaranteed mileage to
obtain a guaranteed cost per mile. If the
tire does not perform for the guaranteed
mileage, the cost per mile is used to
adjust the price of the tire. The
difference between the actual tire price
and the adjusted price is the amount the
contractor must reimburse the procuring
agency. Both vendors of new tires and
vendors of retread tires can submit bids
using this type of procurement
specification.
III. Contents of the Guideline
This portion of the preamble explains
each section of the final guideline.
A. Purposes and Scops
The purposes of this guideline are (1)
to designate tires as an item subject to
the procurement requirements of section
6002 of RCRA and (2) to recommend
procedures for complying with section
6002.
This guideline applies to purchases of
the following types of tires: Passenger
car tires, light- and heavy-duty truck '
tires, high speed industrial tires, bus
tires, and special service tires (including
Military, agricultural, off-the-road, and
slow speed industrial). Commenters
questioned several exclusions from the
scope of the guideline as discussed .
below. " -
1. Airplane Tires. The guideline does
not apply to airplane tire's. In the
proposed guideline, EPA explained that
because agencies that procure airplane
tires already use retread tires
extensively, it did not believe that
designating airplane tires would result
In increased use of re treaded airplane
tires. EPA further staled that when
Congress directed EPA to issue a
procurement guideline for tires, it
intended EPA to focus on automobile,
truck, and other vehicle tires because
they are a significant solid waste
problem; the bulk of the tires in the solid
waste stream are automobile tires and,
to a lesser extent, truck and other
vehicle tires. ' .
Several commenters stated that EPA
should include airplane tires within the
scope of the guideline. These
commenters argued that airplane .tires
might not be retreaded to the maximum
extent practicable, that including them
In the guideline would insure their
continued use, and that there is no data
showing that airplane tires are not a
significant solid waste disposal problem.
None of the commenters submitted data
supporting their arguments.
EPA has data, which has been placed
in the docket for this guideline,
demonstrating'that airplane tires are not
a significant solid waste disposal
problem. In addition, EPA believes that
if an item is already extensively
recycled, so that an EPA procurement
guideline will not have a significant
impact on recycling, it is preferable to
use EPA's resources to develop
guidelines which will have a significant
impact on recycling. For these reasons,
EPA is not including airplane tires
within the scope of the final guideline
issued today. If EPA receives
information indicating that issuing a
guideline would have an impact on
retreading of airplane tires or that the
volume of airplane tire retreading is
decreasing, then EPA will consider the
feasibility of a guideline for this item.
In the proposed guideline, § 253.3(d)(3)
provided that the guideline did not apply
to purchases of airplane tires. Since
exclusion of these tires is really a scope
issue, EPA has placed the exclusions in
§ 253.2 of the final guideline and deleted
§ 253.3(d)(3)..
2. Original Equipment Tires, In the
proposed guideline, EPA noted that
RCRA section 6002{i) provides that
affirmative procurement programs
should be consistent with applicable
provisions of Federal procurement law,
that Federal procurement law requires
Federal procuring agencies to purchase -
commercial products and to use
commercial distribution systems
whenever such products or systems are
adequate to meet the government's
needs, and that new vehicles are
purchased in accordance with this
requirement. Because new vehicle
manufacturers are required by National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration .
(NHTSA) regulations to use new tires
(49 CFR 571.110 and 571.120), the
vehicles purchased by Federal procuring
agencies will be equipped with new
tires. Therefore, EPA concluded that
requiring retread tires would be contrary
both to the NHTSA regulations and the
FAR, and thus contrary to the
requirement of RCRA section 6002(i)(l)
that procuring agencies must comply
with applicable Federal laws.
Several commenters questioned EPA's
conclusion. They maintained that the '
NHTSA regulations do not require the
use of new tires on new motor vehicles
but, rather, are performance standards
which could be met equally well by
retread tires or new tires. EPA has
reexamin'ed this issue and reconfirmed
that the NHTSA requirements foreclose
EPA from including original equipment
tires on new motor vehicles within the
scope of the guideline.
The NHTSA regulations require that
npw motor vehicles'must meet either
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 109, "New Pneumatic Tires-
Passenger Cars." or FMVSS No. 119,
"New Pneumatic Tires for Vehicles
Other Than Passenger Cars."
Discussions with NHTSA verified EPA's
earlier conclusion that these standards
require that new passenger vehicles be
equipped with new tires and do not
allow the use of retread tires. It is
NHTSA's position that manufacturers
who supplied new motor vehicles with
retread tires would be in violation of the
National Traffic and Motor Vehicles
Safety Act of 1966 and consequently
subject to fines.
RCRA section 6002(dJ(l) requires
Federal agencies with the responsibility
for drafting "specifications for
procurement items" to eliminate from
the specifications any exclusion of
recovered materials and any
requirement that items be manufactured
from virgin material. A commenter has
suggested that the NHTSA standards
are discriminatory specifications
prohibited by section 6002(d). EPA,
however, has determined that the
NHTSA standards are not procurement
specifications. NHTSA promulgated its
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
under express Congressional direction.
Safety, not procurement, is the
"overriding consideration in the
issuance of standards" under the
National Traffic and Motor Vehicle
Safety Act of 1966. [Senate Rep. No.
1301, 89th Cong.. 2d Sess. 6 (1966).]
Certain commenters submitted
evidence that some' retread tires could
meet the NHTSA standards prescribed
for new tires. EPA urges these
commenters to petition NHTSA to revise
its regulations so as to allow a
manufacturer to equip new motor
vehicles with qualifying retread tires. If
the NHTSA standards are revised,
Federal agencies which write
procurement specifications must then
assure that these specifications meet the
requirements of section B002(d) and do
not exclude the procurement of motor
vehicles equipped with retread tires.
However, until NHTSA standards
permit this, EPA will not, under section
6002(i), recommend to procuring
agencies an affirmative procurement
program which would direct them to
revise their motor vehicles
specifications.to require retread tires on
new vehicles.'
Because the NHTSA standards ban
the use of retread tires on new
passenger vehicles, it is unnecessary for
EPA to exclude tires on new cant from
the guideline. Moreover, in the event the
NHTSA standards are changed so as to
permit the use of retread tires on new
motor vehicles, the exclusion would be
inappropriate/Therefore, S 253.3(d)(l) of
the proposed guideline has been deleted
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..46562 Federal-Register-/..Vol.53. No. 222 /.Thursday. November 17. 1988 / Rules and Regulations
. in the filial guideline, and § 253.2, .-
Designation, no longer specifically
- excludes original equipment tires.
.3. Tires Manufactured With
.- Recovered Rubber. A commenter stated
that the guideline should apply to-
procurement of tires manufactured with
recovered rubberi EPA plans lo study
the feasibility of a procurement
guideline for this item and will consider
issuing a separate guideline when the
feasibility study is completed.
B. Applicability
~- Many of the requirements of section
6002 apply to "procuring agencies,"
which is defined by RCRA section
1004(17) as "any Federal agency, or any
State agency or agency of a political
subdivision of a State which is using
appropriated Federal funds for such
procurement, or any person contracting
with any such agency with respect to
work performed under such contract"
Under'section 6002(a), the procurement
requirements apply to any purchase by a
procuring agency of an item costing
$10,000 or more or when the procuring .
agency purchased $10,000 worth of the
item or of a functionally equivalent item
during the preceding Fiscal year. Both
direct and indirect purchases are
covered.
^Procuring Agencies. Commenters
asked EPA to include in this guideline
the discussion of the applicability of
section 6002 to procuring agencies that
was included in EPA's other
procurement guidelines. EPA agrees that
the discussion is germane to this
. guideline.
The statutory definition of procuring
agency identifies three types of
agencies: (I) Federal agencies, (2) State
or local agencies using appropriated
Federal funds, and (3) contractors.
Federal agencies should note that under
this definition, the requirements of
section 6002 apply to them whether or
not appropriated Federal funds are used
for procurement of items designated by
EPA. Section 253.3(a)(2) has been added
to the final guideline to clarify this point.
In addition, the requirements of
section 6002 apply to each Federal
agency as a whole; see § 253.3(a)(2)(iii)
of the final guideline. This point is
particularly important in determining
whether the $10,000 threshold has been
reached. For example, GSA, as a whole,
purchases more than $10,000 worth of
tires during each fiscal year, therefore,
the requirements of section 6002 will
apply to all of GSA's tire procurements,
including procurements by individual
regional offices, even if a regional office
procured less than $10,OOO worth of tires.
2. Direct Purchases. This guideline
applies to tire purchases made directly
- by a procuring agency or by a
government contractor for use in
government vehicles and equipment
Direct purchases by a contract would
include-purchases for .maintaining a
government fleet8 - .
A commenter suggested that EPA
provide guidance, such as
recommending use of ratios, to
contractors who do work which is
funded by commingled Federal and non-
Federal funds. Nothing in section 6002
and its legislative history suggests that
Congress contemplated use of ratios to
determine the applicability of section
6002 to procuring agencies, including
contractors. In fact, Congress simply
, stated that the procurement
requirements apply to any purchase or
acquisition. EPA further believes that
the use of ratios would be unnecessarily
burdensome. EPA has concluded that
determining the applicability of section
6002 to a procuring agency in a given
instance should be simple end-direct. If
a State or local procuring agency or a
contractor is using Federal funds, even if
such funds are commingled with non-
Federal funds, then the requirements of
section 6002 apply. See § 253.3(a)(2)(ii)
of the final guideline.
3. Indirect Purchases. The definition
of "procuring agency" in RCRA section
1004(17) makes it dear that the
requirements of section 6002 apply to
"indirect purchases," i.e., purchases by a
State or local agency using appropriated
Federal funds or by contractors. Thus, .
the guideline applies to tire purchases
meeting the $10,000 threshold made by
States and their localities or their
contractors, subcontractors, grantees, or
other persons which are funded by "
grants, loans, or other forms of
disbursements of monies from Federal
agencies.
In the proposed guidelines, EPA stated
that the guideline does not apply to tire
purchases by State and local procuring
agencies or contractors if they are
unrelated to or incidental to the Federal
funding, i.e., not the direct result of the
grant loan, or funds disbursement.
Several commenters disagreed with
EPA's interpretation, noting that RCRA
section 6002(a) states simply that
section 6002 applies to "any purchase or
acquisition of a procurement item"
(emphasis added) when the $10,000
threshold is reached. These commenters
raise an issue of general applicability to
The term "government fleet" includes (1)
vehicles owned by a procuring agency and operated
or maintained on behalf of the agency by a
contractor. (2) vehicles owned by a contractor or a
third party and leased to or used by a.procuring
agency, and (3) vehicles owned by a contractor and
used by the contractor with respect to work
performed under contract to a procuring agency.
all the procurement guidelines. The
Agency plans further review and
consideration of this issue and will
publish detailed guidance on this subject
within the near term. However, at this
time, EPA is retaining the proposed
language (in 5 253.3(c) of the final
guideline) which provided that the
guideline did not apply to purchases that
were not the direct result of a Federal
grant loan,'or funds disbursement.
EPA solicited comments on whether
this guideline should exempt block
grants from the section 6002
procurement requirements or exempt
block grants only when it is not possible
to account separately for such funds. A
commenter suggested that EPA require
all Federal grants to have specific line
item allocations for any item designated
under section 6002(e) or that procuring
agencies apply the ratio of Federal to
non-Federal funding to each individual
product category covered by a
procurement guideline. EPA believes
that both of these suggestions go beyond
the scope of RCRA section 6002. Section
6002(e) clearly gives EPA authority to
recommend guidelines but not to require
compliance with them. As discussed
above, nothing in section 6002 and its
legislative history suggest that Congress
contemplated use of ratios to determine
the applicability of .the procurement
requirements to procuring agencies.
Thus, EPA believes that the guidelines
should apply whenever Federal monies,
including block grants, are used,
whether or not they are commingled
with non-Federal funds. In other words,
if any Federal funds are used, then the '
requirements of section 6002 apply.
4. The $10,000 Threshold. RCRA
section 6002(a) provides that the
requirements of section 6002 apply (1)
when the purchase price of an item
exceeds $10,000 or (2) when the quantity
of such items or of functionally
equivalent items purchased during the
preceding fiscal year was $10,000 or
more. Section 253.3(a)(l) of the guideline
provides that procuring agencies should
consider all sizes and types of tires to be
functionally equivalent items, thus,
when determining if the $10,000
threshold has been reached, procuring
agencies should tally the cost of all tires
purchased, rather than each size or
category of tire (e.g., truck tires,'
automobile tires) purchased. EPA
believes that restricting the applicability
of section 6002 based upon a narrow,
technical definition of functional
equivalency would limit the
effectiveness of the guideline in meeting
the objectives of RCRA, because an
agency may purchase less than $10,000
of each size or category of tire. EPA
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Federal Register / Vol. 53. No. 222 /Tlwsday.^NovemberlT.lgSS / Rules and Regulations 46563
recommended a similar approach in the
guideline for procurement of lubricating
oil containing re-refined oil, 53 FR 24705
(jur.e 30.1988).
A corr-menter stated that EPA should
tsquire procuring agencies to consider
ell sizes and types of tires to be
functionally equivalent, noting that it is
EPA's job (o flesh out the statutory
requirements. While EPA agrees that it
has the authority to flesh out the
statutory requirements, such authority is
found in RCRA section 6002(e}(2), which
provides that EPA guidelines shall "set
forth recommended practices"
(emphasis added). The commenter has
failed to cite any statutory provision
which empowers EPA to require a given
practice. In addition, the commenter is
incorrect in stating that EPA's final
paper and lubricating oils guidelines
required a procuring agency to consider
its paper or lubricating oil purchases as
functionally equivalent for purposes of
determining the guidelines' applicability;
both guidelines state that specified
items should, not must, be considered to
be functionally equivalent. (See 53 FR
23551, June 22.1988, and 53 FR 24705.
June 30.1S88.)
EPA noted in the preamble to the
lubricating oil procurement guideline
that while RCRA section 6002(a)
provides that Section 6002 and EPA
guidelines apply whenever a procuring
agency purchases $10,000 or more worth
of an item in the course of the preceding
fiscal year, it does not provide that the
procurement requirements are triggered
when the quantity of items purchased
during the current fiscal year is $10.000
or more (emphasis added) (53 FR 24705,
June 30,1988). In other words, Congress
did not intend to require procuring
agencies to keep a running tally during
the current year of procurements of
items designated by EPA. Section 6002
clearly sets out a two-step procedure for
determining whether the S10.000
threshold has been reached. First, a
procuring agency must determine
whether it purchased $10.000 worth of
an item or of functionally equivalent
Herns during the preceding fiscal year.
Second, if a procuring agency did not
procure $10,000 worth of an'item during
the preceding fiscal year, it is not
subject to section 6002 unless it makes a'
$10,000 purchase of the item in the
current fiscal year. The requirements of
section 6002 then apply to the S10.000
purchase of the item; to all subsequent
purchases of the item made during the
current fiscal year, regardless of size;
and to all procurements of the item
made in the following fiscal year (Ibid.).
* However, it has been brought to EPA's
attention that the regulation portion of
the lubricating oil, paper, and retread
tires procurement guideline do not
reflect this interpretation. EPA has
corrected § 253.3(a)(l) in the final
guideline issued today and will be
issuing corrections to the lubricating oil
and paper guidelines to remove any
ambiguity on this issue.
Finally. EPA notes that the FAR
contains a $25.000 small procurement
provision, 48 CFR Part 13. This provision
should not be confused with the $10,000
threshold because their purposes are
different. The $10,000 threshold
determines when the affirmative
procurement provisions of RCRA section
6002 apply, whereas the $25,000
threshold triggers-small procurement
procedures. Procuring agencies must use
the $10,000 threshold when determining
the applicability of RCRA section 6002
and the final guideline issued today.
C. Definitions
No comments were received on the
proposed definitions, and EPA is issuing
them as proposed.
D. Requirements vs. Recommendations
RCRA section 6002 requires procuring
agencies and contracting officers to
perform certain activities, such as
revising specifications for procurement
items. It also requires EPA to prepare
"guidelines for the use of procuring
agencies in complying with" section
6002. EPA has incorporated the section
6002 requirements into the guidelines for
the benefit of procuring agencies. As a
result, the guidelines contain two types
of provisions: Requirements (mandated
by Congress in section 6002) and
recommendations (EPA's guidance for
complying with the requirements of
section 6002). As used in this guideline,
the verbs "shall" and "must" indicate
section 6002 requirements, while verbs
such as "recommend," "should," and
"suggest" indicate recommendations for
complying with those requirements.
Procuring agencies are required to
comply with the requirements of section
6002, whereas EPA's recommendations
for meeting those statutory requirements
are advisory in nature. Procuring
agencies may choose to use other
approaches which satisfy the section
6002 requirements. However, EPA
believes that if a procuring agency
chooses to follow EPA's
recommendations, that agency will be in
compliance with the section 6002
requirements.
E. Specifications j
' 1. Federal Agencies. RCRA section .
6002(d) contains two requirements for
revising specifications for procurement
items. As discussed above, Federal
agencies that have the responsibility for
drafting or reviewing specifications for
procurement items procured by Federal
agencies were required to revise their
specifications by May 8,1988, to
eliminate exclusions of recovered
materials and requirements that items
be manufactured from virgin materials
[section 6002(d)(l)].« Second,' within one
year after the date of publication of a
guideline as a final rule, Federal
agencies must assure that their
specifications require the use of
recovered materials to the maximum
extent possible without jeopardizing the
intended end use of the item [section
6002(d)(2)].
Section 253.10 of the guideline
contains these requirements as they
apply to retread tires. Section 253.21(a)
provides that by May 8,1986, Federal
agsncies were required to eliminate
from their specifications exclusions of
retread tires and any requirement that
tires be manufactured from virgin
materials. Section 253.10(b) provides
that agencies must assure that their
specifications require the use of retread
tires to the maximum extent possible
without jeopardizing the intended end
use of the item. In addition, in response
to coments, EPA has added to
! 253.10(b) a recommendation that
specifications indicate the functional
requirements of tires to be procured, -
including the performance criteria, any
desired mileage guarantees, and the size
and type of tire required. By identifying
functional requirements, rather than
limiting the applicability of a
specification to new tires or to retread
tires, such specifications will allow
retread tires and new tires to compete
on an equitable basis.
EPA believes that the second
specification requirement in RCRA
section 6002(d) is more extensive than
the first requirements. Simply
eliminating discriminatory provisions, as
required by section 6002(d)(l), is not
sufficient to meet all of the obligations
of section 6002(d). EPA believes,
however, that compliance with the
affirmative procurement requirements of
section 6002(i), coupled with use of
specifications identifying functional
requirements, will fulfill the section
6002(d)(2) requirements because an
affirmative procurement program should
result in procurement to the maximum
extent practicable.
EPA has not reviewed all of the new
tire specifications used by Federal
procuring agencies. EPA believes that
* In the case of tires, specifications must not
require that only virgin rubber can be used nor must
they specify that reclaimed rubber cannot be uoed.
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46564 Federal
/ Vol. 53. No. 222 / Thursday,, November 17. 1988 / Rules and Regulations
the ones that it has reviewed violate
RCRA section 6002 because they
exclude retread tires! Specifically, EPA
believes that GSA would be required to
revise its. specifications for new tires so
that they apply both to new tires and to -
retread tires. There may be other
specifications of which EPA is unaware
. that do not violate section 6002; it is the
responsibility of the procuring agencies
that prepare these specifications to
review them and to determine whether
they are in compliance with RCRA.
2. Procuring Agencies. EPA believes
that the second specification revision
requirement also applies to non-Federal
procuring agencies which procure tires
with appropriated Federal funds. Unless
their specifications are revised to
require the use of retread tires, these
agencies will be unable to implement
the affirmative procurement
requirements of RCRA section 6002(c)(l)
and (i). For this reason, § 253.10(b) of the
guideline provides that all procuring
agencies (rather than "Federal agencies"
as provided in the Act) must assure that
their specifications require the use of
retread tires to the maximum extent
possible without jeopardizing the
intended use of the item.
3. Public Comments on the Proposed
Specifications Provisions. Commenters
primarily discussed whether EPA should
recommend specification revisions,
whether NHTSA regulations precluded
development of specifications for
certain uses of retread tires, and
whether one specification could be
developed for new and retread tires.
EPA also received miscellaneous -
comments pertaining to the1
specifications portion of the proposed
guideline.
a. EPA recommendations for
specification revisions. A commmter
did not agree that EPA should be
recommending specification revisions to
GSA. stating that EPA should only
specify the end result and leave the
method of achieving this result to the
procuring agencies. EPA disagrees. EPA
is required by statute to "set forth
recommended practices with respect to
the procurement of recovered materials"
(section 6002{e)(2) of RCRA). EPA thus
believes that Congress intended for EPA
to do more than merely reiterate the
content of the statute, including
suggesting specification revisions, as
appropriate.
b. Impact of NHTSA regulations. The
GSA Interagency Fleet Management
System has strongly urged EPA to
"advise Federal agencies that retread
tires are not required by NHTSA to meet
the standards for tire endurance or high-
speed performance. This will ensure that
Federal agencies have relevant
information available to them in .
designing their procurement program."
In addition, a commenter has strongly
' urged EPA to reconsider making the '
guideline apply to passenger carrying
vehicles or steering axles of other
vehicles'engaged in high-speed, over-
the-road operations, in light of the fact
that NHTSA does not require retread
tires to meet tire endurance or high-
speed performance requirements which
apply to new tires.
EPA concurs that tires which do not
meet standards for endurance or high-
speed performance should not be used
for those purposes. EPA notes, however,
that GSA has not provided any
documentation showing that retread
tires cannot meet these performance
standards, and RCRA section 6002(d)(2)
requires agencies to assure that
specifications require the sue of
recovered materials to the maximum
extent possible without jeopardizing the
intended end use of the item. EPA
therefore urges procurement agencies to
develop standards, in conjunction with
GSA and the retreading industry, that
can be used to test the endurance and
high-speed performance capabilities of
retread tires. The NHTSA standard for
new tires, 49 CFR 571.109, could serve as
a starting point. EPA is aware that at
least one retreader has successfully
tested its tires in accordance with the
new tire endurance and high-speed
performance standards in § 571.109, so it
is possible that these performance
standards either can be used for retread
tires or can be adapted for retread tire
use. Furthermore, EPA knows of no
NHTSA regulation which prohibits
procuring agencies from doing so.
A commenter suggested that the
absence of NHTSA standards for a
particular end use (e.g., high speed
retread tires) precludes that use. On the
contrary, EPA believes that the absence
of a NHTSA standard for a particular
use cannot be used by a procuring
agency as a reason for not developing
its own specifications for that use.
Specification revision or specification
development must be in accordance
with RCRA section 6002(d)(2). In other
words, a determination that use of
recovered materials (e.g., retread tires)
will jeopardize the intended end use
(e.g., high speed) should be supported by
test data.
c. Use of a single specification for
new and retread tires. A commenter
stated the belief that retread tires and
new tires are two different products
requiring two different specifications.
EPA believes that one performance
standard identifying the properties and/
or performance requirements of tires can
and should be developed. It is .not
necessary that one specification be
developed, however, as long as the
performance standard in each
specification is the same. The issue of
concern is that there be one
performance standard against which
both new and retread tires can compete
on an equitable basis! For example, at
least one major American retailer uses
the same performance requirements for
retread tires as for new tires. The tires
also are sold with die same warranties
as new tires. Thus, as discussed above,
EPA is recommending in | 253.21(b) of
the final guideline that specifications
identify the functional requirements of
tires to be procured.
d. Miscellaneous comments. Section
253.10(a) of the guideline states that
Federal agencies were required to
eliminate any exclusion of retread tires
from their specifications by May 3,1986.
A commenter objected to EPA's use of
"retread tires" rather than "recovered
materials" as used in RCRA section
6002(d)(l). One purpose of EPA
guidelines is to inform procuring
agencies as to what the law requires
them to do. In the case of tires, the law
requires them to eliminate exclusions of
products manufactured with recovered
materials, including retread tires;
therefore, it is appropriate for EPA to
use the term "retread tires."
Section 253.10(b) of the guideline
provides that procuring agencies must
revise their specifications to require the
use of retread tires to the maximum
extent possible "without jeopardizing
. the intended end use of these items,"
which is the limitation on use permitted
fay RCRA section 6002(d)(2). A
commenter stated that by using the
statutory language, EPA is implying that
there may be problems with retread
tires. EPA is implying nothing about the
performance of retread tire's; instead,
EPA is informing procuring agencies that
they may restrict use of retread tires if
such use will jeopardize the intended
end use of the tires. (Exclusions of
retread tires are discussed further
below.)
A commenter stated that a procuring
agency is not free merely to cite its own
specifications as a reason, under RCRA
section 6002(c)(l), for failing to buy
retread tires unless the specifications
have been revised to require the use of
retread tires to the maximum extent
practicable. EPA agrees. Procuring
' agencies may not continue to use
discriminatory specifications when
purchasing tires, nor may they cite such
discriminatory specifications as the
basis for their failure to purchase
retread tires, unless and until the basis
for the restrictive provisions in such
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Federal Register / Vol. 53, No. 222 / Thursday, November 17. 1986 / Rules and Regulations
46565
specifications has been reviewed and
found to be justified. In the final
guideline issued today, EPA has revised
§ 253,21(d)(3) accordingly.
4. Sources of Specifications. The
retreading industry has developed
standards which can be obtained by
contacting the industry trade
associations. The addresses and
telephone numbers of the associations
are as follows:
American Retreaders Association, Inc.,
P.O. Box 17203, Louisville, KY 40217,
(502) 361-9219.
National Tire Dealers and Retreaders
Association. Inc., Suite 400,12501
Street NW., Washington, DC 20005,
(202) 789-2300.
Tread Rubber Manufacturers' Group,
120019th Street NW., Washington. DC
20038, (404) 548-0221.
The American Retreaders*
Association, Inc. has prepared a booklet
on bid specifications, How to prepare
bid specifications for retread and
repaired tires, which outlines in some
detail major areas that should be
considered when preparing bid
specifications. A copy of the booklet has
been placed in the docket for this
guideline and is available from the ARA.
5. Exclusions. Under section 6002(d)(2)
of RCRA, specifications need not be
revised if the agency determines that,
for technical reasons, a product
containing recovered materials will
jeopardize the end use of the product.
EPA recommends that such
determinations be documented, be
based on technical performance
information, and identify any
performance criteria that cannot be
satisfied by retread ures. (See § 253.11
of the guideline.) If the agency
subsequently issues a restrictive
specification, the basis for the
restriction should be documented when
the specification is issued.
Although RCRA section 6002(d)(2)
permits an agency to limit the use of an
item containing recovered materials,
there must be a legitimate, factual basis
for such limitation. Use cannot be
limited without reason or based simply
on prejudice, whim, or speculation. For
this reason. § 253.11 of the final
guideline provides that procuring
agencies should document the basis for
any limitations.
In the proposed guideline. EPA
provided the following example of a
specification that would satisfy RCRA
section 8002(d)2): Draft Army Regulation
(AR) 750-33. which contains the Army's
policy and procedures for use of retread
tires, excludes use of retread tires on the
front wheels of buses and on emergency
vehicles and heavy-lift vehicles.5
Commenters objected to the restrictions
in this regulation for a variety of
reasons. EPA was not endorsing this
regulation. Rather, EPA's purpose in
citing it was to provide an example of
the type of specification that would
conform to RCRA section 6002(d)(2) if
and only if there is a justificable basis
for such limitations.
F. Affirmative Procurement Program
RCRA section 6002(i) requires
procuring agencies to adopt an
affirmative procurement program to
ensure that retread tires are purchased
to the maximum extent practicable. The
program must contain four elements: (1)
A recovered materials preference
program; (2) a promotion program; (3)
procedures for estimation, certification,
and verification of recovered materials
content; and (4) procedures for annual
review and monitoring of the program's
effectiveness. The program must be
established within one year of the date
of publication of this guideline as a final
rule.
Federal procuring agencies should
note that while GSA executes tire
contracts, it is not responsible for actual
procurement by other agencies and
therefore is not responsible for
. development and implementation of
affirmative procurement programs under
RCRA section 6002 for any agency other
than itself. Individual procuring agencies
must develop, implement, and monitor
their own affirmative procurement
programs. EPA has added § 253.20(b) to
the final guideline to make this clear.
The following sections explain EPA's
recommendations for each element of an
affirmative procurement program for
retread tires.
1. Recovered Materials Preference
Program. Under section 6002(i)(3),
procuring agencies have three options
for implementing the preference
program. They can employ a case-by-
case approach, adopt minimum content
standards, or choose an approach that is
substantially equivalent to the preceding
approaches. In general, the minimum
content standard approach is
appropriate when the quantify of
recovered material used can vary. For
example, the quantity of recycled paper
used in manufacturing paper and paper
products can be varied. In the case of
retread tires, where the recovered
material Is the used tire casing, the
quantify of recovered material used
The Army ha» informed EPA that Draft AR 750-
,38 was not Issued. Retread fees are now included In
AR 7SO-1 which, among other things, identifies
limitations oo me of ntnad*. EPA believe* that the
basia for tbesa limitations aiould be documented.
does not vary. For this reason, minimum
content standards are inapplicable to
retread tire procurement
a. Proposed recommendations for a
preference program. In the proposed
guideline, EPA recommended two
approaches to procurement of retread
tires: procurement of tire retreading
services and procurement of retread
tires as a product EPA recommended
that agencies procuring retreading
services record specified information for
each procurement of new tires and each
procurement of retreading services. This
information would be reviewed as part
of the statutorily mandated annual
review and would be used to identify
unjustifiable resistance to use of tire
retreading contracts. EPA further
recommended that agencies procuring
retread tires as a product use case-by-
case procurement through open
competition between vendors of retread
tires and vendors of new tires. In the
case of a tie bid, all other factors being
equal, preference would be given to the
vendor of retread tires.
After reviewing the public comments
on the proposed guideline and further
researching state and commercial tire
procurement EPA has concluded that
procuring agencies should use a
combination of the two recommended
approaches. For example, a commenter
stated that use of retreading services, by
itself, does not satisfy an agency's
obligations under section 6002 to
procure retread tires to the maximum
extent practicable because only a
portion of an agency's tires can be
retreaded and the agency will, therefore,
be required to procure some
replacement tires, which could be
retread tires. EPA agrees. Agencies
should procure retreading services for
their used carcasses" one/procure retread
tires as a product. '
EPA recognizes, however, that it might
not always be practical or possible for a
procuring agency to purchase retread
tires or retreading services in all cases.
As described below, the final guideline
also addresses procurement using one
but not both components in such cases.
b. Final recommendations for a
preference program. EPA recommends
that procuring agencies establish
preference programs consisting of two
components: (1) Procurement of
retreading services for the agencies'
used carcasses and (2) procurement of
retread tires as a product In addition,
EPA recommends that procuring
agencies establish a tire procurement
policy that gives priority to retreading
the agencies' used tires. In other words,
under the policy, a procuring agency will
first procure tire retreading services to
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46566 Federal Register / Vol. 53. No. 222 / Thursday. November 17, 1988 / Rules and Regulations
the maximum extent practicable. If
retreading services are not practicable,
for example because the tire carcass is
notretreadable, then the procuring
agency will obtain a replacement tire
from the product vendor.
If a procuring agency finds that it is
unable to implement one of these'
components, then it must document the ,
basis for this and continue to implement
the other component. The basis for not
implementing one of the components
must be one of the reasons provided in
RCRA section 6002(c)i.e., '.-.-
unsatisfactory competition,
unreasonable availability, failure to
meet performance standards or
specifications, or unreasonable price. In
addition, the procuring agency must
continue to attempt to implement the
component that it is unable to
implement at this time.
As explained in section II.E.2 of this
preamble, procuring agencies purchasing
retread tires as products can solicit bids
from both vendors of new tires and
vendors of retread tires. The decision to
purchase retread tires is made on a
caserby-case basis, and the contract is
awarded to the lowest-priced
responsible bidder. EPA recommends
that this component of the preference
program include a preference to the
vendor offering to supply the greatest
number of retread tires in the event that
tie bids are submitted by a vendor of
retread tires and a vendor of new tires,
all other factors being equal. Section
253.21(a)(2) of the final guideline
recommends that procuring agencies
adopt such a preference.
A commenter stated that the proposed
tie bid provision was ambiguous in light
of the equal low bids provision of FAR
14.407-6 and requested clarification. It is
EPA's view that RCRA section 6002 did
not authorize procuring agencies, in
their preference programs, to supersede
applicable provisions of Federal
procurement law, including the FAR. .
EPA believes, however, that the
recovered materials preference
authorized by RCRA section 6002 should
be incorporated into the preferences
established in the equal low bids
provision of the' FAR. Therefore, EPA
recommends that Federal entities
responsible for periodic revision of the
FAR consider modifying the provision at
48 CFR 14.407-6 to integrate a
preference for vendors offering to
provide procurement items which have
been designated by EPA under RCRA
section 6002(e).
In the final paper and lubricating oil
guidelines, EPA noted that it believed
that a case-by-case program might not
satisfy the section 6002(i) requirement
for an affirmative procurement program
because it would only award contracts
to ths product containing a higher '
' percentage'of recovered materials in the
event of a tie. [See 52 FR 37299, 27302
(October 6,1987), and £2 FR 38844
(October 19,1987).] In light of these
previous statements by EPA, several
commenters objected to EPA's
recommendation to use the case-by-case
approach for procuring tires as products
because it would have little or no effect
on the procurement'of retread tires.
EPA has concluded that the case-by-
case approach can be used successfully
to procure retread tires and should be
used as one component of a preference
program. As long as retread tires
provide similar service to new tiresas
promoters of their use, including the
commenters, maintain that they willat
a lower cost, procuring agencies must
procure them.
Because RCRA section 6002(i)
requires the procurement program to be
affirmative, and because procuring
agencies must promote their programs,
agencies using the case-by-case
approach are required to seek out
vendors of retread tires. Clearly, this
will be a change in the status quo, in
which most procuring agencies neither
consider using retread tires nor seek out
vendors of retread tires. As a result, the
case-by-case approach can have a
significant impact on retread tire
procurement. '
- A commenter stated that it is not
feasible to allow a retread tire to be bid
against a new tire because of cost and
requirement differences, although the ,
commenter failed to explain how and
why this is true. In fact, EPA believes
that requirements can be the same for
new and retread tires, an example being
the use of mileage guarantees. In
addition, EPA notes that one of the
purposes of RCRA Section 6002 and
procurement guidelines is to require
procuring agencies to treat products
made from virgin materials and products
made from recovered materials in the
same manner to the extent consistent
with the intended end use. EPA believes
that it is possible to meet this goal by
developing an affirmative procurement
program that treats new and retread
tires alike even while acknowledging
that there are differences between them.
Therefore. EPA has retained the case-
by-case recommendation in the final
guideline.
A commenter suggested that EPA
revise "the preference program provision
to recommend that a procuring agency
show that its procurement satisfies the
statutory requirements, including use of
non-discriminatory specifications. In
response, EPA is adding § 253.21(c) to
the final guideline to recommend that
procuring agencies document which of
the statutory limitations is the reason for
not procuring retreading services.6
While GSA prepares tire
specifications and awards contracts to
tire vendors, the individual Federal
operator, in conjunction with GSA's
Fleet Management, decides whether to
purchase retreading services or to buy a
new tire. Except for Department of
Defense activities, the agencies do not
maintain records on procurement of new
tires or tire retreading services. EPA
believes that recordkeeping is necessary
to obtain information on cost savings,
performance of retread tires, and use of
retread tire or tire retreading services
contracts. Therefore, EPA recommends
that as part of the preference program,
agencies institute the practice of
monitoring tire procurement by agency
subgroups or individuals by requiring
them to record their decisions to procure
replacement tires and lire retreading
services. The record should identify the
type and quantity of tires procured;
whether new-tires,, retread tires, or
retreading services were procured; the
cost per tire; and if new tires are
procured, the reasons for riot procuring
retreading services or retread tires. This
recommendation is in § 253.21(d) of the
final guideline.
A commenter objected to the
proposed recordkeeping
recommendation on the grounds that it
would mean two separate actions for
every tire purchase, would increase the
administrative workload, and would be
very difficult to control or manage. EPA
disagrees. First, when a replacement tire
is needed, a decision is made whether to
procure a new tire or retreading
services; EPA's recommendation simply
is that the decision be documented so
that procurement can be reviewed
annually as required by section 6002.
Second, because the recommended
documentation is minimal, EPA does not
believe that the administrative workload
will be more than minimal, nor that it
will be very difficult to control or
manage. EPA also notes that the
affirmative procurement provisions of
RCRA section 6002 clearly envision at
least some increases in the
administrative workload; for example,
administrative effort is needed in order
to implement the estimation,
certification, verification, and annual
review requirements.
As discussed above in section HI.E. of the
preamble, a procuring agency cannot cite its
specifications as a reason for failing to procure
retreads unless the specifications have been
reviewed and revised in accordance with RCRA
section 6002(d) and Subpart B of the guideline.
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Federal Register / Vol. 53. No. 222 / Thursday, November 17, 1988 / Rules and Regulations 46567
Very few Federal agencies operate
central motor pools, and the civilian
agencies no longer store replacement
automotive parts, including tire's, in
warehouses. Instead, vehicle
maintenance and replacement parts are
purchased from commercial
establishments on an as needed basis.
GSA contracts with vendors to provide .
parts and services. A commenter stated
that in light of this lack of central motor
pools, it would be impossible for most
agencies to obtain tire retreading
services.
EPA believes that procurement of
retreading services is possible without
government warehousing. For example,
GSA can require that contract
retreadera store used government tires
until there is a predetermined.
economically feasible quantity to be
retreaded,T The retreader can also store
the retreaded government tires and
provide them to the government vehicle
operator on an as-needed basis. Some
retreaders operate wholesale or retail
outlets for tires in addition to their
re&eadlng operations and thus might be
willing to enter into such warehousing
arrangements.
c< Other preference program
rcssamendations. A commenter
Indicated to EPA that GSA's use of
small business procurement procedures
for procurement of tire retreading
services contributes to quality
assurance problems. EPA believes that
such procurement practices constitute
specifications and must be reviewed
and revised by procuring agencies, as
necessary. EPA previously stated in the
lubricating oils guideline that the term
'specifications" in RCRA section
0002(dJ refers to all procurement
practices related to specifying what a
procuring agency intends to purchase, 53
FR 24710 (June 30,1988). Therefore, as
part of developing a lubricating oil
procurement program under section
G002(i), procuring agencies were .
required to examine their procurement
practices and revise thosa which inhibit
or preclude procurement of products
containing recovered materials. EPA
believes that this is equally applicable
to procurement of retread tires. EPA.
therefore, has added § 253.21(e) to the
final guideline to inform procuring
agencies that they must review and
revise any procurement practices which
inhibit or preclude procurement of
retread tires or tire retreading services. -
The Federal (i.e., GSA) approach to
using retread tires employs a
combination of (1) a retreading facilities
specification describing the procedures
to be used for retreading and (2) policies
limiting the use of retread tires. GSA's
written policies recommend that retread
tires not be used on the steering axles of
high speed, over-the-road vehicles and
prohibit use of retreads on passenger-
carrying vehicles or on the steering axle
of any Interagency Fleet Management
vehicle used on public highways. Use of
retread tires is recommended on the rear
wheels of large traucks, truck tractors-,
, trailers, and off-road vehicles.
Commenters stated that there are no'
means at GSA's disposal to assure the
quality of retread tires. According to the
commenters, barriers to quality
assurance include the standard
operating procedures of the retreading
industry, lack of government and/or
industry test methods, and infeasibility
of using batch testing on retread tires.
The commenters also stated that these
factors precluded development of one
specification to be used for both new
and retread tires.
EPA discussions with the retreading
industry and tire retailers have
uncovered retreading programs that
employ both production quality control
and performance quality control. The
performance quality control involves
performance testing that is the same as
or similar to testing required by
government specifications for new tires.
Batch testing using random sampling
also is used. These manufacturers
produce passenger car tires which are
intended to be sold for the same usage
as new tires (e.g., there are no
limitations on their nse on steering axles
or at highway speeds). Regular, high
performance, and speed-rated tires are
produced. At least one major American
retailer sells these tires with the same
warranties as new tires. In light of these
programs, EPA has concluded that it is
possible for GSA to develop
specifications and procurement
practices that assure tire quality.*
In this regard, a commenter stated
that the Federal government is
encumbered by a myriad of Federal
statutes and a variety of Federal
Procurement Regulations which
preclude procurement of high quality
retread tires. EPA points out that one of
the underlying purposes of section 6002
is to require procuring agencies to revise
their procedures so that they can .
procure items containing recovered
materials.
* Currtr.l CSA contract* require agencies lo
r,%.T,tl a b«ldb at too Urea for retreading .This
qjtfilily e«n b« rtsfecei however, EPA knowt of i
S.aie that vipphu tutcbe* of 25 tires for retreading.
.The baiU for EPA'» conclusion U described in
Background Document for Final Retread Tires
Procurement Guideline (EH. Pechan a Associates,
Inc., September 1968). which has been placed In the
docket For thb ralemaking.
d. Other procurement approaches
considered. In the final paper guideline
52 FR 37298-37299 (October 6,1987),
EPA discussed the section 6002(i)
requirement that any affirmative
procurement program be consistent with
applicable provisions of Federal
procurement law. From time to time,
Congress has established preferential
procurement programs in order to attain
socioeconomic goals. Among those are
the Small Business, Labor Surplus Area,
and Minority Business procurement
programs. EPA considered applying
either or both of the mechanisms used in
those programsprice preferences and
set-asidesto this guideline. A price
preference allows the procuring agency
to pay a higher price, if necessary, for a
specified product from preferred
vendors. A set-aside requires the
procuring agency to award a certain
percentage of its contracts to preferred
vendors of a product regardless of price.
Price preferences and setasides are
currently being used in some state
programs for the procurement of paper
and paper products containing
recovered materials. As of January 1988,
five states and two cities use price
preference programs in which products
containing recovered materials may cost
from 5 to 10 percent more than virgin
materials. Two states have set-aside
programs, one for paper and paper
products, the other for all types of
products. These states report that they
successfully procure products containing
recovered materials.
EPA has considered recommending
these programs at the Federal level
However, in the case of existing Federal
preferential procurement programs that
allow a price preference or set-aside, the
Agency found that each had been
established under explicit statutory .
authority or a specific Executive Order.
Neither the statutory language nor the .
legislative history of Section 6002 seems
to contemplate the adoption of either
price preferences or set-asides, and
doing so would conflict with existing "
Federal procurement law. Therefore,
rather than recommending price
preferences or set-asides, EPA is
recommending that procuring agencies
use the procurement mechanisms
provided in RCRA section 6002(i)(3). .
2. Promotion Program. The second
requirement of the affirmative
procurement program ia a promotional
effort by procuring agencies. The
guideline recommends several methods
for procuring agencies to use for
disseminating information about their
preference programs, such as placing
statements in invitations to bid,
discussing the program at bidders'
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46568. ,,.Federd
< Vol.
17, 1988 / Rules and Regulations
conferences, and informing industry .
trade associations about the program.- -
No comroenters suggested revisions to .
this section of the guideline.'.
3. Estimates, Certification, and .-,.,
Verification. The third requirement of
the affirmative procurement program set
forth in section 6002(i) concerns . ,
estimates, certification, and verification.
Many questions have been raised about
the certification and estimation of; .
recovered material content, such as
when they should be provided, who is to
provide them, how the information is to
be obtained, and how it is to be verified.
To clarify this subject, it is necessary to
review the requirements of the law.
a. Estimation. RCRA sections - .
6002(c)(3)(B) and 6002(i)(2)(C) require ,
that after the effective date of an EPA
guideline, contracting officers must
require vendors who supply Federal
procuring agencies with items covered
by the guideline to provide an estimate
of the total percentage of recovered .
materials contained in the items. EPA
believes that this requirement is for the
purpose of gathering statistical
information on price, recovered material
content, and availability, and applies
regardless of whether the procurement
solicitation specifies that recovered
materials can or must be used.
In the case of tires, procuring agencies
either purchase a product containing
recovered tire casings, or contract for a
retreading service for government. _
casings, rather than purchasing a
product containing a certain percentage
of recovered materials. In the proposed
guideline, EPA stated that the statistical
information that procuring agencies
need to obtain the number of retread
tires to be a supplied by the vendor. A
commenter pointed out, however, that
when a procuring agency purchases tire
retreading services using an indefinite
quantity contract it would be
impossible for the vendor to estimate the
quantity of tires to be supplied EPA
agrees and has concluded that the
estimation provision does not apply hi
this limited situation. EPA has revised
§253.23(a) accordingly.
For all other procurements of retread
tires or tire retreading services,
however, the contracting officer must
require the vendor to estimate the
number of retread tires to be supplied.
EPA is recommending that procuring
agencies retain these data for three
years from the date they are received.
b. Certification. RCRA section
6002(i)(2)(C) provides that contracting
officers must require vendors to supply
certifications of recovered materials
content, where appropriate. EPA
believes that, in general, written
certifications are inappropriate for
retread tire procurement because
. retreaders already use another
certification procedure which is required
by Department of Transportation v
regulations. Newly retreaded tires are
inspected to determine that they are free
of defects and that they comply with;
Fe'deral Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Tires passing the retreaders' inspection
are certified by stamping the retreading
plant's identification number and the
symbol DOT-R on the sidewalL The
identification number indicates that the
plant is a retreading operation. This is in
accordance with section 114 of the
National Traffic and Motor Vehicle
Safety Act of 1966 and 49 CFR 571.117
and 574.5.
EPA recognizes, however, that .
vendors offering tires'as a product might
offer to supply a set number of retread
tires or to supply retread tires as a set
percentage of the total number of tires to
be supplied. In this instance, a
certification of the quantity or
percentage to be supplied is needed.
Therefore, EPA has added a certification
recommendation in the final guideline;
see S 253.23(b).
A commenter stated that vendors
should be required to supply the
certification number (i.e., the retreader's
DOT identification number) on their
bids as a means of meeting the/
certification requirement EPA
disagrees, because the relevant
information needed by a procuring
agency is the quantity of tires to be
supplied, and the DOT identification
number will not provide this
information. Therefore, EPA has not
included the commenter'a recommended
revision in the final guideline.
c. Verification. Section 6002(i) also
requires procuring agencies to establish
reasonable procedures to verify the
estimates and certification. For retread
tires, verification will be relatively easy
because the certification number
stamped on the sidewall of the tire
identifies the tire as a retread. Procuring
agencies need only to spot check these
numbers to verify that a retread tire has
been supplied.
4. Annual Review and Monitoring.
The fourth requirement of the
affirmative procurement program is an
annual review and monitoring of the
effectiveness of the program. EPA
recommends that the review include an
estimate of the number of retread tires
purchased during the year, assessment
of the effectiveness of the agency
preference program, and an assessment
of remaining barriers to procurement of
retread tires.
In other procurement guidelines, EPA
has recommended that procuring
agencies keep specified records in order
to monitor the progress of their
affirmative procurement programs.
Through an inadvertent oversight, EPA
failed to include this recommendation in
the proposed retread tires guideline.
Several commenters asked EPA to
include the recordkeeping
recommendations. EPA'agrees that this
provision should be added to the retread
tires guideline. EPA notes that the
recommendations were available for
public comment during development of
the final paper and lubricating oil
guideline and the proposed building
insulation products guideline. See 52 FR
37335, October 6,1987; 52 FR 38838,
October 19,1987; and 53 FR 29185,
August 2,1988. Therefore, hi the final
guideline issued today, EPA has revised
5 253.24 to incorporate the
recordkeeping recommendations. The
following discussion explains the
recommendations.
EPA has concluded that one purpose
of the requirement that vendors provide
estimates is to provide information to
procuring agencies that can be used in
future procurements. Further, procuring
agencies need to keep up-to-date on
changes in recycling practices and
availability of products containing
recovered materials. EPA believes that
unless a procuring agency compiles such
data, it will not be fulfilling its statutory
obligations.
A program for gathering statistics '
need not be elaborate to be effective.
However, agencies should monitor their
procurements to compile data on the
following: ..
(a) Comparative price information on
competitive procurements;
(b) The quantity of each item procured
over a fiscal year;
(c) The availability of retread tires or
tire retreading services to procuring
agencies;
(d) Type Of performance tests
conducted, together with the categories
of retread tires that failed the tests, the
percentage of all new tires and retread
tires procured, respectively, that failed
each test and the nature of the failure;
(e) Agency experience with the
performance of the procured products.
EPA recommends that each procuring
agency prepare a report on its annual
review and monitoring of the
effectiveness of its procurement
program. As part of the report agencies
should demonstrate that their preference
program results in procurement of
retread tires or tire retreading services
to the maximum extent practicable. The
basis for these determinations should be
a review of the data compiled on price,
availability, and performance, as well as
a comparison of estimates and
certifications provided by the vendors.
Agencies should also document
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Federal Register / VoL S3. No. 222 / Thursda^QvemberJ17,J.^^
specification revisions made during the
reporting period.
EPA believes that this information
will be useful to the public. EPA notes
that this guideline will apply to State
and local procuring agencies and
contractor!, as explained in Section JUS
of the preamble. Information drawn
from the experience of Federal procuring
agencies about purchases of retread
tires and tire retreading services would
therefore be useful to State and local
purchasing officials and contractors.
Accordingly! EPA encourages Federal
procuring agencies to make their reports
available to the public.*
Finally, EPA notes that while the
annual review and monitoring
requirements of RCRA Section 6002
apply to State and local procuring
agencies and to contractors, EPA's
recommendation for recordkeeping and
reporting Is less pertinent for these
persons than for Federal agencies. Most
EPA recommendations are germane to
Implementing section 6002. In the case of
the recordkeeping and reporting
recommendations, however, the
recommendations are more germane to
the Federal agencies, which are required
to report to the Office of Federal
Procurement Policy regarding
Implementation of section 6002. In
addition, reports generated by the
Federal agencies are available to the
public through Freedom of Information
Act requests, and the experience of
Federal agencies will serve as an
Important teaching tool for non-Federal
agencies hying to Implement affirmative
procurement programs.
In the case of non-Federal procuring
agencies and contractors, there is no
reporting requirement in section 6002,
and the Freedom of Information Act
does not extend to their documents
(although there might be a similar state
provision). EPA believes that reporting
Is less relevant when the report is , v<
unavailable unless the agency or ^ ,'
contractor chooses to make it available.
Therefore, EPA continues to recommend
recordkeeping and reporting but
acknowledges that these .
recommendations do not apply equally
to non-Federal agencies and contractors.
. IV. Price, Competition, Availability, and
Performance .. ' .
Section 6002(c)(l) of RCRA provides
that a procuring agency may decide not
Ofeoum. report* generated by Federal
utndes tit available to the public through the
fedora of Information Act EPA believef that , ,
Federal uendti jhould take affirmative itep> to
make tit rtporti readily available, itich as1 making
the report* available for purchaia from the
Government Printing Office or the National
Technical Information Service.
to purchase an item designated by EPA
if it determines that (1) the item is
available only at an unreasonable price,
(2) a satisfactory level of competition
cannot be maintained. (3) the item is not
reasonably available within a
reasonable period of time, or (4) the item
fails to meet the applicable
specifications. This portion of the
preamble discusses the effect of these
limitations on retread tire procurement
Commenters asked EPA to compile
information on availability, price
(including relative price of retread tires
by geographic regions], and performance
of retread tires and to distribute this
information to all Federal agencies that
purchase tires and to every state. They
also asked EPA to sponsor seminars to
share this information with interested
persons. EPA agrees that further
guidance will need to be provided to
procuring agencies and vendors _' .
regarding the implementation of this as
well as the other procurement
guidelines. Therefore, the Agency will
be developing a plan for educating the
various procuring agencies and vendors.'
A commenter objected to EPA's
placing information on availability,
price, and performance of retread tires
in the docket supporting the guideline
instead of in the guideline itself. While
EPA acknowledges that the docket is
not readily accessible to persons located
outside of the Washington, DC area,
EPA disagrees that additional
information should be placed in the
guideline: First, the Federal Register is
not necessarily readily available to
persons needing retread tires
Information. Second, EPA expects the
information to be constantly changing,
rendering the information published in
the Federal Register obsolete. Third, the
process for updating the information
through notices fa the Federal Register is
not as cost-effective as other'
mechanisms. As a result EPA plans to
use other, less formal, highly available
mechanisms to disseminate and update
price, performance, and availability
information. ' '
A. Price . ' . - ' :
Section 6002 provides that a procuring
agency may not purchase a designated
.item if the price is "unreasonable."
, Commenters on several of the
procurement guidelines stated that a
"reasonable price" includes price
preference's. However, as EPA stated in
the paper guideline, 52 FR 37298-37299
(October 6,1987), RCRA section 6002
does not provide explicit authority to
EPA to authorize or recommend .
payment of a price preference or to
create a set-aside. Therefore, unless an
agency has an independent authority to
provide a price preference or to create a
set-aside, EPA believes that a price is
"unreasonable" if it is greater than the
price of a competing product made of
virgin material.
A commenter stated that EPA's
interpretation of the unreasonable price
provision is a decision not to buy
recycled products fa every instance
except those fa which the price is either
lower than that for a virgin product or fa
which there is a tie between the virgin
and recycled product. The commenter is
incorrect A recycled product might not
be purchased fa every case, even using
price premiums as the commenter
proposes, due to unavailability or lack
of satisfactory competition. A recycled
product also might not be purchased fa
every instance due to unreasonable
discrimination, which is the problem
that RCRA section 6002 and EPA's
procurement guidelines are intended to
eliminate. In attempting to overcome
this problem, however, EPA cannot
require or recommend that procuring
agencies use price premiums^
A commenter disagreed with EPA's .
interpretation of "unreasonable" and
noted that the legislative materials upon
which EPA relies for this interpretation
post-date by several years the original .
enactment of RCRA, do not indicate any
intention on the part of Congress that
section 6002 only apply fa the rare
situation of a tie bid, and only refer to
recycled paper. While the commenter
has correctly characterized the
legislative materials, EPA disagrees that
one should thus conclude that Congress
intended for procuring agencies to pay a
premium price for products procured
pursuant to section 6002. EPA believes
that if Congress had meant to authorize
price premiums, then Congress would
have explicitly said so fa section 6002"
and/or the legislative history. In the
absence of this explicit authority, EPA
can neither require nor recommend that
procuring agencies pay a premium price.
Several commenters stated that
procuring agencies should use life-cycle
costing and factor in the avoided cost of
tire disposal. These commenters failed
either to suggest how this should be
done'or to supply any mechanism or . .
methodologies for life-cycle costing in
the context of procurement of tire
retreading services and tires. EPA has
researched the issue, which proved to be
a complex problem. EPA has not been
able to develop at this time a
satisfactory methodology for
determining life-cycle costing fa this .
case. Therefore; EPA has not added a '' .
life-cycle costing recommendation to the
final guideline. -
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Federal,Register / Vol.,$3. ffp. 222_^ Thursday, November17,
1988 /.Rules and.Regulations
B. Competition and Availability
.-:.EPABelieves that there will be a ;
"satisfactory level of competition and
availability of retread tires. Currently/
there is an abundant supply of worn
tires in the waste stream that are
candidates for retreading, and there are
approximately 2,600 retreading plants
located across the country. Therefore,
there should be a satisfactory level of
competition and availability.
' The Federal retreading services
contracts are awarded on a regional
' basis through'small business set-aside
procurements. A commenter stated that
it would be impossible for the retreading
industry at this small business level and
even at the larger business level to
handle the volume of demand that
would be generated by all government
agencies that are currently supplied with
new tires; this commenter did not
provide any documentation to support
this assertion, however. EPA notes that
procuring agencies are responsible for
reviewing this type of procurement
practice and revising it if it has a
negative impact on procurement of
retread tires or tire retreading services.
EPA has added a recommendation to
§ 253.21 of the final guideline with
respect to procurement practices. In
addition, if retread tires or tire
retreading services are not available.
then procuring agencies are not required .
to buy them.
Several commenters asked EPA to
provide a list of retreaders in the final
guideline. EPA believes that it is
inappropriate to do so. First, the Federal
Register is not readily available to all
procuring agencies affected by this
guideline. Second, the list would require
constant updating. EPA plans to -
establish other less formal, highly
available mechanisms for disseminating
this information, such as a telephone
hotline. In the meantime, procuring
agencies can contact the industry trade
associations for assistance in identifying
retreaders serving their geographic area;
the addresses and telephone numbers of
the associations can be found in section
HI.E.3. of the preamble.
C. Performance
As discussed elsewhere in this'
preamble, GSA's retread facility
specification requires that retreaders
have their production facilities certified
either by GSA or by a nationally -
recognized retreader association. Once
the plant is certified, it is periodically
recertified to ensure that it is
maintaining satisfactory operating
procedures. In addition, newly retreaded
tires are inspected by the retreader to
determine that they are free of defects
and that they comply with the Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. These
inspection arid certification procedures
help to assure the performance of. v
retread tires, just as new tire inspection
and certification procedures do.
A commenter stated that retread tires
are not equivalent to new tires for all
applications and all tire designs. This
commenter also noted that the use of
retread or unmatched tires on
government vehicles decreases the
value of the vehicles at the time of
resale. Since this commenter did not
provide any data, it is impossible for
EPA to respond directly to these
comments. EPA does note, however,
that procuring agencies can prepare
specifications that limit the use of
retread tires where there is a factual,
documented basis for such limitation. If
unmatched tires is a concern, then
agency specifications should require
. matched tires, whether they be new or
Tetread tires.
A commenter also objected to use of
retread tires of tire retreading services
because retread tires do not carry a
mileage guarantee, as new tires do. This
is not correct. EPA knows of retreaders
that provide mileage guarantees and/or
warranties similar to or identical to new
tire warranties. Procuring agencies
interested in mileage guarantees or
warranties should require them as part
.,. of their specifications.. .
Commenters also criticized the .
. retread facility inspection and
certification programs required by
Federal specifications as inadequate to
assure performance of retread tires. EPA
believes that this criticism is unfounded.
The inspection and certification
provisions in the Federal specifications
are required by GSA, the Federal agency
charged with responsibility for
developing specifications to assure tire
performance. They were developed by
GSA, in conjunction with the retreading
industry as a means of assuring
performance.
A commenter questioned the strength
of used tire carcasses as compared to ' "
new tires. Information has been
submitted to EPA by the American
Retreaders Association documenting the
burst strength of both passenger car
tires and truck tires compared to similar
new tires. EPA has placed the test
reports, The Study of Burst Strength
New Versus Worn Radial Passenger
Tires {ARA, 1988) and The Study of
Burst Strength New Versus Worn Steel
Radial Truck Tires (ARA, 1988) in the
docket for this guideline. Both studies
are available from the ARA, EPA
recommends that agencies concerned
with used tire carcass strength obtain
"and evaluate these reports..;.. .; -
Finally) some commenters .
documented performance problems with
. use of retread tires. As EPA has
discussed above and under the
-. discussion of specifications, RCRA
section 6002{d) provides that procuring .
agencies must revise their specifications
to maximize use of retread tires without
jeopardizing the intended end use of the
tires. Use of retread tires can thus be
limited as long as there is a factual,
justifiable basis for the limitation.
V. Miscellaneous Comments
A commenter stated that the use of
retread tires wiH only have a temporary
affect on disposal of used tires. EPA
does not follow the logic of this
argument. Since retreading extends the
life of a tire and allows the tire to be
used again as a tire, it will not be
. necessary for the user to purchase a
new replacement tire. Therefore, there
: will ultimately be fewer tires requiring
disposal.
Commenters also argued that
retreading will not address the long term
problem with tire disposal and that EPA
should address other uses of scrap tires.
EPA is actively considering other means
of recycling scrap tires, is studying the
feasibility of procurement guidelines for
them, and will decide whether to pursue
guidelines after the feasibility study is
completed. . .
.A commenter suggested that EPA
obtain information on the
implementation of the guideline from
other agencies to be used to revise the
guideline from time to time.lSPA plans
to do this.
- Section 253.21(d) of the proposed -
-guideline recommended .that procuring
agencies make determinations regarding
competition, availability, and price in
accordance with applicable provisions
of the FAR and other applicable Federal
law. Commenters suggested that this
provision should be deleted as - -
unnecessary and possibly
.counterproductive. After
reconsideration, EPA agrees with the
commenters and has deleted this
provision.
VI. Implementation
Different parts of section 6002 refer to
different dates by which procuring
agencies must have completed or
initiated a required activity: (1) May 8,
1986 (Le,, 18 months after enactment of
.HSWA), (2) one year after the date of
publication of an EPA guideline, and (3)
the date specified in an EPA guideline.
As a result, there is some confusion with
.respect to which activities must be
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Federal Register / Vol. 53. No. 222
November 17.1988/ Rules and Reulations.46571
completed or initiated by each date.
This jectlon of the preamble explains
these deadlines.
First, under section 6002(d)(l), Federal
agencies that have the responsibility for
drafting or reviewing specifications for
procurement items must eliminate from
such specifications any exclusion of
recovered materials and any
requirements that items be
manufactured from virgin materials.
This activity was to be completed by
May 8.1986.
Second, procuring agencies must
assure that their specifications'for
procurement items designated by EPA
require the use of recovered materials to
the maximum extent possible without
Jeopardizing the intended end use of the
item [section 6002(d)(2)]. In addition,
procuring agencies must develop an
affirmative procurement program for
purchasing items designated by EPA, in
this Instance, retread tires [section
6002(i)(l)]. Both of these activities must
be completed within one year after the
date of publication of this guideline as a
final rule.
Third, procuring agencies which
procure items designated by EPA must
begin procurement of such items
containing the highest percentage of
recovered materials practicable [section
6002(c)(l)). In addition, contracting
officers must require vendors to submit
estimates and certifications of recovered
materials content [section 6002(c){3)].
Both of these activities must begin after
the date specified by EPA in the
applicable guideline.
EPA believes that procuring agencies
should begin to procure retread tires or
tire retreading services as soon as the
specification revisions have been
completed and the affirmative
procurement programs have been
developed. Since these latter activities
must be completed within one year after
publication of this guideline as a final
rule, affirmative procurement should
begin no later than one year from
publication as well. Section 253.26
specifies this implementation date.
EPA expects cooperation from .
affected procuring agencies in
implementing this guideline. Under
section 6002(g) of RCRA. the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), in
cooperation with EPA, is responsible for
overseeing implementation of the
requirements.of section 6002 and for
coordinating it with other Federal
procurement policies. OFPP is required
to report to Congress on actions taken
by Federal agencies to implement
section 6002.
VTI. Regulatory Analyses
A. Environmental and Energy Impacts
The environmental and energy
impacts of the retread tires guideline are
. discussed in Background Document for
the Guideline for Federal Procurement
of Retread Tires (E.H. Pechan &
Associates, Inc., July 1987), which was
included in the docket for the proposed
guideline. In response to comments
asking EPA to discuss the impacts in the
guideline, the following summary of
information in the background document
is provided.
Each tire that is retreaded is one less
tire disposed of in a landfill or tire pile .
or otherwise discarded. In addition,
because a retread tire substitutes for a
new replacement tire, there are
ultimately less tires requiring disposal.
Although not all scrap tires can be
successfully retreaded, the initial
acceptance rate of casings for retreading
is between 40 and 50 percent, indicating
that at least twice as many tires could
be retreaded each year as are currently
retreaded. "
As discussed hi section n.C of the
preamble, tires are difficult to landfill,
and both tires in landfills and tires in
piles present threats to human health
and the environment. The tires become
home to mosquitos and vermin. They
also settle unevenly in the landfill,
creating problems for future
development of the landfill site. They
also are a potential fire hazard; the fires
are expensive to control or contain and
result in both air pollution and potential
water pollution from run-off of oily
residues.
While tire retreading operations
generate some pollutants, there is a net
environmental gain when tires are
retreaded instead of discarded.
Tire retreading uses significantly less
energy than manufacturing of new tires.
For exa'mple, for each new tire
produced, between 7 and 10 gallons of
crude oil are required; tire retreading
requires approximately 30 to 35 percent
of this amount because of the bulk of the
crude oil used in new tire manufacturing
goes into the fabrication of the casing.
Similarly, production of a new tire -.
requires about 14.7 thousand British -.
thermal units (Btus) per pound versus
about 2.2 Btus per'pound for production
of a retread tire. Each retread tire
produced, therefore, is capable of
reducing energy consumption by more
than 12 thousand Btu/pound, or,
assuming an average weight of 25 to 30
>pounds for a passenger tire, between 310
.and 375 thousand Btus of domestic
energy consumption can be saved per ,
retread passenger tire. The per-tire Btu
saving is even greater for truck tires
because of their heavier weight.
B. Executive Order No. 12291
Under Executive Order No. 12291,
EPA must determine whether a
regulation is major or nonmajor. This
guideline is not a major rule because it
is unlikely to result in: ,
(1) An annual effect on the economy
of $100 million or more;
(2) A major increase in costs or prices
for consumers, individual industries,
Federal, state or local government
agencies, or geographic regions; or
(3) Significant adverse effects on
competition, employment, investment,
productivity, innovation, or on the
ability of United States-based
enterprises to compete with foreign-
based enterprises in domesetic or export
markets.
Increased usage of retread tires and
tire retreading services addressed by
this guideline is not expected to produce
recurring annual effects of $100 million
or more on the economy. The Federal
Procurement Data Center reported.
Federal tire purchases of $39,400,000 for
1985, which represented less than Va of 1
percent of the estimated tire production
for the year. The majority of DOD tire
procurements are for speciality, heavy-
truck, and military equipment vehicles.
DOD actively procures retreading
services for this equipment already. The
impact of this guideline would,
therefore, primarily involve the GSA
schedule purchases of other agencies.
The 1986 GSA tire procurements were
approximately $4,000,000. If all of these
new replacement tires were replaced by
using retreading services, the economic
effect would be less than 10 percent of
the $100,000,000 criteria of Executive
Order No. 12291.
An expanded potential market for
retread tires by increased government
procurement is not expected to increase
costs of retreading services or prices of
retread tires. The retread tire industry is
currently characterized by intense cost
competitiveness and excess production
capacity. Therefore, an increase in
prices for retreading services will be
expected to result in market share losses
and decreased profits. Increased prices .
to government agencies may similarly
mean loss of that market share..
The current goal of the declining
retreading industry is to increase net
profits through the reduction of
operating expenses. Simply increasing
sales will not increase net profits in this
industry. A commenter asked EPA to
define the circumstances under which
profits would increase for the retreading
industry. EPA cannot provide this
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/ Vol.
17. 198a / Rules arid Regulations
.. information. It la outside the scope of;
EPA's responsibility, but even if it we're
not, the factors must be determined by
the Industry itself, which is most ' -
familiar with its operating expenses and
procedures-. '.:..
In conclusion, the guideline by itself
will have neither adverse effects nor be
significantly advantageous in terms of
competitiveness, employment levels.
capitalization, productivity or- -
innovation in this industry. The
guideline is consistent with the cost-'
benefit standard of E.O.12291.
This rule was submitted to the Office
of Management and Budget for review
as required by Executive Order No.
12291. ..,.-..
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility
Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 etseq., whenever an
agency publishes a general notice of
ruJemaking for any proposed or final
rule, it must prepare and make-available
for public comment a regulatory
flexibility analysis that describes the
impact of the rule on small entities (i.e.,
small businesses, small organizations,
small governmental jurisdictions),
unless the Administrator certifies mat
the rule will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities.
As described in th background
document prepared for this guideline,
the economic impact on both small
businesses and small governmental
jurisdiction's is expected to be in some
cases, negligible and in other instances,
beneficial, because there will be no net
change in the number of small .
businesses supplying tires to procuring
agencies and most small govenment
jurisdictions use non-Federal funds to
procure tires. An extremely limited
number of business and governmental
entities are affected at all by the
guideline. Therefore, the guideline is not
expected to have significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
For the above reasons, EPA certifies
that this guideline will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. As
a result the guideline does not require a
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 253
Government, procurement, Recycling,
Resource recovery. Retreading. Tires.
Dated: November 9,1988.
Lee M. Thomac,
Administrator.
For the reasons set out in the
preamble. Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations is amended by adding a-,-"
new Part 253 to read as follows:
PART 253r-GUIDELJNE FOR FEDERAL
PROCUREMENT OF RETREAD TIRES
SubpertAGeneral - .
Sec. " ...
253.1 Purpose. ' '
253.2 Designation.
253.3 Applicability. . ' '
253.4 Definitions.
Subpart BSpecifications
253.10 Revisions. -
253.11 Exclusions. -"-.. ' .
Subpart CAffirmattv* Procurement
Program .'.-...-'
253.20 General,
253.21 Preference program.
253.22 Promotion program.
253.23 Estimation, certification, and
verification.
253.24 Annual review and monitoring.
- 253.25 Implementation. -
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6912(a) and 6362.
Subpart AGeneral
§253.1 Purpose.
(a) The purposes of this guideline are:
(1) To assist procuring agencies in '.
complying with the requirements of
section 6002 of the Solid Waste Disposal
Act, as amended by the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA
or the Act), as amended. 42 U.S.C. 6962,
as that section applies to procurement of
tires and
(2) To designate tires as a
procurement item subject to RCRA
section 6002.
(b) This guideline contains
recommendations for use in
implementing the requirements of
section 6002, including revision of
specifications and development of an
affirmative procurement program. -
(c) The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) believes that adherence
to the recommendations in the guideline
constitutes compliance with section
6002. However, procuring agencies may
adopt other types of procurement
programs consistent with section 6002.
§253.2 Designation.
EPA designates tires as items which
are or can be produced with recovered
materials (i.e., used tire casings) and
whose procurement by procuring
agencies will carry out the objectives of
section 6002 of RCRA. For purposes of
this guideline, the term "tires" does not
include airplane tires.
§253.3 Applicability.
(a)(l) This guideline applies to all
procuring agencies and to all
procurement actions involving tires
when the procuring agency makes a
purchase. In the current fiscal year,
worth $10,000 or more, or when the cost
of such items or of functionally
equivalent items purchased during the
preceding fiscal year was $10,000 or.
more. For purposes of the $10,000
threshold, all sizes'and types of tires
should be considered to be "functionally
equivalent"
(2) This guideline applies to Federal
agencies, to State or local agencies using
appropriated Federal funds, and to
persons contracting with any such
agencies with respect to work performed
under such contracts.
(i) Federal agencies should note' that
the requirements of RCRA section 6002
apply to them whether or not .
appropriated Federal funds are used for
procurement of items designated by
EPA. . ^
(ii) This guideline also applies to State
- and local agencies and to contractors
whenever commingled Federal and non-
Federal funds are used to procure tires,
pii) The $10,000 threshold applies to
procuring agencies as a whole rather
than to agency subgroups such as
regional offices or subagericies.
(b) The term "procurement actions"
includes purchases made directly by a
procuring agency and purchases made
by any person directly in support of
work being performed for a procuring
agency (e.g., by a contractor).
{c) This guideline does not apply to
purchases which are not the direct result
of a contract grant loan, funds
disbursement, or agreement with a
procuring agency.
§253.4 Definitions.
As used in this guideline:
"Act" or "RCRA" means the Solid
Waste Disposal Act as amended by the
Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.
"Fe'deral agency" means any
department agency or other
instrumentality of the Federal
Government, any independent agency or
establishment of the Federal
Government including any Government
corporation, and the Government
Printing Office.
"Person" means an individual, trust
firm, joint stock company, corporation
(including a government corporation),'
partnership, association. Federal
agency. State, municipality, commission,
political subdivision of a State, or any
interstate body.
"Practicable" means capable of being
used consistent with: performance in
accordance with applicable
specifications, availability at a
reasonable price, availability within a
reasonable period of time, and
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Federal Register / Vol. 53, No. 222 / Thursday, NovemberlT. .......... 1988 ...... /
4S573
maintenance of a satisfactory level of -
competition.
"Procurement item" means any
device, good, substance, material,
product, or other item, whether real or
personal property, which is the subject
of any purchase, barter, or other
exchange made to procure such item.
"Procuring agency" means any
Federal agency, or any State agency or
agency of a political subdivison of a
State which is using appropriated
Federal funds for such procurement, or
any person contracting with any such
agency with respect to work performed
under such contract.
"Retread tire" means a worn
automobile, truck, or other motor vehicle
tire whose tread has been replaced. .
"Specification" means a description of
the technical requirements for a .
material, product, or service that
includes the criteria for determining
whether these requirements are met. In
general, specifications are in the form of
written sommercial designations,
industry standards, and other
descriptive references.
'Tire" means the following types of
tires: passenger car tires, light- and
heavy-duty truck tires, high speed
industrial tires, bus tires, and special
service tires (including Military,
agricultural, off-the-road, and slow
speed industrial).
Subpart BSpecifications
1253.10 Revision*.'
(a) By May 8,1988, Federal agencies
were required to eliminate from their
specifications any exclusion of retread
- tires and any requirement that tires be
manufactured from virgin materials
unless there is a technical basis for such
exclusion or requirement.
(b) Within one year after the date of
publication of this guideline, each
procuring agency must assure that its
specifications require the use of retread
tires to the maximum extent possible
without Jeopardizing the intended end
use of these items. Specifications should
indicate the functional requirements of
tires to be procured, including the
performance criteria (e.g., high speed
tires), any desired mileage guarantees,
and the size and type of tire required.
§253.11 Exclusions. . . ,
Any procuring agency which prepares
a specification which excludes retread
tires should document its determination
that use of retread tires will jeopardize
the intended end use ofihe tire. Such
determinations should be based on
technical performance information and ..
identify any performance criteria.that
cannot be satisfied by retread tires.
Subpart CAffirmative Procurement
Program
§253.20 General.
(a) Within one year after the date of
publication of this guideline as a final
rule, each procuring agency which
procures tires must establish an
affirmative procurement program for
procuring retread tires to the maximum
extent practicable. The program must
meet the requirements of section 8002(i)
of RCRA, including the establishment of
a preference program; a promotion
. program; procedures for estimation,
certification, and verification; and
procedures for conducting an annual
review of the affirmative procurement
program. This subpart provides
recommendations for implementing
section 6002(i).
(b) Federal agencies should note that
while the U.S. General Services
Administration executes tire contracts,
it is not responsible for developing and
implementing an affirmative
procurement program under RCRA ,
section 6002 for any agency but itself.
Each Federal agency is responsible for
its own section 6002 affirmative
procurement program.'
§ 253.21 Preference program.
(a) EPA recommends that procuring
agencies establish preference programs
, consisting of two components:
(1) Procurement of tire retreading
services for the agencies' used
carcasses, such as from persons
identified on the U.S. General Services
Administration's Federal Supply
Schedules.
' (2) Procurement of tires through
competition between vendors of new
"tires and vendors of retread tires.
Procuring agencies should provide a
preference to the vendor offering to
. supply the greatest number of retread
tires in the event that identical low bids
are received in response to a
solicitation, all other factors being
equal.
(b) EPA further recommends that
procuring agencies establish a tire .
procurement policy stating that the
agency will first procure retreading
. services for its used tires to the
maximum extent practicable and, if such
' services are not practicable, obtain
replacement tires from the vendor(s)
awarded the contract(s) to supply tires.
(c) EPA recommends that a procuring
agency that is unable toimplernent one
of the components listed in paragraph .
.(a) of this section document that it is .
. unable to purchase retread tires or tire
re-reading services due to ona or more
of the following limitations:
(1) Unsatisfactory level of
competition;
(2) Unavailability within a reasonable
period of time;
(3) Inability to meet the specifications
in the invitation for bids, provided that
such specifications satisfy RCRA
section 6002(d) and Subpart B of this
part
(4) Unavailability at a reasonable
price.
The agency also must continue to
attempt to implement the component
(d) EPA recommends that procuring
agencies record the following
information for each procurement:
(1) Type and quantity of tires,
(2) Whether new tires, retread tires, or
retreading services were procured,
(3) Cost per tire, and
(4) If new tires are procured, the
reason for not procuring retreading
services or retread tires.
(e) Procuring agencies must review
their procurement practices and
eliminate those which would inhibit or
preclude use of retread tires.
§ 253.22 Promotion program.
Procuring agencies must develop a
promotion program to promote the
preference program. EPA recommends
that procuring agencies use the
following methods, at a minimum, to
promote their preference programs:
(a) Place a statement in procurement
. invitations in the Commerce Business
Daily describing the preference
program.
(b) Describe the preference program in
tire procurement solicitations or
invitations to bid.
(c) Discuss the preference program at
bidders' conferences.
(d) Inform industry trade associations
about the preference program.
§ 253.23 Estimation, certification, and
verification.
(a)(l) Except as provided in paragraph
(a)(2) of this section, contracting officers
must require vendors who supply tires
to procuring agencies to estimate the
number of retread tires to be supplied.
EPA recommends that procuring
agencies retain these estimates for three
years from the date they are received.
(2) The estimation requirement does
not apply when a procuring agency
purchases tire retreading services using
an indefinite quantity-contract.
(b) EPA recommends that as part of a
solicitation for tires as products,
procuring agencies require vendors to
certify the number of retread tires to be
supplied or the percentage of the total
.tires to be supplied that will be retread
tires.
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46574 Federal Register /Vol.-. 53; No; 222 / Thursday, November 17. 1988 / Rules'and Regulations
(c) Procuring agencies must establish
reasonable procedures to. verify the - -'
estimates; EPA recommends that -
procuring agencies randomly check the
numbers stamped on tire sidewalls to
verify that retread tires have been -
supplied. (In accordance with U.S.
Department of Transportation
regulations, the tire will be stamped
with the symbol DOT-R.)
§ 253.24 Annual review and monitoring.
(a) Each procuring agency must
conduct an annual review and
monitoring of the effectiveness of its
affirmative procurement program. EPA
recommends that the annual review
include the following items: '
(1) An estimate of the number of
retread tires purchased.
(2) An assessment of the effectiveness
of the preference program.
(3) An assessment of remaining
barriers to procurement of retread tires
to determine whether they are internal
(e.g., resistance to use) or external (e.g.,
unavailability) barriers.
(4) A program to gather statistics.
Procuring agencies should monitor their
procurements to provide data on the
following: _ «
(i) Comparative price information on
competitive procurements; "
(ii) The quantity of each item procured
over a fiscal yean ' :
(iii) The availability of retread tires or
tire retreading services to procuring
agencies; " .. ~
(iv) Type of performance tests' - "-
conducted, together with the type of '
retread tires that failed the tests, the"
percentages of all new tires and retread.
tires procured, respectively, that failed
each test and the nature of the failure; '
(v) Agency experience with the "
performance of the procured products.
(b) Procuring agencies should prepare
a report on their annual review and
monitoring of the effectiveness of their
procurement programs and make these
reports available to the public. The
reports should contain the following
information: .
(1) A discussion of how the procuring
agency's approach procures retread tires
. or tire retreading services to the
maximum extent practicable. The basis
for this discussion should be a review of
the data compiled on price, availability,
and performance, as well as a
comparison of estimates and .
certifications provided by the vendors.
(2) Documentation of specification
revisions made during the year.
§253.25 Implementation.
(a) Federal agencies were required to
review and revise their specifications,
as set forth in § 253.10(a), by May 8,
1988.
(b) Procuring agencies are required to
revise their specifications as set forth in
§ 253.10(b), and to establish affirmative
procurement programs, as set forth in
Subpart C, by November 17,1989.
(c) Procuring agencies must begin
procurement of retread tires, in
compliance with this guideline by
November 17,1989.
[FR Doc. 88-26422 Filed 11-18-88; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE
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