Issue 12
ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE PURCHASING
Environmentally Preferable
Purchasing, or EPP, seeks
the overall best value, tak-
ing into account price com-
petitiveness, regulatory
requirements, performano
standards, and environmei
tal impact. Because pur-
chasers typically have clear
sources of information on
regulations and well-estab-
lished methods for evaluat-
ing price and performance
the U.S. EPA EPP program
has developed the EPP
Update to help govern-
ment purchasers consider
the environmental factors
in the EPP equation and tc
keep purchasers informed
of EPP news. For more
information about the EPP
program's history, tools,
and resources, please visit
.
Highlights
• Buying Biobased
• New Federal
Environmental
Executive
• EPA's EPP Goals
• Alternative Fuel
Vehicles
• Making Purchases
Mercury-Free
• EPP Database
• Green Meetings
Buying Biobased—
Implications of the 2002 Farm Bil
has important implications
sive Procurement
Guidelines (CPG), which address the ac
materials. Specifically, Title IX of the 20(
chasing more than $10,000 worth of an
ates mat any rederal agency pur
e preference to goods that are
< Continued on page 6 >
An Interview with John Howard, Federal
Environmental Executive
On April 30, 2002, President Bush
appointed John L. Howard, Jr. to
be the new Federal
Environmental Executive. Under
Executive Order (EO) 13101, the
Federal Environmental Executive (FEE)
chairs the White House Task Force on
Waste Prevention and Recycling. The
Task Force works to provide clear
national direction for federal agencies
and track governments progress on
waste prevention, recycling, and the pur-
chase of recycled-content and environ-
mentally preferable services and
products.
Mr. Howard comes to the position after
serving as senior associate director at the
Council on Environmental Quality,
where he worked on the Administrations
environmental and natural resources
policies. Prior to that, he served from
1996 to 2000 as the environmental and
natural resources policy advisor for then-
Governor Bush and practiced law in
Washington, DC, and Austin, Texas, for
8 years.
The EPP program recently had a
chance to talk with Mr. Howard—
the interview summary follows.
< Continued on page 10 >
Printed on processed chlorine-free paper, including at least 50 percent postconsumer fiber.
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Introducing EPA's
EPP Goals!
EPA recently outlined several goals as
part of its effort to meet the man-
dates set forth in Executive Order
(EO) 13101, Greening the Government
Through Waste Prevention,
Recycling, and Federal Aquisition,
which requires that federal agencies
buy products or services that "have a
lesser or reduced effect on human
health and the environment when
compared with competing products."
While there is always room for
improvement in any goal-setting
process, these objectives lay out an
aggressive path for EPA to follow in
buying greener products and ser-
Visit for the full tex,
of EPA's goals. For more information,
please contact Bucky Green, chief of
EPA's Sustainable Facilities Practices
Branch, at 202 564-6371 or
.
EPA's Dishing Out EPP!
On January 13, EPA opened a new
"green" cafeteria, offering employ-
ees a variety of environmentally
preferable options, from com-
postable serviceware to sustainably
grown coffee. Stay tuned to the
next EPP Update for more on this
exciting EPA EPP success story.
Excerpts from EF
for 2005 and 201
GOAL: To reduce EPAs environmental footprint
by increasing and promoting recycling,
reducing materials entering EPAs waste
stream, promoting and achieving
increased and preferential use of materi-
als with recycled content, and emphasiz-
ing and increasing the purchase and use
of environmentally preferable products.
GREEN BUILDINGS
Objective: Have all of EPAs significant new
facility construction and new building acquisi-
tion projects meet the U.S. Green Building
Council's LEED™ silver standard by 2005.
Commit to use the U.S. Green Building
Council's LEEDT
new
Commercial Interiors
and Existing Building standards by 2005 on at
least one appropriate project where space in
an existing building is acquired. Request that
GSA provide new major office leases that meet
the ENERGY STAR® requirements.
GREEN JANITORIAL AND MAINTENANCE
SERVICES
Objective: "Green" all significant EPA janitorial
and maintenance services contracts by 2010.
GREEN COPY PAPER AND PUBLICATIONS
Objective: All printing paper products used by
EPA are to meet the standards of the "New
Environmental Standards for EPA Paper and
Publications" set forth by memorandum of
January 2001. This standard sets as the
standard for paper and publications as 100
percent recycled, minimum 50 percent post-
consumer content paper. Whenever possible,
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Ws Executive Order 13101 Goals
0
this paper should also be "Processed
Chlorine Free." Some paper stocks, espe-
cially color paper stocks, may not be readi-
ly available with this content standard.
When this situation arises, a minimum 30
percent postconsumer content is required.
(Products mentioned in this section
include but are not limited to the follow-
ing applications: copy paper, printing
paper, letterhead, envelopes, and color
paper.)
GREEN MEETINGS
Objective: Make an effort to "green" all
meetings planned or funded by EPA no
later than 2005.
GREEN OFFICE SUPPLIES
Objective: Buy all office supplies through
EPAs tailored green online ordering system
by 2005.
GREEN ELECTRONICS
Objective: By 2005, the agency will
attempt to have all electronic purchases to
include environmental aspects in the deci-
sion-making process—beyond just price
and performance. (Electronic equipment
includes, but is not limited to, televisions
and monitors, computers, computer
peripherals, audio equipment, VCRs, DVD
players, fax and copying machines, cellular
phones, and other wireless devices.)
GREEN FLEETS
Objective: To achieve compliance with the
legislative mandates of the Energy Policy
Act and EO 13149, EPA will increase the
acquisition of alternatively fueled vehicles
each fiscal year and increase the use of
alternative fuels each fiscal year.
GREEN LANDSCAPING
Objective: All new significant acquisitions
of landscaping shall be water conserving;
use regionally appropriate native plant
species; require Integrated Pest
Management (IPM); consider storm water
management and low-impact development
techniques; minimize the use of herbi-
cides, fungicides, and fertilizers; and maxi-
mize the use of recycled landscaping
materials and appropriate CPG products.
Existing landscaping shall be converted to
green landscaping as opportunities present
themselves.
GREEN POWER
Objective: Continue to add at least one
new facility a year to its list of facilities
served by renewable power through 2010.
RECYCLING AND WASTE PREVENTION
Objective: Increase and promote recycling
and reduce materials entering EPAs waste
stream through 2010.
for Morris X. Winn, Assistant Administrator
Office of Administration and Resources Management
Date
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Drawing A Road Map for
What are AFVs?
Alternative fuel vehi-
cles, as described by
EO 13149, use any of
the following as an
alternate fuel source:
• Alcohols, such as
methanol or dena-
tured ethanol (M-85
orE-85).
• Natural gas
(compressed and
liquified).
• Liquefied petroleum
gas.
• Electricity (including
solar energy).
• Hydrogen.
• Coal-derived liquid
fuels.
• Fuels derived from
biological materials
(including biodiesel).
The U.S. General Services Admin-
istration (GSA) contracts for more
than $ 1 billion in non-tactical vehi-
cles annually. Those sedans, pickup
trucks, and other vehicles present a
unique opportunity to buy green, from
purchasing retread tires and re-refined or
biobased oil, to ensuring the vehicles
contain no or low mercury and PVC.
Federal fleets also allow agencies the
chance to increase the fuel efficiency and
decrease the petroleum-based fuel con-
sumption of vehicles sold in the United
States via federal government purchasing
power.
In 1992, Congress passed the Energy
Policy Act (EPAct), which directed feder-
al agencies to assume the lead in reduc-
ing vehicular petroleum consumption by
requiring that 75 percent of vehicle
acquisitions in an agency's covered fleet
be alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). In
April 2000, the President signed
Executive Order (EO) 13149, Greening
the Government through Federal Fleet
and Transportation Efficiency. This EO
directed each agency operating 20 or
more motor vehicles in the United States
to reduce its entire fleets annual petrole-
um consumption by at least 20 percent
by the end of FY 2005, as compared
with FY 1999 consumption levels. The
order outlines two primary methods for
achieving 20 percent petroleum reduc-
tion—use of alternative fuels in AFVs
and acquisition of higher fuel economy
vehicles. John Howard, the Federal
Environmental Executive, has confirmed
that the Bush Administration is retaining
EO 13149 and expects federal agencies
to comply. Together EO 13149 and
EPAct provide a comprehensive strategy
to reduce petroleum consumption.
So how are federal agencies doing in
meeting the EPAct goals? Despite a
recent lawsuit brought against the federal
government for not meeting its AFV pur-
chase quotas outlined in EPAct, two-
thirds of the 18 agencies have met or
exceeded their AFV purchasing goals. As
of 2001, the federal government had
over 55,000 AFVs in its fleets—only
5,000 short of the stated EPAct goals
Unfortunately, lack of infrastructure
(e.g., not enough alternative fueling sta-
tions) hinders a number of agencies from
actually running their AFVs on alterna-
tive fuels. (Many AFVs are "dual fuel
vehicles," meaning they can run on gaso-
line or alternative fuels.) This is starting
to change, according to Shabnam
Fardanesh, manager of the U.S.
Department of Energy's Federal Fleet
AFV Program. "Several agencies are
beginning to put alternative fuel infra-
structures in place to meet the EO 13149
goals by 2005. Some sites are working
on these infrastructure projects in part-
nership with other federal agencies, state
or local governments, or private sector
entities in their areas," says Fardanesh.
Some agencies, despite having alterna-
tive fueling stations available and close-
by find it difficult to get their employees
to use these stations. One federal agency
employee pointed out that the facilities
group had used every opportunity to
educate employees on filling dual fuel
vehicles with alternative fuel. However,
top managers have not told their staff
that filling the AFVs with alternative fuel
is a requirement that must be met. As a
result, employees fill AFVs with gasoline
more often than with alternative fuels
due to time constraints. Other facility
representatives say that the frequent
switch to vehicles that run on new alter-
native fuels (first methanol, then CNG,
and now ethanol) makes it more time-
consuming to educate employees, and
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Green Vehicle Acquisitions
hard to build and maintain infrastruc-
tures to support these changes.
EO 13149 also encourages agencies to
reduce petroleum fuel use by acquiring
higher fuel economy vehicles. Hybrid-
electric vehicles, which combine internal
combustion engines with an electric
motor assist, help agencies reduce petro-
leum consumption through higher fuel
economy. Hybrids do not fall under the
definition of AFVs under EPAct, however,
because they are currently not capable of
running on alternative fuel. Nevertheless,
there is still a strong demand for hybrids
in the government, and as a result, GSA
added the Honda Civic hybrid to its
schedule (starting in FY 2003) and
allows federal purchasers interested in
buying the Toyota Prius hybrid a waiver
to acquire one directly from a dealership.
Efforts are also underway in Congress
to break down the current EPAct barrier
to buying hybrids. As of September 20,
2002, the hotly debated Energy Bill
included provisions that would allow
federal agencies to get a partial credit
toward meeting their AFV purchase quo-
tas for each hybrid vehicle acquired. The
bill would also require all agencies to use
alternative fuels in their AFVs, unless the
alternative fuel is not "reasonably avail-
able" or is "unreasonably more expensive
compared to gasoline," and give partial
credits to agencies for investing in build-
ing an alternative fuel infrastructure or
educating and training employees about
filling up agency AFVs with alternative
fuels. (To see the most recent publicly-
available text language, go to
.)
For more information about EO 13149
and EPAct, visit the Federal Fleet
Program Web site, .
For more information on GSAs hybrid
offerings, contact Denise Banks at
(for information
on sedans and light trucks) or Walter
Eckbreth at
(for information on medium and heavy
trucks).
For a list of current resources on how
to green your fleet, browse EPAs EPP
Database at , and go to the "automo-
tive aisle" or search on "cars."
Ideas for Greening Your Fleet
1. Buy alternative fuel, high fuel efficiency, or hybrid vehicles.
2. Run aggressive fleet maintenance programs, including the use of
retread tires and re-refined or biobased oil.
3. Award bonus points in your RFP selection process for vehicles
with no or low mercury or PVC content and for manufacturers
with environmental management systems in place.
4. Offer training and provide visible top management support for
employees to encourage them to use alternative fuels.
Some purchasers have
wondered if using alter-
native fuels really has a
reduced environmental
impact when the entire
life cycle of alternative
fuel production is
considered (e.g., the
petroleum used to farm,
process, and manufac-
ture a crop used for
biodiesel). The
Greenhouse Gases,
Regulated Emissions,
and Energy Use in
Transportation (GREET)
model developed by
Argonne National
Laboratory (available at
) is
a comprehensive tool to
help evaluate life cycle
energy and emission
effects of AFVs.
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Buying Biobased < Continued from page 1 >
motor vehicle fuel and electricity. The
bill defines a biobased product as "a
commercial or industrial product
(other than food or feed) that is com-
posed, in whole or in significant part,
of biological products or renewable
domestic agricultural materials
(including plant, animal, and marine
materials) or forestry materials."
Several provisions in Title IX sim-
plify the procurement process for
officials. For example, in consultation
with EPA, the General Services
Administration, and the National
Institute of Standards and
Technology, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) is required to
USDA plans to designate biobased products in the
following 11 categories:
• Adhesives
• Construction materials and composites
• Fibers, paper, and packaging
• Fuel additives
• Landscaping products and compost
• Lubricants and functional fluids
• Plastics
• Paints and coatings
• Solvents, cleaners, and agricultural chemicals
• Sorbents
• Vegetable oil inks
To view a copy of Title IX of the 2002 Farm Bill and learn more
about its implications for federal procurement officials, visit
. For more
information on green purchasing, visit EPA's EPP Web site at
prepare final guidelines within 180
days of the enactment of the bill. The
guidelines will:
• Designate items that are or can
be procured with biobased con-
tent.
• Recommend practices for pro-
curement and vendor certifica-
tion of biobased products.
• Provide information about the
availability, relative price, perfor-
mance, and environmental and
public health benefits of these
materials.
• Recommend the level of
biobased material to be con-
tained in procured products.
In conjunction with these final
guidelines, USDA will establish a vol-
untary biobased products labeling
program as well as a voluntary pro-
gram that recognizes federal agencies
and private entities that procure sub-
stantial amounts of biobased prod-
ucts.
Title IX also requires that, within 1
year after the publication of the final
guidelines, each federal agency devel-
op a procurement program that con-
tains, at a minimum:
• A biobased products preference
program.
• An agency program to promote
the preference program.
• An annual review and monitor-
ing component to determine the
effectiveness of the procurement
program.
Beginning in 2003, the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy must use
these reviews to report to Congress
every 2 years on actions taken by
federal agencies and progress made
in the Act's implementation.
For more information, please con-
tact the EPP programs James Darr at
202 564-8841 or
.
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Did You Buy Any Mercury Today?
Recognizing Mercury-Containing
Products and Their Alternatives
EA would like to thank INFORM for contributing this article. INFORM is a
ational nonprofit research organization that examines business practices,
technologies, and products that threaten the environment, waste natural
resources, or put human health at risk. INFORM's environmental solutions are used by
government, industry, and environmental leaders worldwide.
You may not realize it, but chances
are you recently purchased a product
that contains mercury. Don't be so
surprised—after all, mercury's unique
ability to conduct electricity has
proven invaluable in the consumer
products industry, where it is used to
manufacture hundreds of items, from
toys to medicine. Mercury contami-
nation poses a major threat to human
health and the environment, howev-
er, because it is a persistent, bioaccu-
mulative, and toxic (PBT) pollutant.
Mercury contamination—much of it
stemming from the incineration of
mercury-containing products as well
as the production of electricity from
coal-fired power plants—is now at
crisis levels in many areas of the
United States.
Identifying some of the products
and processes responsible for mer-
cury contamination is the first step
toward empowering consumers to
purchase products that protect
human health and the environment.
While there is no complete list of
every mercury-containing product on
the market, common items include
thermometers, thermostats, electrical
switches, batteries, gas appliances,
cleaning solutions, lamps, and blood-
pressure equipment. Automobiles
also contain large amounts of mer-
cury, which is discharged from steel
smelters when used cars are recycled.
Fortunately, several mercury-free
substitutes are readily available,
price-competitive, and often sold by
the same vendors that sell mercury-
containing products. Alternatives for
these products use technologies and
mechanisms (e.g., aneroid, electron-
ic, or digital) to replace mercury.
Some life cycle trade-off issues,
however, can complicate the choice
to eliminate mercury from purchases.
For example, facilities and homes
For More Information
Although federal purchasers
must come to their own conclu-
sions about which products to
buy, INFORM is available to assist
federal agencies interested in
mercury-free purchasing. Contact
Lara Sutherland at
or
303 377-7048.
For more information on PBTs,
visit .
INFORM offers a list of mercury-
containing products and alterna-
tives at .
For more information on specify-
ing mercury-free cars, see
and .
Massachusetts established a
fluorescent lamp contract
requiring lamp vendors to
promote lamp recycling (see
).
Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Pollutants
Mercury enters the environment, and ultimately our bodies, through a very direct process.
When products and processes release mercury into the air, it often falls into our lakes and
streams or onto the ground where it leeches into ground-water supplies. Microorganisms
transform the mercury into methyl mercury, which then accumulates in living organisms.
Fish, birds, and humans, among other living organisms, cannot break down methyl mercury
and, thus, mercury accumulates in our bodies as it travels up the food chain. Studies indi-
cate that babies of women who eat large quantities of mercury-contaminated fish show
increased neurological, developmental, and behavioral problems, and recent evidence sug-
gests that adults who consume large amounts of contaminated fish are also susceptible to
neurological and other problems stemming from mercury poisoning. Contact with mercury
from broken thermometers and other means also increases our exposure.
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EPP Database Expands Again
m m the information it provides
to users, the EPP Program
recently completed another exten-
sive update of its Database of
Environmental Information for
Products and Services. The data-
base now includes more informa-
tion than ever, including 130
contracts and 523 standards. The
database now links to many new
sites, such as BlueGreen Meetings
and
EPAs Green Vehicle Guide
< www. epa. gov/greenvehicles>,
which further assist users in iden-
tifying environmentally preferable
goods and services. In addition,
the Massachusetts REP for cleaning
dard was added to the database.
on using this RFP as a template for
EPA also continues to make the
database more user friendly by
Perhaps the most obvious change
is a further enhancement to the
search engine. For example, users
now have the ability to search
using keywords, so they are much
more likely to get the results they
are looking for. The EPP program
also has identified additional stan-
dards that were developed through
voluntary consensus means and
plans to highlight them in the
database at some point in the near
future.
To ensure the database continues
to meet the needs of its users in
helping to identify and procure
environmentally preferable prod-
ucts, the EPP Program is actively
seeking additional information for
the next update of the database. In
response to comments received,
the database will offer more direct
access to existing vendor lists of
products meeting specific environ-
mental performance standards and
of government and third-party
organizations. Anyone with new
information or suggestions on how
to improve the database should
contact Jesse Eaves at 202 564-
8867 or .
Please let lesse know of URLs link-
ing to green contracts or contract
language as well.
Mercury < Continued from page 7 >
throughout the country use fluorescent lamps that
contain mercury. Fluorescent lamps conserve electrici-
ty, however, and thus reduce mercury emissions from
power plants. An analysis of these pros and cons indi-
cates that continuing to use fluorescent lamps for their
energy efficient properties is preferable, but users
should prevent the mercury in the lamps from pollut-
ing the environment by sending the lamps to a recy-
cler instead of disposing of them when they burn out.
Sending fluorescent lamps, even those claiming to be
"low-mercury" to a reputable lamp recycler ensures
proper handling and disposal with minimal mercury
pollution. As this example indicates, environmentally
conscious consumers must weigh multiple environ-
mental attributes and impacts of certain products
throughout their entire life cycle.
While examining the environmental attributes of all
the products we buy is important, purchasing mercury-
free products reduces the risk of occupational expo-
sure, decreases the costs of hazardous waste disposal,
and prevents mercury pollution in the environment.
This article should not be interpreted as an EPA endorse-
ment of INFORM, nor should agencies feel obligated to
utilize the technical assistance of this or other such entities.
We've published this article as an educational resource.
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Web Site Offers Green
Meetings Resources
Anew interactive Web site developed by the
Oceans Blue Foundation aims to inform pro-
fessional meeting planners, service providers,
and the public of environmental issues to consider
when planning "green" meetings and events. Oceans
Blue is a Canadian charity that works to conserve
marine and terrestrial environments by promoting
environmentally responsible tourism and developing
best practice standards for all sectors of the tourism
industry. The BlueGreen Meetings Web site
(www.bluegreenmeetings.org)—which provides tips
for planning and supplying environmentally responsi-
ble meetings, a links section, and a free e-mail
newsletter—was enabled through an EPA grant
issued in 2001 to help boost the market for greener
products and services.
With easy access to new resources and ideas for
planning environmentally preferable meetings, the
BlueGreen Meetings site can function as a one-stop
resource for industry professionals. "We hope the
Web site will help create an online community where
meeting planners and suppliers can easily share and
research information," said Shawna McKinley pro-
gram manager at Oceans Blue. The site encourages
best practices by providing a Success Stories section,
where individuals can submit information about their
own accomplishments to be featured on the site.
"This might help people see the benefits, both envi-
ronmentally and economically, of planning a green
meeting," McKinley said.
The Web site is divided into two sections—one for
hosts and planners and one for suppliers. Both sec-
tions offer
guidelines
and additional
online resources for industry professionals. The Hosts
and Planners section of the site offers 10 easy tips for
greener meetings (e.g., electronic registration, locat-
ing meetings in areas that are convenient to most
attendees) and a quiz that allows meeting planners to
find out how their choices affect the environment.
Based on the results of the quiz, users are encouraged
to visit certain sections of the Web site to see what
they can do to further reduce the effect meetings have
on the environment. The Hosts and Planners section
also covers topics such as destinations, accommoda-
tions, venues, transportation, food and beverage,
exhibit production, and communications.
The Supplier section of the site focuses on the same
areas, only from the suppliers perspective. For exam-
ple, the Accommodations section offers ways hotels
can save on water and energy consumption, making
their facilities more attractive to meeting planners
looking for hotels with environmental features. In
addition, the site's Convention and Visitors Bureaux
(CVB) section provides a sample survey for a CVB to
send to hotels and venues in order to find out what
"green" features are offered. The section also provides
guidelines for increasing environmental and sustain-
able practices among CVB members.
For more information on BlueGreen Meetings, visit
the Oceans Blue Web site at ,
or e-mail for
further updates on the project.
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FEE < Continued from page 1 >
What do you hope to bring to
the position of FEE?
First, I'm very excited to have
been appointed by President Bush
to be the new Federal Environ-
mental Executive. The President
has called on federal agencies and
employees to lead by example, to
be good neighbors, and to be good
environmental stewards. We are
busy working to implement the
current "greening the government"
executive orders, and we're looking
for new and improved ways to be
better stewards.
The FEE position has grown over
the years, and under President
Bush, we are taking the role anoth-
er step in its evolution. We have
adopted a new mission statement:
"Promoting sustainable federal
environmental stewardship
throughout the federal govern-
ment." That's a pretty broad man-
date, so we've developed several
priorities on which to focus:
• Improving federal government
recycling.
• Purchasing green products,
including biobased products.
• Boosting the federal govern-
ment's sustainable building
practices.
• Improving the federal govern-
ment's stewardship of electronic
products.
• Promoting the implementation
of industrial ecology.
• Promoting the use of environ-
mental management systems as
tools to ensure that the federal
government is complying with
the law, incorporating environ-
mental considerations in its
daily and long-term decision
making, and developing sus-
tainable practices.
Do you have any advice for fed-
eral agencies trying to sort out
and comply with multiple envi-
ronmental directives (e.g., EOs
13101 and 13149, Comprehen-
sive Procurement Guidelines
(CPG), biobased initiatives)?
The growth of such directives—
and the resulting growth in
demand for green products—is a
great opportunity for the federal
government to lead by example
and help create markets for green
products. Neither the statutes nor
the executive orders prioritize
attributes or particular products
among the growing range of green
products. So the marching orders
are to do all you can to meet these
requirements.
Frankly, while sorting out attrib-
utes may be an issue in the future,
today the issue is one of education
and training—and making it as
easy as possible for federal officials
to buy green products.
I'm pretty excited about the
future. Just in FY 2001, the federal
government purchased $500 mil-
lion worth of CPG products. We're
working on improved training and
education to get the word to more
folks. Agencies are identifying ways
to make it easier to buy these prod-
ucts—including EPAs new online
green office supply proposal. And
we have a new congressional and
presidential directive in this area,
the 2002 Farm Bill, which requires
federal agencies to buy biobased
products. (See the article on page 1
of this newsletter.)
We're working to encourage all
the different green product pro-
grams and vendors to think of
themselves as part of a much bigger
team. I believe that the various
green product programs—
biobased, energy efficiency, water
conservation, recycled content,
environmentally preferable, and
alternative/renewable fuels—are
mature enough that we should
integrate them. This would not
remove their individual identities
or take them out of their agency
homes; rather, it would bring the
programs and officials together to
strategize, share successes and fail-
ures, and build common strength.
In the end, our job is to make it as
easy as possible for purchasers to
buy these goods, and all our ener-
gies should be focused on that task.
That's why we're excited by EPAs
idea to host a Green Products Trade
Fair next year featuring a range of
green products, including biobased
products. The idea is to bring
together vendors and the federal
purchasing community, so people
can see and touch the products and
ask all the questions they have
about a product's performance,
quality, and cost.
We're interested in obtaining
feedback about how to help agen-
cies comply with these different
directives. One idea is to use the
Building for Environmental and
An EPA-sponsored Green
Products Conference and
Trade Fair is being planned
for the spring of 2004.
Please stay tuned for more
information on how you
might be able to participate.
10
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Economic Sustainability (BEES)
model to assess the life cycle costs
and benefits of such products, which
will prioritize at least some environ-
mental attributes. Alternatively, an
umbrella program, based on the
Leadership in Energy and Environ-
mental Design (LEED™) model of
green buildings, could incorporate
all the different green product pro-
grams.
EO 13101 promotes the federal
government's purchase of
recycled-content and other envi-
ronmentally preferable products
and services. How should an
agency resolve potentially con-
flicting information from differ-
ent green purchasing programs?
For example, the CPG program
encourages purchasers to buy
recycled-content sorbents, while
USDA's biobased program will
promote reusable biobased sor-
bents, which are not necessarily
recycled-content. What criteria
should an agency use to make a
purchasing decision?
EO 13101 was established to bring
together the green purchasing pro-
grams under one umbrella. The
green purchasing programs have
now been around for several years
and we are working hard to reduce
conflict and coordinate information
when possible. For example, CPG in
the Office of Solid Waste and EPP in
the Office of Pollution Prevention
and Toxics, both within EPA, are
working together on the Green
Products Trade Fair. Another exam-
ple is the U.S. Department of
Energy's "Buy Bio" monthly forums,
which bring together members of
federal green purchasing and affir-
mative procurement programs to
coordinate and provide input on the
development of USDAs biobased
program.
Finally, one of the most important
ways to help coordinate all these
efforts is through the use of environ-
mental management systems, which
offer agencies, facilities, and organi-
zations the opportunity to strategi-
cally chart their course forward,
develop metrics to test their perfor-
mance, and continually seek ways to
improve their operations.
What can be done to increase
green purchasing within the fed-
eral government?
There are probably a million things,
but I'll put them in just two cate-
gories: education and convenience.
We need to get information to more
federal employees who are purchas-
ing goods and services. And we need
to make sure that it is as easy as pos-
sible to buy green products.
We are working to improve aware-
ness of the green purchasing require-
ments and ensure that the federal
employees who are actually specify-
ing products and services for pur-
chase are able to easily locate
information about preferable envi-
ronmental attributes. In addition to
regular training, e-mail messages,
and credit card bill fliers, we will
also look to identify and praise the
champions of green purchasing as a
visible testament to what can be done.
For more information, visit
.
As part of his work to influ-
ence key decisionmakers to
increase federal purchases of
green products and services,
John Howard spoke to the
Procurement Executives
Council (PEC) on October 3,
2002. PEC members are the
top managers of each federal
agency's procurement opera-
tions offices, and the PEC
acts as an information-shar-
ing body for these managers.
For more information, visit
.
Share your EPP Success Stories!
The EPP Web site has a new list of federal EPP pilot projects. The Federal Pilot Project list, accessible at
, contains 95 entries describing federal green purchasing
efforts. Categorized by product or service (e.g., cleaning products, green engineering and building), the
pilot projects are organized by federal agency/department, and each contains a brief description and
contact information. The EPP program would like to add your agency's EPP successes to this list. Let us
know how you've greened your federal purchases by contacting Megan Johnson at 202 564-8861 or
.
11
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Let's Stay In Contact
Pollution Prevention and Toxics
(7409M)
EPA742-N-03-001
www.epa.gov/oppt/epp
January 2003
The EPP Program maintains an exten-
sive database of contacts, which, in
the past, has been used as a mailing
list for distributing printed copies of the
EPP Update. Because this database contains
several thousand names, we believe it
could be an ideal tool for expanded com-
munications to help you stay informed
about green purchasing mandates and
opportunities.
In the future, the EPP Program would
like to begin sending monthly e-mail
announcements, including information on
new tools, publications, and events, as
well as stories and best practices in differ-
ent EPP areas.
To improve the electronic distribution of
this information to interested parties, the
EPP Program needs to hear from you. So
whether you are already in the database or
you would like to be added to it, please
send the following information to
:
• Name
• Name of organization
• Type of organization (federal, state, or
local government; academia; industry;
nonprofit; international; other)
• Address
• Phone number
• E-mail address
If you are not interested in receiving
these new monthly announcements, please
indicate this in your e-mail message.
In addition, in an effort to conserve
resources and reduce the EPP Programs
impact on the environment, we will begin
distributing the EPP Update electronically
(as a PDF file). If you would like to con-
tinue receiving a hard copy printed on
environmentally preferable paper, please
indicate this in your message.
Thank you for your assistance in this
effort. If you have any questions, please
contact Alison Kinn of EPA at 202 564-
8859 or .
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