EXECUTIVE ORDER 12873
Federal Register
Vol 58, No. 203
October 20, 1993
Federal Acquisition, Recycling, and Waste
Prevention
WHEREAS, the Nation's interest is served when the
Federal Government can make more efficient use of natural
resources by maximizing recycling and preventing waste
wherever possible;
WHEREAS, this Administration is determined to strengthen
the role of the Federal Government as an enlightened,
environmentally conscious and concerned consumer;
WHEREAS, the Federal Government should through
cost-effective waste prevention and recycling activities
work to conserve disposal capacity, and serve as a model
in this regard for private and other public institutions;
and
WHEREAS, the use of recycled and environmentally
preferable products and services by the Federal
Government can spur private sector development of new
technologies and use of such products, thereby creating
business and employment opportunities and enhancing
regional and local economies and the national economy;
NOW, THEREFORE, I WILLIAM J. CLINTON, by the authority
vested in me as
President by the Constitution and the laws of the United
States of America, including the Solid Waste Disposal
Act, Public Law 89-272, 79 Stat. 997, as amended by the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
("RCRA"), Public Law 94-580, 90 Stat. 2795 as
amended (42 U.S.C. 6901-6907), and section 301 of title
3, United StatesCode, hereby order as follows:
PART 1 - PREAMBLE
Section 101. Consistent with the demands
of efficiency and cost effectiveness, the head of each
Executive agency shall incorporate waste prevention and
recycling in the agency's daily operations and work to
increase and expand markets for recovered materials
through greater Federal Government preference and demand
for such products.
Sec. 102. Consistent with policies
established by Office of Federal Procurement Policy
("OFPP") Policy Letter 924, agencies shall
comply with executive branch policies for the acquisition
and use of environmentally preferable products and
services and implement cost-effective procurement
preference programs favoring the purchase of these
products and services.
Sec. 103. This order creates a Federal
Environmental Executive and establishes high-level
Environmental Executive positions within each agency to
be responsible for expediting the implementation of this
order and statutes that pertain to this order.
PART 2- DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this order:
Sec. 201. "Environmentally
preferable" means products or services that have a
lesser or reduced effect on human health and the
environment when compared with competing products or
services that serve the same purpose. This comparison may
consider raw materials acquisition, production,
manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation,
maintenance, or disposal of the product or service.
Sec. 202. "Executive agency"
or "agency" means an Executive agency as
defined in 5 U.S.C. 105. For the purpose of this order,
military departments, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 102, are
covered under the auspices of the Department of Defense.
Sec. 203. "Postconsumer
material" means a material or finished product that
has served its intended use and has been discarded for
disposal or recovery, having completed its life as a
consumer item. "Postconsumer material" is a
part of the broader category of "recovered
material".
Sec. 204. "Acquisition" means
the acquiring by contract with appropriated funds for
supplies or services (including construction) by and for
the use of the Federal Government through purchase or
lease, whether the supplies or services are already in
existence or must be created, developed, demonstrated and
evaluated. Acquisition begins at the point when agency
needs are established and includes the description of
requirements to satisfy agency needs, solicitation and
selection of sources, award of
contracts, contract financing, contract performance,
contract administration and those technical and
management functions directly related to the process of
fulfilling agency needs by contract.
Sec. 205. "Recovered
materials" means waste materials and by-products
which have been recovered or diverted from solid waste,
but such term does not include those materials and
by-products generated from, and commonly reused within,
an original manufacturing process (42 U.S.C. 6903 (19))
Sec. 206. "Recyclability"
means the ability of a product or material to be
recovered from, or otherwise diverted from, the solid
waste stream for the purpose of recycling.
Sec. 207. "Recycling" means
the series of activities, including collection,
separation, and processing, by which products or other
materials are recovered from the solid wade stream for
use in the form of raw materials in the manufacture of
new products other than fuel for producing heat or power
by combustion.
Sec. 208. 'Waste prevention," also
known as "source reduction," means any change
in the design, manufacturing, purchase or use of
materials or products (including packaging) to reduce
their amount or toxicity before they become municipal
solid waste. Waste prevention also refers to the reuse of
products or materials.
Sec. 209. "Waste reduction"
means preventing or decreasing the amount of waste being
generated through waste prevention, recycling, or
purchasing recycled and environmentally preferable
products.
Sec. 210. "Life Cycle Cost' means
the amortized annual cost of a product, including capital
costs, installation cods, operating costs, maintenance
costs and disposal costs discounted over the lifetime of
the product.
Sec. 211. "Life Cycle
Analysis" means the comprehensive examination of a
product's environmental and economic effects throughout
its lifetime including new material extraction,
transportation, manufacturing, use, and disposal.
PART 3 - WE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL
EXECUTIVE AND AGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL EXECUTIVES
Sec. 301. Federal Environmental
executive. (a) A Federal Environmental Executive shall be
designated by the President and shall be located within
the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA").
The Federal Environmental Executive shall take all
actions necessary to ensure that the agencies comply with
the requirements of this order and shall generate an
annual report to the Office of Management and Budget
("OMB"), at the time of agency budget
submissions, on the actions taken by the agencies to
comply with the requirements of this order. In carrying
out his or her functions, the Federal Environmental
Executive shall consult with the Director of the White
House Office on Environmental Policy.
(b) Staffing. A minimum of four (4) full time staff
persons are to be provided by the agencies liked below to
assist the Federal Environmental Executive, one of whom
shall have experience in specification review and program
requirements, one of whom shall have experience in
procurement practices, and one of whom shall have
experience in solid waste prevention and recycling. These
four staff persons shall be
appointed and replaced follows:
(1) a representative from the Department of Defense shall
be detailed for not less than one year and no more than
two years;
(2) a representative from the General Services
Administration ("GSA") shall be detailed for
not less than one year and no more than two years;
(3) a representative from EPA shall be detailed for not
less than one year and no more than two years; and
(4) a representative from one other agency determined by
the Federal
Environmental Executive shall be detailed on a rotational
basis for not more than one year.
(c) Administration. Agencies are requested to make their
services, personnel and facilities available to the
Federal Environmental Executive to the maximum extent
practicable for the performance of functions under this
order.
(d) Committees and Work Groups. The Federal Environmental
Executive shall establish committees and work groups to
identify, assess, and recommend actions to be taken to
fulfill the goals, responsibilities, and initiatives of
the Federal Environmental Executive. As these committees
and work groups are created, agencies are requested to
designate appropriate personnel in the areas of
procurement and acquisition, standards and
specifications, electronic commerce, facilities
management, waste prevention, and recycling, and others
as needed to staff and work on the initiatives of the
Executive.
(e) Duties. The Federal Environmental Executive. in
consultation with the Agency Environmental Executives,
shall:
(1) identify and recommend initiatives for
government-wide implementation that will promote the
purposes of this order, including:
(A) the development of a federal plan for agency
implementation of this order and appropriate incentives
to encourage the acquisition of recycled and
environmentally preferable products by the Federal
Government;
(B) the development of a federal implementation plan and
guidance for instituting economically efficient federal
waste prevention, energy and water efficiency programs,
and recycling programs within each agency; and
(C) the development of a plan for making maximum use of
available funding
assistance programs;
(2) collect and disseminate information electronically
concerning methods to reduce waste, materials that can be
recycled, costs and savings associated with waste
prevention and recycling, and current market sources of
products that are environmentally preferable or produced
with recovered materials;
(3) provide guidance and assistance to the agencies in
setting up and reporting on agency programs and
monitoring their effectiveness; and
(4) coordinate appropriate government-wide education and
training programs for agencies.
Sec. 302. Agency Environmental
Executives. Within 90 days after the effective date of
this order, the head of each Executive department and
major procuring agency shall designate an Agency
Environmental Executive from among his or her staff, who
serves at a level no lower than at the Deputy Assistant
Secretary level or equivalent. The Agency Environmental
Executive will be responsible for:
(a) coordinating all environmental programs in the areas
of procurement and acquisition, standards and
specification review, facilities management, waste
prevention and recycling, and logistics;
(b) participating in the interagency development of a
Federal plan to:
(1) create an awareness and outreach program for the
private sector to facilitate markets for environmentally
preferable and recycled products and services, promote
new technologies, improve awareness about federal efforts
in this area, and expedite agency efforts to procure new
products identified under this order:
(2) establish incentives, provide guidance and coordinate
appropriate
educational programs for agency employees; and
(3) coordinate the development of standard agency reports
required by this order;
(c) reviewing agency programs and acquisitions to ensure
compliance with this order.
PART 4 - ACQUISITION PLANNING AND AFFIRMATIVE
PROGRAMS
Sec. 401. Acquisition Planning. In
developing plans, drawings, work statements,
specifications, or other product descriptions, agencies
shall consider the following factors: elimination of
virgin material requirements; use of recovered materials;
reuse of product; life cycle cost; recyclability; use of
environmentally preferable products; waste prevention
(including toxicity reduction or elimination); and
ultimate disposal, as appropriate. These factors should
be considered in acquisition planning for all
procurements and in the evaluation and award of
contracts, as appropriate. Program and acquisition
managers should take an active role in these activities.
Sec. 402. Affirmative Procurement
Programs. The head of each Executive agency shall develop
and implement affirmative procurement programs in
accordance with RCRA section 6002 (42 U.S.C. 6962) and
this order. Agencies shall ensure that responsibilities
for preparation, implementation and monitoring of
affirmative procurement programs are shared between the
program personnel and procurement personnel. For the
purposes of all purchases made pursuant to this order,
EPA, in consultation with such other Federal agencies as
appropriate, shall endeavor to maximize environmental
benefits, consistent with price, performance and
availability considerations, and shall adjust bid
solicitation guidelines as necessary in order to
accomplish this goal.
(a) Agencies shall establish affirmative procurement
programs for all designated EPA guideline items purchased
by their agency. For newly designated items, agencies
shall revise their internal programs within one year from
the date EPA designated the new items.
(b) For the currently designated EPA guideline items,
which are: (i) concrete and cement containing By ash;
(ii) recycled paper products; (iii) re-refined
lubricating oil; (iv) retread tires; and (v) insulation
containing recovered materials; and for all future
guideline items, agencies shall ensure that their
affirmative procurement programs require that 100 percent
of their purchases of products meet or exceed the EPA
guideline standards unless written justification is
provided that a product is not available competitively
within a reasonable time frame, does not meet appropriate
performance standards, or is only available at an
unreasonable price.
(c) The Agency Environmental Executives will track
agencies' purchases of designated EPA guideline items and
report agencies' purchases of such guideline items to the
Federal Environmental Executive. Agency Environmental
Executives will be required to justify to the Federal
Environmental Executive as to why the item(s) have not
been purchased or submit a plan for how the agencies
intend to increase their purchases of the item(s).
(d) Agency affirmative procurement programs, to the
maximum extent practicable, shall encourage that:
(1) documents be transferred electronically,
(2) all government documents printed internally be
printed double-sided, and
(3) contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements issued
after the effective date of this order include provisions
that require documents to be printed double-sided on
recycled paper meeting or exceeding the standards
established in this order or in future EPA guidelines.
Sec. 403. Procurement of Existing
Guideline Items. Within 90 days after the effective date
of this order, the head of each Executive agency that has
not implemented an affirmative procurement program shall
ensure that the affirmative procurement program has been
established and is being implemented to the maximum
extent practicable.
Sec. 404. Electronic Acquisition System.
To reduce waste by eliminating unnecessary paper
transactions in the acquisition process and to foster
accurate data collection and reporting of agencies'
purchases of recycled content and environmentally
preferred products, the executive branch will implement
an electronic commerce system consistent with the
recommendations adopted as a result of the National
Performance Review.
PART 5 - STANDARDS, SPECIFICATIONS AND
DESIGNATION OF ITEMS
Sec. 501. Specifications, Product
Descriptions and Standards. Where applicable, Executive
agencies shall review and revise federal and military
specifications, product descriptions and standards to
enhance Federal procurement of products made from
recovered materials or that are environmentally
preferable. When converting to a Commercial Item
Description (CID)), agencies shall ensure that
environmental factors have been considered and that the
CID meets or exceeds the environmentally preferable
criteria of the government specification or product
description. Agencies shall report annually on their
compliance with this section to the Federal Environmental
Executive for incorporation into the annual report to OMB
referred to in section 30 t of this order.
(a) If an inconsistency with RCRA Section 6002 or this
order is identified in a specification, standard, or
product description, the Federal Environmental Executive
shall request that the Environmental Executive of the
pertinent agency advise the Federal Environmental
Executive as to why the specification cannot be revised
or submit a plan for revising it within 60 days.
(b) If an agency is able to revise an inconsistent
specification but cannot do so within 60 days, it is the
responsibility of that agency's Environmental Executive
to monitor and implement the plan for revising it.
Sec. 502. Designation of Items that
Contain Recovered Materials. In order to expedite the
process of designating items that are or can be made with
recovered materials, EPA shall institute a new process
for designating these items in accordance with RCRA
section 6002(e) as follows. (a) EPA shall issue a
Comprehensive Procurement Guideline containing designated
items that are or can be made with recovered materials.
(1) The proposed guideline shall be published for public
comment in the Federal Register within 180 days after the
effective date of this order and shall be updated
annually after publication for comment to include
additional items.
(2) Once items containing recovered materials have been
designated by EPA through the new process established
pursuant to this section and in compliance with RCRA
section 6002, agencies shall modify their affirmative
procurement programs to require that, to the maximum
extent practicable, their purchases of products meet or
exceed the EPA guideline standards unless written
justification is provided that a product is not available
competitively, not available within a reasonable time
frame, does not meet appropriate performance standards,
or is only available at an unreasonable price.
(b) Concurrent with the issuance of the Comprehensive
Procurement Guideline required by section 502(a) of this
order, EPA shall publish for public comment in the
Federal Register Recovered Material Advisory Notice(s)
that present the range of recovered material content
levels within which the designated recycled items are
currently available. These levels shall be updated
periodically after publication for comment to reflect
changes in market conditions.
Sec. 503. Guidance for Environmentally
Preferable Products. In accordance with this order, EPA
shall issue guidance that recommends principles that
Executive agencies should use in making determinations
for the preference and purchase of environmentally
preferable products.
(a) Proposed guidance shall be published for public
comment in the Federal Register within 180 days after the
effective date of this order, and may be updated after
public comment, as necessary, thereafter. To the extent
necessary, EPA may issue additional guidance for public
comment on how the principles can be applied to specific
product categories.
(b) Once final guidance for environmentally preferable
products has been issued by EPA, Executive agencies shall
use these principles, to the maximum extent practicable,
in identifying and purchasing environmentally preferable
products and shall modify their procurement programs by
reviewing and revising specifications, solicitation
procedures, and policies as appropriate.
Sec. 504. Minimum Content Standard for
Printing and Writing Paper. Executive agency heads shall
ensure that agencies shall meet or exceed the following
minimum materials content standards when purchasing or
causing the purchase of printing and writing paper:
(a) For high speed copier paper, offset paper, forms
bond, computer printout paper, carbonless paper, file
folders, and white woven envelopes, the minimum content
standard shall be no less than 20 percent postconsumer
materials beginning December 31, 1994. This minimum
content standard shall be increased to 30 percent
beginning on December 31, 1998.
(b) For other uncoated printing and writing paper, such
as writing and office paper, book paper, cotton fiber
paper, and cover stock, the minimum content standard
shall be 50 percent recovered materials, including 20
percent postconsumer materials beginning on December 31,
1994. This standard shall be increased to 30 percent
beginning on December 31, 1998.
(c) As an alternative to meeting the standards in
sections 504(a) and (b), for all printing and writing
papers, the minimum content standard shall be no less
than 50 percent recovered materials that are a waste
material by-product of a finished product other than a
paper or textile product which would otherwise be
disposed of in a landfill, as determined by the State in
which the facility is located.
(1) The decision not to procure recycled content printing
and writing paper meeting the standards specified in this
section shall be based solely on a determination by the
contracting officer that a satisfactory level of
competition does not exist, that the items are not
available within a reasonable time period, or that the
available items fail to meet reasonable performance
standards established by the agency or are only available
at an unreasonable price.
(2) Each agency should implement waste prevention
techniques, as specified in section 402(d) of this order,
so that total annual expenditures for recycled content
printing and writing paper do not exceed current annual
budgets for paper products as measured by average annual
expenditures, adjusted for inflation based on the
Consumer Price Index or other suitable indices. In
determining a target budget for printing and writing
paper, agencies may take into account such factors as
employee increases or decreases, new agency or statutory
initiatives, and episodic or unique requirements (e.g.,
census).
(3) Effective immediately, all agencies making
solicitations for the purchase of printing and writing
paper shall seek bids for paper with postconsumer
material or recovered waste material as described in
section 504(c).
Sec. 505. Revision of Brightness
specifications and Standards. The General Services
Administration and other Federal agencies are directed to
identify, evaluate and revise or eliminate any standards
or specifications unrelated to performance that present
barriers to the purchase of paper or paper products made
by production processes that minimize emissions of
harmful by-products. This evaluation shall include a
review of unnecessary brightness and stock clause
provisions, such as lignin content and chemical pulp
requirements. The GSA shall complete the review and
revision of such specifications within six months after
the effective date of this order, and shall consult
closely with the Joint Committee on Printing during such
process. The GSA shall also compile any information or
market studies that may be necessary to accomplish the
objectives of this provision.
Sec. 506. Procurement of Re-refined
Lubricating Oil and Retread Tires. Within 180 days after
the effective date of this order, agencies shall
implement the EPA procurement guidelines for re-refined
lubricating oil and retread tires.
(a) Commodity managers shall finalize revisions to
specifications for re-refined oil and retread tires, and
develop and issue specifications for tire retreading
services, as commodity managers shall take affirmative
steps to procure these items in accordance with RCRA
section 6002.
(b) Once these items become available, fleet managers
shall take affirmative steps to procure these items in
accordance with RCRA section 6002.
Sec. 507. Product Testing. The Secretary
of Commerce, through the National Institute of Standards
and Technology ("NIST"), shall establish a
program for testing the performance of products
containing recovered materials or deemed to be
environmentally preferable. NIST shall work with EPA, GSA
and other public and private sector organizations that
conduct appropriate life cycle analyses to gather
information that will assist agencies in making
selections of products and services that
are environmentally preferable.
(a) NIST shall publish appropriate reports describing
testing programs, their results, and recommendations for
testing methods and related specifications for use by
Executive agencies and other interested parties.
(b) NIST shall coordinate with other Executive and State
agencies to avoid duplication with existing testing
programs.
PART 6 - AGENCY GOAL AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Sec. 301. Goals for Waste Reduction.
Each agency shall establish a goal for solid waste
prevention and a goal for recycling to be achieved by the
year 1995. These goals shall be submitted to the Federal
Environmental Executive within 180 days after the
effective date of this order. Progress on attaining these
goals shall be reported by the agencies to the Federal
Environmental Executive for the annual report specified
in section 301 of this order.
Sec. 602. Goal for Increasing the
Procurement of Recycled and Other Environmentally
Preferable Products. Agencies shall strive to increase
the procurement of products that are environmentally
preferable or that are made with recovered materials and
set annual goals to maximize the number of recycled
products purchased, relative to non-recycled
alternatives.
Sec. 603. Review of Implementation. The
President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency
("PCIE") will request that the Inspectors
General periodically review agencies' affirmative
procurement programs and reporting procedures to ensure
their compliance with this order.
PART 7 - APPLICABILITY AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Sec. 701. Contractor Operated
Facilities. Contracts that provide for contractor
operation of a government-owned or leased facility,
awarded after the effective date of this order, shall
include provisions that obligate the contractor to comply
with the requirements of this order within the scope of
its operations. In addition, to the extent permitted by
law and where economically feasible, existing contracts
should be modified.
Sec. 702. Real Property Acquisition and
Management. Within 90 days after the effective date of
this order, and to the extent permitted by law and where
economically feasible, Executive agencies shall ensure
compliance with the provisions of this order in the
acquisition and management of federally owned and leased
space. GSA and other Executive agencies shall also
include environmental and recycling provisions in the
acquisition of all leased space and in the construction
of new federal buildings.
Sec. 703. Retention of Funds. Within so
days after the effective date of this order, the
Administrator of GSA shall develop a legislative proposal
providing authority for Executive agencies to retain a
share of the proceeds from the sale of materials
recovered through recycling or waste prevention programs
and specifying the eligibility requirements for the
materials being recycled.
Sec. 704. Model Facility Programs. Each
Executive department and major procuring agency shall
establish model facility demonstration programs that
include comprehensive waste prevention and recycling
programs and emphasize the procurement of recycled and
environmentally preferable products and services using an
electronic data interchange (EDI) system.
Sec. 705. Recycling Programs. Each
Executive agency that has not already done so shall
initiate a program to promote cost effective waste
prevention and recycling of reusable materials in all of
its facilities. The recycling programs implemented
pursuant to this section must be compatible with
applicable State and local recycling requirements.
Federal agencies shall also consider cooperative ventures
with State and local governments to promote recycling and
waste reduction in the community.
PART 8 - AWARENESS
Sec. 801. Agency Awards Program. A
government-wide award will be presented annually by the
White House to the best, most innovative program
implementing the objectives of this order to give greater
visibility to these efforts so that they can be
incorporated government-wide.
Sec. 802. Internal Agency Awards
Programs. Each agency shall develop an internal
agency-wide awards program, as appropriate, to reward its
most innovative environmental programs. Winners of
agency-wide awards will be eligible for the White House
award program.
PART 9 - REVOCATION, LIMITATION AND
IMPLEMENTATION
Sec. 901. Executive Order No. 12780,
dated October 31,1991, is hereby revoked.
Sec. 902. This order is intended only to
improve the internal management of the executive branch
and is not intended to create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party
against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or
any other person.
Sec. 903. The policies expressed in this
order, including the requirements and elements for
effective agency affirmative procurement programs, shall
be implemented and incorporated in the Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) within 180 days after the
effective date of this order. The implementation language
shall consist of providing specific direction and
guidance on agency programs for preference promotion,
estimation, certification, reviewing and monitoring.
Sec. 904. This order shall be effective
immediately.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 20. 1993.
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