A bill to require increased waste prevention and recycling measures to be incorporated in the daily operations of Federal agencies, and for other purposes.
(Sec. 5) Directs the President, acting through the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to designate a Federal Environmental Executive to: (1) serve as Chairperson of the Task Force; (2) take all actions necessary to ensure that executive agencies comply with this Act; (3) develop agency environmental scorecards and a scoring system (together with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget) to evaluate each agency's progress in meeting the goals of this Act; (4) convene a group of acquisition managers, State environmental officials, and State and local government managers to cooperate with State and local governments in improving the use by Federal, State, and local governments of recycled content products and environmentally preferable products and services; (5) coordinate appropriate Federal Government-wide education and training programs for executive agencies; and (7) establish committees and work groups to recommend actions to meet and carry out the Executive's goals, responsibilities, and initiatives.
(Sec. 6) Requires the head of each major procuring agency to designate an Assistant Secretary (or equivalent) as an agency environmental executive to: (1) translate the Government-Wide Strategic Plan to Implement Executive Order 13101, dated March 12, 1999, into an agency-specific plan; (2) implement it; (3) track, and report to the Federal Environmental Executive, agency purchases of products and services designated as guideline items which can be produced with recovered materials; (4) require acquisition personnel to justify in writing the purchase of guideline items in quantities exceeding the micro-purchase threshold (and submit a plan for further increases in such purchases); and (5) estimate and report to the Secretary of Agriculture the annual level of agency purchases of biobased products and services.
(Sec. 7) Prescribes factors for an agency to consider in developing a plan, drawing, work statement, specification, or other product description, including: (1) the elimination of virgin material requirements; (2) the use of biobased products and recovered materials, as well as the reuse of products; and (3) other specified factors.
Requires the head of each agency to: (1) develop and implement an affirmative acquisition program using guideline items which can be produced with recovered materials; and (2) consider incorporating within it the use of certain acquisition tools and methods described in the Alternative Agricultural Research and Commercialization Act of 1990.
Requires each agency head to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that any affirmative acquisition program requires 100 percent of each agency purchase of the agency (including a purchase below the micro-purchase threshold) to meet or exceed the comprehensive procurement guideline for each product and service purchased. Requires each agency to issue guidance on purchase of guideline items at or below the micro- purchase level.
(Sec. 8) Requires Federal and State inspections under the Solid Waste Disposal Act to evaluate the compliance of any Federal facility with requirements for Federal purchase of guideline items.
(Sec. 9) Requires any Federal agency, when developing, reviewing, or revising a specification, product or service description (including a commercial item description), or standard, to: (1) consider recycled content material and any environmentally preferable purchasing criteria developed by the Administrator; and (2) comply with the purchasing criteria.
(Sec. 10) Directs the Administrator to: (1) designate products that are or can be made with recovered material through the comprehensive procurement guidelines; and (2) publish for comment in the Federal Register Recovered Material Advisory Notices describing the range of recovered material content levels within which the designated products are currently available.
(Sec. 11) Requires the Administrator to: (1) update Environmental Protection Agency guidance to agencies at least biennially on environmentally preferable purchasing; and (2) publish an Environmentally Preferable Products and Services List for the use of agencies in complying with this Act.
Requires each agency to: (1) comply with this Act in making acquisitions of products and services on the list; (2) purchase the environmentally preferable products and services; and (3) test and evaluate the principles and concepts in the Guidance on the Acquisition of Environmentally Preferable Products and Services through immediate implementation of five pilot projects to provide practical information to the Administrator for use in future updates of the Guidance.
(Sec. 12) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Biobased Products Coordination Council, to publish in the Federal Register a Biobased Products List, updated biannually.
(Sec. 13) Requires each agency head to ensure that the agency meets or exceeds specified minimum materials content standards when purchasing printing and writing paper. Allows an alternative minimum content standard of at least 50 percent recovered material that is a waste material byproduct of a finished product (other than a paper or textile product) that would otherwise be disposed of in a landfill. Prohibits any agency purchase after January 1, 2006, of printing and writing paper that fails to meet such minimum standards.
(Sec. 14) Requires each agency to implement the Administrator's acquisition guidelines for rerefined lubricating oil and retread tires. Requires fleet and commodity managers of each agency to take immediate steps to procure rerefined lubricating oil (including biobased oil, such as vegetable oil) and retread tires.
Directs the Federal Environmental Executive to educate the personnel of each agency about the new Department of Defense Cooperative Tire Qualification Program (including the Cooperative Approval Tire List and Cooperative Plant Qualification Program), as those programs apply to retread tires.
(Sec. 15) Requires each agency head to ensure that at least five percent of the wood products purchased by the agency are sustainably produced wood products.
(Sec. 16) Requires each agency to establish and submit to the Federal Environmental Executive goals (to be achieved by specified deadlines) for solid waste prevention, recycling, and solid waste diversion. Specifies materials to be recycled.
Establishes a Federal Government-wide goal for purchases of green products equal to at least 15 percent of the total value of all contract awards for the previous fiscal year. Requires each major procuring agency to conduct not fewer than five pilot purchases of environmentally preferable products and services.
Requires such goals to be incorporated into agency performance plans, including the 100 percent goal for purchasing recycled content products established by the Government-wide Strategic Plan to Implement Executive Order 13101, dated March 12, 1999.
(Sec. 17) Prescribes accountability, applicability, compliance, and other specified requirements for Federal contractors and subcontractors.
Requires each agency to: (1) establish a model demonstration program for recycling or waste prevention that incorporates certain features; (2) implement a program to promote cost-effective waste prevention and recycling of material in all agency facilities; and (3) designate a recycling coordinator for each agency facility.
(Sec. 18) Prescribes requirements for agency official awareness, personnel training, and internal agency and White House awards programs.
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
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