Sustainable Development and Society - GSA

Sustainable Development and Society
often difficult to translate into useful
formats to allow for decision-making. We
need to look to the private sector (e.g.,
research institutions and standard setting
organizations) that can be relied upon to fill
the information gaps.
The second part of the challenge is how to
ensure that those products or services that
do pose fewer burdens on the environment
are indeed purchased. The Federal
acquisition process involves complex and
sometimes arcane rules and regulations
(even with the recent reforms to the
acquisition process) that may make it
difficult for new environmental products
and services to compete on an equal
footing with traditional products and
services. As a first step, the U.S. Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which
provides the basic contracting guidance
and implementing regulations used by
Federal agencies for buying products and
services from the private sector, was
formally revised in August 1997 to
incorporate policies for the acquisition of
environmentally preferable and energyefficient
products and services. 6 The
changes require consideration of
environmental factors in all aspects of
Federal acquisition--acquisition planning,
describing an agency’s needs, conducting
market surveys, and evaluating and
selecting a vendor. However, translating
these policies into practice will require time
and resources as well as innovative
acquisition approaches that ensure that
environmental considerations become
routine in the purchasing decision-making
process.
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Notes:
1. James Lee Conrad, 1993 (December): Buying Green: Implementation of Environmentally-Sound Purchasing Requirements in Department of Defense
Procurements, p. 2.
2. Two notable examples are Green Seal and Scientific Certification Systems.
3. The Pollution Prevention Act defines source reduction to mean any practice that: reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant
entering any waste stream or otherwise released into the environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal; and reduces the
hazards to public health and the environment associated with the releases of such substances, pollutants, or contaminant.
For example, between 1976 and 1992, only five products made with recovered materials—paper, cement and concrete containing fly ash, building insulation, re-refined
oil and retread tires—had been designated by EPA under Section 6002 for purchase by government agencies.
4. US EPA, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, 1997 (November): Environmental Fact Sheet: EPA Expands Comprehensive Procurement Guideline
(CPG).
5. From the “Final Guidance,” at www.epa.gov/epp/guidance/finalguidancetoc.htm.
6. For additional information, consult the 22 August 1997 Federal Register, vol. 62, no. 163, pp. 44809–44813.