Environmentally
Preferable
Purchasing
­
Fact
Sheet
on
use
of
Third
Parties
and
Non­
Government..
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of
3
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opptintr/
epp/
guidance/
ngefact.
htm
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20/
2003
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Fact
Sheet
on
use
of
Third
Parties
and
Non­
Government
Entities
to
promote
EPP
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Fact
Sheet
on
use
of
Third
Parties
and
Non­
Government
Entities
to
promote
EPP
Background
and
Definitions
l
1993,
President
Clinton
issued
Executive
Order
12873
on
Federal
Acquisition,
Recycling,
and
Waste
Prevention
which
requires
EPA
"
to
issue
guidance
that
recommends
principles
that
Executive
Agencies
should
use
in
making
determinations
for
the
preference
and
purchase
of
"
environmentally
preferable
products."
The
Environmentally
Preferable
Purchasing
(
EPP)
program
was
established
to
issue
such
guidance
and
serve
as
a
point
of
contact
for
government
agencies.

l
1998,
EPA
and
the
Office
of
the
Federal
Environmental
Executive
issued
policy
on
how
federal
agencies
can
use
Non­
Governmental
Entities
to
help
achieve
the
Administration's
mandate
of
purchasing
environmentally
preferable
goods
and
services.

l
Non­
Governmental
Entities
(
NGE's)/"
Third
Parties"
are
defined
as
"
including
but
not
limited
to,
standard
setting
organizations,
third
party
certification
programs,
environmental
labeling
or
environmental
"
report
card"
programs,
and
other
environmental
consulting
organizations.

The
Pilot
Project
Approach
The
purpose
of
the
pilot
project
approach
is
to
demonstrate
how
Executive
Agencies
can
use
NGEs
to
support
federal
environmentally
preferable
purchasing
efforts.
EPA
believes
there
are
several
advantages
to
this
approach.
First,
it
allows
us
to
increase
the
variety
of
product
categories
which
are
studied.
Second,
through
the
pilot
project
approach
we
may
determine
The
Five
Guiding
Principles
EPA's
Final
Guidance
Standards
Development
Top
20
Priorities
"
Voluntary
consensus
standards"
are
standards
developed
or
adopted
by
voluntary
consensus
standards
bodies,
both
domestic
and
international.
These
standards
include
provisions
requiring
that
owners
of
relevant
intellectual
property
have
agreed
to
make
that
intellectual
property
available
on
a
non­
discriminatory,
royaltyfree
or
reasonable
royalty
basis
to
all
interested
parties.

OMB
CIRCULAR
NO.
A­
119
For
more
details
on
the
NGE
Pilot
Project
Approach
please
refer
to
the
Third
Party
Policy
Letter
available
at:
www.
epa.
gov/
fedrgstr
(
see
6/
22/
98)

Fax­
On­
Demand:
(
202)
401­
RECEIVED
OPPT
NCIC
2003
JUN20
7:
42AM
OPPT­
2003­
0032­
0005
Environmentally
Preferable
Purchasing
­
Fact
Sheet
on
use
of
Third
Parties
and
Non­
Government..
Page
2
of
3
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
opptintr/
epp/
guidance/
ngefact.
htm
6/
20/
2003
where
the
use
of
outside
expertise
is
appropriate
and
helpful.
Third,
the
most
effective
and
practical
ways
to
achieve
the
goal
of
environmentally
preferable
purchasing
will
be
identified.
Finally,
this
approach
may
encourage
increased
competition
among
existing
and
new
organizations/
programs
that
can
support
the
procurement
of
environmentally
preferable
products.

Suggested
Pilot
Project
Approaches
Use
existing
information
developed
by
NGEs
to:

l
Identify
a
range
of
environmental
attributes
which
can
contribute
to
EPA's
determination
of
environmental
preferability.

l
Buy
commercial
items
off
the
shelves
using
literature
provided
by
NGEs,
profiling
product
performance
on
environmental
attributes,
so
that
informed
procurement
decisions
are
made.

l
Denote
specific
information
about
a
product's
environmental
characteristics
through
the
use
of
symbols
from
NGEs
in
Executive
Agency
catalogs/
schedules.

l
NGEs
can
provide
existing
information
about
environmental
attributes
of
various
products
to
executive
agencies
which
can
then
develop
their
own
symbols
to
appear
in
agency
catalogs/
schedules.

Use
NGEs
as
"
consultants"
under
Advisory
and
Assistance
Contracts
Use
NGEs
qualified
to
certify
specific
claims
in
order
to
verify
environmental
claims
made
by
manufacturers
or
vendors.

EPA's
Role
in
the
Pilot
Projects
l
Assist
Executive
Agencies
in
structuring
a
pilot
project
and
provide
support
to
assess
the
utility
of
NGEs.

l
Seek
out
and
identify
NGEs
with
expertise
in
a
given
area
(
e.
g.
through
Federal
Register
or
Commerce
Business
Daily
announcements).

l
Assemble
a
list
of
product
categories
for
which
eco­
labeling
criteria
and
standards
have
been
established.

l
Assist
in
structuring
an
EPP
pilot
project
that
does
not
involve
NGEs
If
you
are
interested
in
talking
or
meeting
with
EPA
on
this
issue
please
contact:
Julie
Shannon
(
202)
260­
2736
shannon.
julie@
epa.
gov
Back
to
top
Fax­
On­
Demand:
(
202)
401­
0527
­
Item
#
8001
The
Pollution
Prevention
Information
Clearinghouse
(
PPIC):

(
202)
260­
0178
ppic@
epamail.
epa.
gov
Doc.#
EPA­
742­
B98­
003
Environmentally
Preferable
Purchasing
­
Fact
Sheet
on
use
of
Third
Parties
and
Non­
Government..
Page
3
of
3
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
opptintr/
epp/
guidance/
ngefact.
htm
6/
20/
2003
Pollution
Prevention
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2003
URL:
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
opptintr/
epp/
guidance/
ngefact.
htm
