[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 2, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52127-52129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22239]
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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 538 and 552
[GSAR Case No. 2002-G506; GSAR Change 6]
RIN 3090-AH25
General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation;
Identification of Products That Have Environmental Attributes
AGENCIES: General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Acquisition
Policy.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The General Services Administration (GSA) is amending the
General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) by
revising the clause concerning identification of energy-efficient
office equipment and supplies containing recovered materials or other
environmental attributes for consistency with the Federal Acquisition
Regulation (FAR) and issuance of Executive Order 13101, Greening the
Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal
Acquisition, and Executive Order 13123, Greening the Government Through
Efficient Energy Management.
[[Page 52128]]
DATES: Effective Date: September 2, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Laurie Duarte, Regulatory
Secretariat, Room 4035, GS Building, Washington, DC 20405, (202) 501-
4225, for information pertaining to status or publication schedules.
For clarification of content, contact Ms. Laura Auletta, GSA
Acquisition Policy Division, at (202) 208-7279. Please cite GSAR case
2002-G506.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
GSAR 538.273(a)(3) is revised to reflect the new clause title for
GSAR clause 552.238-72, ``Identification of Products that have
Environmental Attributes.'' The clause has been revised to update
environmental definitions and to reflect language consistent with the
FAR and with Executive Orders 13101 and 13123. GSA published a proposed
rule, Identification of Energy-Efficient Office Equipment and Supplies
Containing Recovered Materials or Other Environmental Attributes, in
the Federal Register at 65 FR 44508, July 18, 2000. One respondent
submitted comments in response to the proposed rule. GSA considered the
comments in developing the final rule by revising the clause 552.238-72
to make editorial changes for consistency and clarification with
respect to the definition of ``energy-efficient product.'' The clause
was also revised to clarify the requirement to identify products
designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their
Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPGs) that meet EPA purchasing
recommendations for recovered and post-consumer material content. These
specifically designated products should be identified separate from the
umbrella category of products containing recovered materials. The rule
includes information on attaching icons to product offerings in GSA
Advantage! to indicate specific environmental attributes.
B. Executive Order 12866
This is not a significant regulatory action and, therefore, was not
subject to review under Section 6(b) of Executive Order 12866,
Regulatory Planning and Review, dated September 30, 1993. This rule is
not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The General Services Administration certifies that this final rule
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601, et seq. These environmental attributes are salient
characteristics of the products offered and, therefore, are well known
to vendors who market to Government customers required or encouraged to
purchase products with specific environmental attributes. Therefore,
the identification of such attributes in the offer and other marketing
materials such as brochures, catalogs, websites, and GSA Advantage!
does not constitute a significant economic impact.
D. Paperwork Reduction Act
The revised clause at 552.238-72, Identification of Products that
have Environmental Attributes, contains an information collection
requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501, et
seq.). However, the revisions to the clause made by this rule do not
affect the information collection requirement approved previously by
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and assigned OMB Control
Number 3090-0262.
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 538 and 552
Government procurement.
Dated: August 26, 2003.
David A. Drabkin,
Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Acquisition Policy.
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Therefore, GSA amends 48 CFR parts 538 and 552 as set forth below:
0
1. The authority citation for 48 CFR parts 538 and 552 continues to
read as follows:
Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c).
PART 538--FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULE CONTRACTING
0
2. Amend section 538.273 by revising paragraph (a)(3) to read as
follows:
538.273 Contract clauses.
(a) * * *
(3) 552.238-72, Identification of Products that have Environmental
Attributes.
* * * * *
PART 552--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES
0
3. Amend section 552.212-72 by revising the date of the clause; and in
paragraph (b) by revising entry 552.238-72 to read as follows:
552.212-72 Contract terms and conditions required to implement
statutes or Executive Orders applicable to GSA acquisition of
commercial items.
* * * * *
Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or
Executive Orders Applicable to GSA Acquisition of Commercial Items
(Sept 2003)
* * * * *
(b) * * *
----552.238-72 Identification of Products that have Environmental
Attributes
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4. Revise section 552.238-72 to read as follows:
552.238-72 Identification of products that have environmental
attributes.
As prescribed in 538.273(a)(3), insert the following clause:
Identification of Products That Have Environmental Attributes (Sept.
2003)
(a) Several laws, Executive orders, and Agency directives
require Federal buyers to purchase products that are less harmful to
the environment, when they are life cycle cost-effective (see FAR
Subpart 23.7). The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
requires contractors to highlight environmental products under
Federal Supply Service schedule contracts in various communications
media (e.g., publications and electronic formats).
(b) Definitions. As used in this clause--
Energy-efficient product means a product that--
(1) Meets Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Agency criteria for use of the ENERGY STAR[reg] trademark label; or
(2) Is in the upper 25 percent of efficiency for all similar
products as designated by the Department of Energy's Federal Energy
Management Program.
GSA Advantage! is an on-line shopping mall and ordering system
that provides customers with access to products and services under
GSA contracts.
Other environmental attributes refers to product characteristics
that provide environmental benefits, excluding recovered materials
and energy and water efficiency. Several examples of these
characteristics are biodegradable, recyclable, reduced pollutants,
ozone safe, and low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Post-consumer 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. Post-
consumer material is part of the broader category of ``recovered
material.'' The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed
a list of EPA-designated products in their Comprehensive Procurement
Guidelines (CPGs) to provide Federal agencies with purchasing
recommendations on specific products in a Recovered Materials
Advisory Notice (RMAN). The RMAN contains recommended recovered and
post-consumer material content levels for the specific products
designated by EPA (40 CFR part 247 and http://www.epa.gov/cpg/).
[[Page 52129]]
Recovered materials means waste materials and by-products
recovered or diverted from solid waste, but the term does not
include those materials and by-products generated from, and commonly
reused within, an original manufacturing process (Executive Order
13101 and 42 U.S.C. 6903(19) and http://www.epa.gov/cpg/). For paper
and paper products, see the definition at FAR 11.301 (42 U.S.C.
6962(h)).
Remanufactured means factory rebuilt to original specifications.
Renewable energy means energy produced by solar, wind,
geothermal, and biomass power.
Renewable energy technology means--
(1) Technologies that use renewable energy to provide light,
heat, cooling, or mechanical or electrical energy for use in
facilities or other activities; or
(2) The use of integrated whole-building designs that rely upon
renewable energy resources, including passive solar design.
(c)(1) The offeror must identify products that--
(i) Are compliant with the recovered and post-consumer material
content levels recommended in the Recovered Materials Advisory
Notices (RMANs) for EPA-designated products in the CPG program
(http://www.epa.gov/cpg/);
(ii) Contain recovered materials that either do not meet the
recommended levels in the RMANs or are not EPA-designated products
in the CPG program (see FAR 23.401 and http://www.epa.gov/cpg/);
(iii) Are energy-efficient, as defined by either ENERGY
STAR[reg] and/or FEMP's designated top 25th percentile levels (see
ENERGY STAR[reg] at http://www.energystar.gov/ and FEMP at http://www.eere.energy.gov/femp/procurement/);
(iv) Are water-efficient;
(v) Use renewable energy technology;
(vi) Are remanufactured; and
(vii) Have other environmental attributes.
(2) These identifications must be made in each of the offeror's
following mediums:
(i) The offer itself.
(ii) Printed commercial catalogs, brochures, and pricelists.
(iii) Online product website.
(iv) Electronic data submission for GSA Advantage! submitted via
GSA's Schedules Input Program (SIP) software or the Electronic Data
Inter-change (EDI). Offerors can use the SIP or EDI methods to
indicate environmental and other attributes for each product that is
translated into respective icons in GSA Advantage!.
(d) An offeror, in identifying an item with an environmental
attribute, must possess evidence or rely on a reasonable basis to
substantiate the claim (see 16 CFR part 260, Guides for the Use of
Environmental Marketing Claims). The Government will accept an
offeror's claim of an item's environmental attribute on the basis
of--
(1) Participation in a Federal agency-sponsored program (e.g.,
the EPA and DOE ENERGY STAR[reg] product labeling program);
(2) Verification by an independent organization that specializes
in certifying such claims; or
(3) Possession of competent and reliable evidence. For any test,
analysis, research, study, or other evidence to be ``competent and
reliable,'' it must have been conducted and evaluated in an
objective manner by persons qualified to do so, using procedures
generally accepted in the profession to yield accurate and reliable
results.
(End of clause)
[FR Doc. 03-22239 Filed 8-29-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-BR-P