SECRETARY'S ORDER 5-94

SECRETARY'S ORDER 5-94

SUBJECT: Procurement and Use of Environmentally Preferable

Products and Services

1. Purpose. To establish a program in the Department of Labor (DOL) for a cost-effective procurement-preference program favoring the purchase of products and services that maximize energy and water conservation, use recycled and recyclable products, minimize waste, utilize alternative fuels, and are less harmful to human health and the environment in their use and disposal than competing products and services of equal value.

2. Policy. The Department of Labor shall take appropriate actions to incorporate waste prevention and recycling in its daily operations and work to increase and expand markets for recovered materials and environmentally preferable products through greater preference and demand for such products.

3. Scope. This Order applies to all acquisitions made by DOL agencies, DOL contractors operating Government-owned or leased facilities, State and local governments using DOL funds, and institutions of higher education, hospitals, and nonprofit organizations receiving DOL grants.

4. Definitions. For the purposes of this Order:

(A) "Cost-Effective Procurement Preference Program" means a program that favors, where price and other factors are equal, the procurement of products and services that are more environmentally sound or energy-efficient than other competing products and services.

(B) "Environmentally preferable" means products or services less harmful to human health and the environment to use, reuse, operate and maintain, and dispose of, in comparison with competing products or services of equal value.

(C) "Ozone-depleting substances" means the substances controlled internationally under the Montreal Protocol and nationally under Title VI of the Clean Air Act Amendments.

(D) "Recovered Material" means waste material and by-products which have been recovered or diverted from solid waste.

(E) "Recycled Material" means a material that can be utilized in place of a raw or virgin material in manufacturing a product and consists of materials derived from post-consumer waste, industrial scrap, material derived from agricultural waste, and other items, all of which can be used in the manufacture of new products.

(F) "Waste reduction" means preventing and/or decreasing the amount of waste being generated either through waste prevention, recycling, or purchasing recycled and environmentally preferable products/materials.

• Program Responsibilities.
  1. a. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM). The Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management is hereby designated as the Department of Labor's Environmental Executive. The Environmental Executive shall be responsible for:

     (1) Coordinating all environmental programs in the areas of procurement and acquisition, standards and specification review, facilities management, waste prevention and recycling, logistics, and environmental safety;

     (2) Participating in the interagency development of a Federal plan for environmental initiatives:

     (3) Reviewing agency programs and acquisitions to ensure compliance with the Executive Orders;

     (4) Developing and implementing an Affirmative Procurement Program, in accordance with relevant law and regulation, to assure that items composed of recovered materials will be purchased to the maximum extent practicable;

     (5) Establishing Department of Labor goals for solid waste prevention and recycling to be achieved by the year 1995;

     (6) Developing an Energy Plan for the Department, including a plan for DOL- operated facilities to meet the requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 1992;

     (7) Setting goals for the procurement of chlorine-free paper products, determining annual expenditure limits for procurement of printing and writing paper, and establishing Departmental requirements for the use of double-sided copying;

     (8) Ensuring that procurement offices maintain information regarding energy efficient, recycled, and environmentally preferable products that are available, and that contracting officers prepare evaluation criteria, including life cycle cost analyses, which consider energy-efficient and environmentally preferable requirements;

     (9) Establishing model facility demonstration programs that include comprehensive waste reduction and recycling programs and emphasizing the procurement of recycled materials and environmentally preferable products and services;

     (10)Ensuring that, when feasible, acquisitions of microcomputers for the Department, including personal computers, monitors, and printers, meet EPA "Energy Star" requirements for energy efficiency;

     (11)Implementing, pursuant to EPA regulations, a cost-effective program to minimize the procurement of ozone-depleting substances and to give preference to the procurement of alternative chemicals, products, and manufacturing processes that are non-ozone-depleting or lessen depletion of ozone in the upper atmosphere;

     (12)Designating a Department of Labor Recycling Coordinator who shall be responsible for: (a) coordinating the development of an effective agency waste reduction and recycling program, and the affirmative procurement plan developed in accordance with OFPP guidelines; (b) coordinating Departmental action to develop benefits, costs, and savings data to measure the effectiveness of the DOL program; and (c) coordinating the development of reports required by Executive Order and OFPP policy; and

     (13)Collecting necessary data and information and transmitting reports required by the "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act", the "Energy Policy Act of 1992", Executive Order 12873, Executive Order 12845, Executive Order 12843, Executive Order 12844, Executive Order 12759, and OFPP Policy Letter No. 92-4 .

     b. Department of Labor Agency Heads shall:

     (1) Promote waste reduction and recycling of reusable materials within their agencies;

     (2) Require consideration of the following factors in acquisition planning for all agency procurement actions, and in the evaluation and award of contracts: elimination of virgin material requirements; use of recovered materials; reuse of product; life cycle cost; recyclability; environmental preferability; waste prevention; and ultimate disposal, if appropriate;

     (3) Develop and implement an agency plan for energy conservation through changes in procurement practices, investment in energy efficient technology, and reduction of demand;

     (4) Designate an Agency Recycling Coordinator to coordinate the development of an effective agency waste reduction recycling program, and emphasize agency purchase and use of recycled and environmentally preferable products and services;

     (5) Provide data and information on agency activity for incorporation into Departmental reports;

     (6) Implement programs to reduce the fuel usage by Federal employees and by contractor employees at Government-owned or leased facilities, and develop a plan to reduce motor vehicle gasoline and diesel consumptions in the Department by at least 10 percent by 1995 in comparison with fiscal year 1991;

     (7) Designate facility-energy supervisors in DOL-operated facilities and ensure a sufficient number of trained energy managers throughout the Department to implement the provisions of law and regulation relating to energy and water conservation; and

     (8) Where programs include a project or activity involving construction or leasing of property, ensure that the responsible program manager conducts an environmental assessment; and, analyze findings of environmental assessments and make final decisions regarding the significance of environmental consequences.

• Effective Date. This Order is effective immediately.

  /s/

  Robert B. Reich

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