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Biobased Products
RULES •
REPORTS AND OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION •
TOOLS AND RESOURCES
Biobased products are "commercial or industrial products (other than food or feed) that are composed in whole or in significant part of biological products or renewable domestic agricultural materials (including plant, animal, and marine materials) or forestry materials."
Section 9002 of the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 establishes a Federal biobased products purchasing program similar to the buy-recycled program under RCRA. USDA will designate biobased products and provide guidance for purchasing the products with biobased content. USDA also will establish a voluntary biobased products labeling program.
Federal agencies are required to develop affirmative procurement programs for purchasing the USDA-designated products. The Task Force and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy recommend that agencies expand their recycled content product affirmative procurement programs to include biobased products.
USDA's biobased products affirmative procurment program can be found at: http://www.usda.gov/procurement/biobased/APP.pdf
USDA Establishes Federal Biobased Products Purchasing Program
On January 11, 2005, USDA issued a final rule establishing the framework
for the new Federal Biobased Products Preferential Purchasing Program
(FB4P) under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. The
program will be similar to the buy-recycled program managed by the U.S.
EPA but contains significant differences. In 2005, USDA plans to
propose to designate biobased products for Federal preferential
procurement and to issue guidance for establishing affirmative
procurement programs for buying biobased products.
USDA Designates First List of Biobased Products
On March 16, 2006, USDA issued a final rule designating the following biobased content products:
- Mobile equipment hydraulic fluid
- Diesel fuel additives
- Penetrating lubricants
- Roof coatings
- Water tank coatings (effective 11/20/07)
- Bedding/bed linens/towels (effective 11/20/07)
Final Biobased FAR case
On November 7, 2007, the Federal Acquisition Regulation was amended to add provisions for implementing the biobased product purchasing requirements of the 2002 Farm Bill. http://www.ofee.gov/gp/20071107_BiobasedFARfinalrule.pdf
USDA Designates Rounds 2, 3, and 4 Designations
On May 14, 2008, USDA issued three final rules designating biobased products for Federal agencies to purchase.
- Round 2 designates nine items: adhesive and mastic removers, plastic insulating foam for residential and commercial construction, hand cleaners and sanitizers, composite panels, fluid-filled transformers, disposable containers, fertilizers, sorbents, and graffiti and grease removers.
- Round 3 designates ten items: 2-cycle engine oils, lip care products, films, stationary equipment hydraulic fluids, disposable cutlery, glass cleaners, greases, dust suppressants, carpets, and carpet and upholstery cleaners.
- Round 4 designates eight items: bathroom and spa cleaners, concrete and asphalt release fluids, general purpose de-icers, firearm lubricants, floor strippers, laundry products, metalworking fluids, and wood and concrete sealers.
GAO Issues Report on Implementation of Biobased Products Purchasing.
The General Accounting Office released a report "BIOBASED
PRODUCTS: Improved USDA Management Would Help Agencies Comply with Farm Bill Purchasing Requirements", GAO-04-437, which discusses USDA's implementation of the biobased products purchasing program under the 2002 Farm Bill.
Managing Spills of Biobased Products Such as Lubricants
We have heard the statement made by representatives of federal facilities that they don't have to clean up spills of biobased products because those products are biodegradable. We have been concerned about the accuracy of this statement, considering that products such as lubricants contain additives and can pick up metals and other contaminants through normal use. We asked the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste about proper management of spills of biobased products. With EPA's permission, our questions and OSW's answers are found below.
Proper Management of Spills of Biobased Lubricants
OFEE has heard misinformation about how spills of biobased products such as lubricants should be handled. Below are questions that we posed to EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and the replies that we received.
1. Considering that biobased products will biodegrade, should spills of biobased lubricants be handled any differently than spills of petroleum based lubricants? Will the answer depend on whether or not the product is a blend of biobased and petroleum oils and if so, is there a minimum amount of petroleum content that will affect the answer (i.e., below this percentage of petroleum, the spill is handled one way, but above the percentage, it is handled another way).
Spills of biobased lubricants are handled in the same manner as spills of petroleum based lubricants. EPA has considered the physical, chemical, biological, and other properties and environmental effects of petroleum oils, vegetable oils, and animal fats, which are the criteria now to be evaluated under the Edible Oil Regulatory Reform Act. EPA finds that petroleum oils, vegetable oils, and animal fats share common physical properties and produce similar environmental effects. Like petroleum oils, vegetable oils and animal fats and their constituents
can:
- Cause devastating physical effects, such as coating animals and plants with oil and suffocating them by oxygen depletion
- Be toxic and form toxic products
- Destroy future and existing food supplies, breeding animals, and habitats
- Produce rancid odors
- Foul shorelines, clog water treatment plants, and catch fire when ignition sources are present
- Form products that linger in the environment for many years
The preceding information was taken from the Oil Program's web site at www.epa.gov/oilspill/vegoil.htm.
2. Do the answers vary depending on the feedstock used to product the biobased lubricants -- i.e., corn-based, soy-based, meadowfoam seed-based, other?
With respect to our answer to question 1, no, the answer would not vary depending on the feedstock.
Fact Sheet On Buying Biobased Products
PDF Format Word Format
USDA Tools
USDA is developing tools to implement its own internal program for
purchasing biobased products. We encourage you to use these tools as
ideas and resources for implementing a program within your agency or
facility:
Sources of Biobased Products
Many Federal agencies are already purchasing and using biobased products. OFEE encourages all agencies to do so. The Summer 2000, Winter 2001, and Fall 2001 issues of Closing the Circle News report agency acquisitions of biobased cafeteria-ware, biodiesel, ethanol, cleaning products, and compost "tea" for golf courses. You can find biobased products by visiting the following sites:
Other Tools
The United Soybean Board has compiled tools for purchasers of biobased products:
(1) Informational packages for government users in four different areas: Facility, Building, and Equipment Maintenance; Building Construction and Renovation; Janitorial and Cleaning; and Printing. Each package contains product-specific information provided by manufacturers interested in pursuing federal procurement opportunities and examples of Federal agencies using these products.
(2) "Biobased Products Best Practices Guide," which includes many examples of successful Federal agency purchases of biobased products and identifies GSA schedules and contracts under which biobased products can be purchased.
(3) "Biobased Solutions," a quarterly information newsletter that includes examples of successful uses of biobased products and identifies GSA schedules and contracts under which biobased products can be purchased.
(4) Case studies of Federal agency purchases of biobased products.
Visit the United Soybean Board's Biobased Products Web Site to view these tools.
The listing of these web sites should not be construed as an endorsement by the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive of any of the biobased products identified on these sites or a guarantee regarding product performance or conformance to USDA's biobased products recommendations.
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