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Policy and Guidance

Key Policy, Guidance Documents

EPA's Final Guidance on EPP

Executive Orders

Federal Acquisition Regulation

Green Purchasing Guides

Information on Standards for Green Products, Services

Summary

The Environmental Preferable Purchasing Program is based on a number of key documents that describe requirements for federal purchasers. This page summarize the key documents and links to them.

Final Guidance on EPP

Central to the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program is EPA's Final Guidance on Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, which highlights its five guiding principles. Each comprising a major section of the guidance, the principles were established to help executive agencies identify and purchase environmentally preferable products and services. Read the full text of EPA's Final Guidance on Environmentally Preferable Purchasing.

Guiding Principles

  1. Environment + Price + Performance = EPP
    Include environmental considerations as part of the normal purchasing process.
  2. Pollution Prevention
    Emphasize pollution prevention as part of the purchasing process.
  3. Life Cycle Perspective/Multiple Attributes
    Examine multiple environmental attributes throughout the product and service's life cycle.
  4. Comparison of Environmental Impacts
    Compare environmental impacts when selecting products and services.
  5. Environmental Performance Information
    Collect accurate and meaningful environmental information about environmental performance of products and services.

Other Key Policy and Guidance Documents

Federal agencies are required to use sustainable practices when purchasing goods and services, as specified in a series of Executive Orders and in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

EPA assists federal agencies in meeting these requirements by:

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