General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation; Contractor Identification of Products With Environmental Attributes

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Part 552

[GSAR Notice No. 5-383]

General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation;

Contractor Identification of Products With Environmental Attributes

AGENCY: Office of Acquisition Policy, GSA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This notice invites written comments on a proposed revision to

the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR)

(published as an interim rule, 59 FR 3657, January 26, 1994). The

revision revises the multiple award schedule (MAS) clause at 552.238-

75, Identification of Energy-Efficient Office Equipment and Supplies

Containing Recovered Materials or Other Environmental Attributes to

require MAS contractors to identify such products and briefly describe

the environmental benefit associated with them.

DATES: comments are due in writing on or before April 11, 1994 to be

considered in the formulation of the final rule.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to the GSA Desk Officer, room

3235, NEOB, Washington, DC 20503 and to Ms. Marjorie Ashby, General

Services Administration, Office of GSA Acquisition Policy, 18th and F

Sts., NW., Washington, DC 20405.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul Linfield, Office of GSA Acquisition Policy (202) 501-1224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

Various statutes, including the Energy Policy and Conservation Act,

as amended (42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.), the Energy Policy Act of 1992

(Pub. L. 102-486), the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-

549), and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as

amended (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), require Federal agencies to consider

energy-efficiency and other environmental considerations in their

procurement practices. These requirements are reinforced in a number of

executive orders, including Executive Order 11912, 12759, 12843, 12845

and 12873. As a major procuring agency, the GSA, through its multiple

awards schedule programs, provides encouragement to suppliers to

produce products with environmental attributes and can assist Federal

agencies in meeting their responsibilities expressed in the various

statutes and executive orders through the identification of those

products.

B. Executive Order 12866

This rule was reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

in accordance with Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and

Review.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

Under multiple award schedules, contractors currently are required

to submit certain marketing information with their offers and to public

and distribute to ordering agencies commercial catalogs and/or

pricelists. This rule would require those contractors to identify and

describe those products that have environmental attributes.

This change may have an economic effect on a substantial number of

small entities. Accordingly, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis

has been prepared and submitted to the Acting Chief Counsel for

Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. Copies of the initial

regulatory flexibility analysis are available for public comment from

the office identified above. GSA awarded approximately 2,800 multiple

award schedule contracts valued at approximately $4.19 billion during

fiscal year 1992. Approximately 74 percent of these contracts were

awarded to small business concerns.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

The revised clause at 552.238-75 contains an information collection

requirement that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.) and it has been submitted to OMB for approval under the

Act. The title of this collection is Identification of Products with

Environmental Attributes. Requiring contractors to identify and

describe products with environmental attributes is intended to

stimulate the development of products that incorporate pollution

prevention technologies and facilitate the marketing of such products

to the Federal Government, the Nation's largest single consumer.

Federal agencies are required to give preference to such products, when

doing so is cost-effective and meets performance requirements. The

estimated annual burden for this collection is 14,000 hours. This is

based on an estimated average burden hour per response of 5 hours, a

proposed frequency of one response per respondent, and an estimated

number of likely respondents of 2,800.

Comments on the information collection requirement in this rule may

be directed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB.

Attention: Desk Officer for GSA, Washington, DC 20503, and to Ms.

Marjorie Ashby, Office of GSA Acquisition Policy, room 4006, 18th and F

Sts., NW., Washington, DC 20405.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Part 552

Government procurement.

Accordingly, it is proposed that 48 CFR part 552 be amended to read

as follows:

1. The authority citation for 48 CFR Part 552 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 486(c).

PART 552--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

2. Section 552.238-75 is revised to read as follows:

552.238-75 Identification of Energy-Efficient Office Equipment and

Supplies Containing Recovered Materials or Other Environmental

Attributes

As prescribed in 538.203-71(d), insert the following clause:

Identification of Energy-Efficient Office Equipment and Supplies

Containing Recovered Materials or Other Environmental Attributes (XXX

1994)

(a) Definitions. Energy-efficient office equipment, as used in

this clause, means office equipment that provide equivalent or

better performance and value to users, but uses significantly less

energy than competing models.

Recovered materials, as used in this clause, means waste

material and by-products which have been recovered or diverted from

solid waste, but such term does not include those materials and by-

products generated from, and commonly reused, within an original

manufacturing process (42 U.S.C. 6903(19)).

(b) The offeror shall identify in its offer and include in any

commercial catalogs and pricelists submitted to the Contracting

Officer, energy-efficient office equipment and supplies that contain

recovered material or other environmental attributes. Additionally,

a brief description of the environmental attribute associated with

any item so identified must be included with the offer. An example

of energy-efficient office equipment is microcomputers and

associated equipment identified by the Environmental Protection

Agency's (EPA's) Energy Star Logo. Supplies that contain recovered

materials and other environmental attributes include products

identified in EPA procurement guidelines (40 CFR parts 248 through

253) and products that are either degradable, ozone safe,

recyclable, contain low volatile organic content compounds, or

contribute to source reduction. Such supplies shall satisfy the

guidance contained in 16 CFR part 260, Guides for the Use of

Environmental Marketing Claims.

(c) An offeror, in identifying an item with an environmental

attribute and in describing its environmental attribute, shall

possess evidence or rely upon a reasonable basis to substantiate the

claim (see 16 CFR 260.5). 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.,

EPA's Energy Star Computer 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 the ``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)

Dated: January 28, 1994.

Richard H. Hopf, III,

Associate Administrator, Office of Acquisition Policy.

[FR Doc. 94-3151 Filed 2-9-94; 8:45 am]

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