Affirmative Procurement Strategy for the United States Department of Energy Hanford SitePrepared by
Waste Management Federal Services of Hanford, Inc. for the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office
Date Published
February 1999
United States
Department of Energy
P.O. Box 550
Richland, Washington 99352 TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Hanford Site has achieved great strides in the area of Affirmative Procurement. The tracking and reporting mechanisms already in place will ensure success in implementing Executive Order 13101. In FY1997, the Hanford Site affirmative procurement goal was 60% achieving 82% and in FY1998, the Site goal was 80% with affirmative procurement purchases at 92%.
Hanford has the capability to become the model facility as Hanford was one of the top 3 Sites in affirmative procurement purchasing for Fiscal Year 1997. The tools, such as the reporting and tracking systems already developed, are easily transferred to other Sites either in concept or totality. An enhanced training package for all procurement specialists and credit card holders will be developed in FY99 as well. Hanford has been a leader in affirmative procurement as demonstrated through the receipt of the National Department of Energy (DOE) award in 1998. Additionally, Hanford was the first site to engage in purchasing re-refined oil and consequently received an honorable mention from the White House Closing the Circle Awards Program.
BACKGROUND
The Federal Government must ensure that it purchases products composed of recovered materials to the maximum extent achievable and that these purchases are made consistent with applicable provisions of Federal procurement law. The Secretary of Energy has committed the Department to increase the affirmative procurement of EPA-designated products to 100-percent complex-wide. The goal must be met by December 31, 1999. To meet the complex-wide goal, the Hanford Site has endorsed this same goal of 100-percent purchases of all EPA-designated products.
The Hanford Site Affirmative Procurement program applies to current EPA-designated products but is structured to incorporate additional products as they are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA’s research shows that the products designated are of high quality, widely available, and cost-competitive with virgin products.
The EPA has designated certain products to be procured by the Federal Government with recovered material. Furthermore, in 1996, the Secretary of Energy established a goal to procure 100-percent EPA-designated products by the end of the year 1999. Currently, of the EPA-designated products, the Hanford Site procures approximately 90-percent of all purchases with recovered content. The purpose of the Affirmative Procurement Strategy is to increase affirmative procurement of EPA-designated products to 100-percent by the end of the year 1999.
The purpose of Affirmative Procurement is to use the purchasing power of the federal government to develop markets for products made from materials that would otherwise be solid waste. A secondary objective is to reduce the amount of solid waste requiring disposal through the purchase and use of products containing recovered materials that are recyclable. The advantages of purchasing recovered material products include the following:
- Save Money
- Create Jobs and Economic Development Opportunities
- Conserve Resources and Energy
- Create New Markets
- Reduce the Disposal of Recyclable Materials
- Provide a Proactive Approach to Waste Management Problems
- Set an Example for the Private Sector
Purchasing recovered material products will result in increased opportunities for recycling and waste prevention. This can reduce the nation’s reliance on natural resources by reducing the amount of materials used in the manufacturing of products. Additionally, affirmative procurement leads to a reduction in the environmental impacts of mining, harvesting, and other extraction processes. The use of recovered materials can result in significantly lower energy and material input costs compared to virgin materials. In addition to conserving non-renewable resources and reducing the environmental impacts, recycling also can divert large amounts of materials from valuable landfill space.
Requirements for Affirmative Procurement
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Section 6002 (42 USC 6962 enacted in 1976) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requires that federal government agencies give preference in their purchasing programs to products and practices that conserve and protect natural resources and the environment. A fully established affirmative procurement program will meet this requirement as long as the program contains the following four elements:
- A preference program that demonstrates that the agency has a preference for products that contain recovered materials and these materials meet the standard for recycled-content established by EPA. EO13101 explains that preferable includes products that may not contain recycled content but are environmentally preferable over the recycled version because they are made from environmentally sustainable materials or the manufacturer used environmentally sound processes.
- A promotion program that encourages employees, contractors, vendors, and others associated with a federal agency to adhere to the requirements of the established affirmative procurement program. Each of these people should procure and use products that contain the minimum standard recycled content.
- A certification program that requires vendors to certify that the products that they are providing to the federal agency do indeed contain the minimum content recovered material.
- A monitoring program to annually review the effectiveness of the affirmative procurement program. The monitoring program will track the purchases and percentage of recycled-content materials.
Federal agencies purchasing designated products must purchase the item with the highest percentage of recovered materials practicable, consistent with cost, performance, competition, and availability. The purchasing requirements apply to any federal agency that annually purchases more than $10,000 of any one of the designated products (See Table 1). This threshold is applied at the agency level and since DOE as a whole typically purchases more than $10,000 of all designated products, each contractor must comply with the requirements no matter how much of an item they purchase. For example, if a contractor bought annually $200 worth of a designated product, they would still be required to meet affirmative procurement requirements since the DOE as a whole purchases more than $10,000 worth of that same designated product.
RCRA does establish certain waivers to the requirement of purchasing products that meet affirmative procurement requirements. A decision not to procure Designated products meeting EPA standards shall be based on a written determination that such products:
- Are not available within a reasonable period of time, or
- Fail to meet the performance standards set forth in applicable specifications or fail to meet reasonable performance standards of the procuring agency, or
- Are not available from a sufficient number of sources to maintain a satisfactory level of competition (i.e., available from two or more sources), or
- Are only available at an unreasonable cost.
Table 1 EPA-Designated Affirmative Procurement Products
Policy Letter 92-4
On November 2, 1992, The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) issued the policy "Procurement of Environmentally Sound and Energy-Efficient Products and Services." It establishes executive branch policies for the acquisition and use of environmentally sound, energy-efficient products and services and provides guidance for Federal agencies to implement section 6002 of RCRA. Policy Letter 92-4 mandates the consideration of energy conservation, efficiency, cost and other relevant factors when agencies of the Federal government develop purchase requests, invitations for bids and solicitations for offers. OFPP’s Policy Letter also requires procuring Federal agencies when drafting or reviewing specifications for designated products, to ensure they: (1) Do not exclude the use of recovered materials; (2) Do not unnecessarily require the item to be manufactured from virgin materials; and (3) Require the use of recovered materials and environmentally sound components to the maximum extent practicable without jeopardizing the intended use of the item.
Executive Order 13101
EO 13101, Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition, is the implementation instruction for RCRA Section 6002. It instructs the U.S. EPA to develop and issue Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) containing designated products that are or can be made with recovered materials (See Table 2). It also establishes a Federal Environmental Executive to be located at EPA, who will be responsible for ensuring that all agencies comply with the requirements of the EO.
In addition, EO 13101 further defines federal agency affirmative procurement programs and mandates that each agency meet the requirements of EPA defined designated products. The EO requires that each agency and federal agency contractors ensure that their affirmative procurement programs require that 100-percent of their purchases of products meet or exceed the EPA guideline standards unless written justification is provided that a product is not available competitively within a reasonable time frame, does not meet appropriate performance standards, or cannot be found at a reasonable cost. Written justification is not required for purchases below the micropurchase threshold (purchases less than $2,500).
Once EPA issues a procurement guideline designating a specific item, procuring agencies have one year to ensure that 100-percent of their purchases of products meet or exceed EPA’s recommendations.
Table 2 Affirmative Procurement Program Item List
Furthermore, the EO requires federal agency officials to consider the following factors in their acquisition planning:
- Elimination of virgin material requirements
- Use of recovered materials
- Reuse of product
- Life cycle cost
- Recyclability
- Use of environmentally preferable products
- Waste prevention (including toxicity reduction or elimination)
- Ultimate disposal.
Hanford Site Requirements
The Hanford Site Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program Plan, calls for all contractors to establish an affirmative procurement program in accordance with federal, state, Executive Orders, and other requirements. This plan sets forth program goals consistent with the Secretary of Energy goal and provides program guidance.
The Secretary of Energy has established an affirmative procurement goal of 100-percent to be achieved by December 31, 1999. Guidance regarding affirmative procurement and the 100-percent goal is found in the Hanford Site Guide for Preparing and Maintaining Generator Group Pollution Prevention Program Documentation which identifies specific products for which affirmative procurement considerations apply.
EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines
EO 13101 required the EPA to designate products that are or can be made with recovered materials. As a result, EPA developed Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG). EPA also prepared the Recovered Materials Advisory Notice III (RMAN), which recommends recovered material content standards for the designated products, and EPA’s suggestions for ways to meet Guideline requirements. The CPG presently includes 42 products in 8 categories (See Table 2).
HANFORD’S PREFERENCE PROGRAM
The required minimum recovered material content levels for EPA-designated products is shown in Table 2. All contractors are responsible for purchasing EPA designated products with the highest percentage of recovered materials practicable. Allowances are made for cost, availability, and performance.
HANFORD’S PROMOTION PROGRAM
One of the requirements stipulated in Section 6002 of RCRA regulation is that an affirmative procurement program must include a promotional program. The promotional program educates Site personnel and advances the affirmative procurement program. Site personnel must be aware of the affirmative procurement program before they can be expected to respond to its requirements. This outreach program can be effectively implemented through information dissemination and training.
Information Dissemination
Publicizing the importance of affirmative procurement purchases to all Site employees is imperative to a successful program. The purchasing procedures of each company must be in concordance with this strategy and the purchasing of products that contain recovered materials must become institutional at each facility. Purchasers of recovered material products need to be made aware of the importance of affirmative procurement. If the reasons for purchasing products containing recovered materials are explained to all Site personnel, the concept will be more acceptable.
Hanford contractors will participate in the following types of activities:
- Review contracts to ensure new EPA guideline items are included and they meet minimum content recycled requirements.
- Distribution of electronic messages to inform Hanford personnel about affirmative procurement.
- Publishing Articles in the Hanford Reach newspaper or other media.
- Participate in hosting a Sitewide Affirmative Procurement "Open House" where vendors demonstrate their products that meet the EPA guidelines.
Training
Affirmative procurement training should be conducted for those individuals who actively purchase or specify materials. These people include: (1) Procurement Specialists; (2) Government Purchase Card (P-Card) Holders; and (3) Facility Material Coordinators. The training should consist of the following topics:
•Explanation of Affirmative Procurement
•Benefits of Buying Recovered Materials
•Regulations Related to Affirmative Procurement
•Hanford Site Affirmative Procurement Goals
•Designated products
•Exceptions to Purchasing Affirmative Procurement Designated products and written justifications
•EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) and Recovered Material Advisory Notices (RMAN)
•Purchasing Procedures
•Requirements for Government Purchase Card Holders
•Resources
HANFORD’S CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
Vendors will certify recycled content when providing commodities to contractors at the Hanford Site. Hanford contractors are responsible for maintaining this documentation.
HANFORD’S MONITORING PROGRAM
One of the RCRA requirements for establishing an affirmative procurement program is to establish an annual monitoring and review process. Similar to other pollution prevention program components, each contractor will be required to show progress in meeting the Hanford Site goal of 100 percent purchases of EPA-designated products. The information is collected by prime contractor quarterly. The data is compiled into quarterly performance measures related to the affirmative procurement goal of 100-percent and transmitted to DOE-RL. All prime contractors report annually to DOE-HQ in an electronic database managed by DOE-HQ.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF IMPLEMENTING EO13101
•Reporting on New Products: Preference to purchase biobased products is encouraged in the EO. The USDA’s Biobased Products Coordination Council will publish a biobased products list in the Federal Register with updates every six months. Once the Biobased Products List has been published, agencies are encouraged to modify their affirmative procurement program to give consideration to those products. Any future requirement to report on the purchase of biobased products would be a considerable impact.
A list of biobased suppliers should be available at the time the list is issued which would reduce the potential impact. The Alternative Agriculture Research and Commercialization Corporation has recently compiled a report on market analysis for biobased products. It is a summary of the history of the industrial agriculture movement in the US; the current position of fourteen bio-based industries; the assistance available to individuals and business; and recommendations for the future. The report further describes the emerging market and technology trends that are shaping the options available to public and private decision makers. Numerous current and potential barriers are noted in the report as the endeavors toward the bio-based economy moves forward.
•Multimedia Inspections: EPA inspections of Federal facilities may include an evaluation of facility compliance with section 6002 of RCRA and any implementing guidance. Hanford Site operations would be impacted if its affirmative program were evaluated.
•Micropurchase Threshold: Currently the Hanford Site tracks all purchases to the penny. Executive Order 13101 does not require written justification for purchases below the micropurchase threshold that is proposed in 41 USC 428 as $2,500. This would reduce the documentation and record keeping.
•Establish Goals: Agencies are required to set goals for increasing the use of environmentally preferable products by the years 2005 and 2010. This may have an impact to the Hanford Site once the DOE establishes goals and those flow down to the contractors. To date, the affirmative procurement goal of 100% by the year 1999 is the only goal established.
•Recycling Receipts: Section 703 of Executive Order 13101 states that the Administrator of General Services shall continue with the program that retains for the agencies the proceeds from the sale of materials recovered through recycling or waste prevention programs and specifying the eligibility requirements for the materials being recycled. This requirement may allow more flexibility in allowing receipts from recycling to remain at the Hanford Site.
COMPLEX-WIDE AFFIRMATIVE PROCUREMENT PRACTICES
Benchmarking other DOE Sites’ affirmative procurement programs was conducted to compare and contrast Hanford’s program with that of the other Sites. An informal electronic request was sent to various DOE Sites requesting specific details of their affirmative procurement programs. The following Sites were contacted: Kansas City Plant, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Pantex Plant, Sandia-CA, Sandia-NM, WIPP, Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermi Laboratory, Princeton Physics National Laboratory, Federal Energy Technology Center, Idaho, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Fernald, Rocky Flats, Savannah River, Of the 19 Sites contacted, 7 responded. The results are listed below by Operations Office.
Albuquerque Operations Office
Sandia National Laboratories
Tracking is conducted through three mechanisms: (1) Just-in-Time ordering; (2) Purchase orders; and (3) Direct contact with the vendor.
Credit card purchases are not tracked. However, Sandia will be issuing direction to all credit card users to purchase recovered material products in the future.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
At Los Alamos National Laboratory all purchases are tracked for affirmative procurement. The database for Just in Time ordering, local vendor agreement purchases, and purchase orders automatically tracks every purchase. Justifications for non-recycled content products are entered directly into the system. Although credit card users are trained in affirmative procurement, credit card purchases are exempt from tracking under the micropurchases exclusion as the credit cards have a limit of $2,500.
In an effort to achieve the 100-percent buy recycled goal, purchases of non-recycled paper and non-remanufactured toner cartridges have been banned in the form of a master management memo. These purchases account for 80-percent of Los Alamos’ purchase dollar value in the EPA-preference products. In addition, communication regarding recycled construction products with the crafts subcontractor is ongoing. When buyers attempt to purchase non-recovered material products, they are informed about affirmative procurement. Lastly, performance is tracked by technical division and senior management is made aware of the results.
Pantex
Pantex recently implemented the Facility Management and Information (FMI) system for tracking affirmative procurement purchases and reporting. FMI is a purchasing, planning, and scheduling system. Each item purchased receives a "scramble code" which is a series of coded alphanumeric characters that allow sorting, tracking, and reporting. All the information collected is rolled up into the Affirmative Procurement Reporting System. The Pantex Plant falls under DOE’s $10,000 threshold for all products.
Pantex does not require credit card purchases to be assigned a scramble code for each item. However, in the future, purchases over $2,500 per order will be assigned a scramble code, allowing tracking of some of the affirmative procurement purchases.
All procurement personnel are trained in affirmative procurement, and these individuals identify all affirmative procurement products for purchase.
Chicago Operations Office
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
All office supplies are purchased and tracked through the Material Control organization. All other purchases are tracked through Procurement. Credit card purchases will be tracked in the future.
Oakland Operations Office
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
All products at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are tracked manually by various groups at the lab. For office supplies only, the main supplier tracks these purchases which accounts for approximately 85-percent of all purchases. The remainder of the office supplies are purchased on credit card which are not tracked.
Rocky Flats Operations Office
Rocky Flats
All affirmative procurement purchases are tracked and reported to the $10,000 threshold. Credit card purchases are tracked monthly by the card holder. Rocky Flats is in the process of incorporating language into the supplier’s contracts for requiring tracking and reporting of affirmative procurement purchases.
Savannah River Operations Office
Savannah River
Data collection is for store shelf items only. Construction material like cement and concrete is managed and tracked by the Design/Systems Engineering in a separate field procurement group. Material choice is based on engineering specifications without considering viable substitutes. The SRS annual reporting does not include the GSA Fleet Management Center’s recycling program for tires, used motor oil/filters, and paper products. Rather, it is reported directly to the State of Georgia.
HANFORD SITE AFFIRMATIVE PROCUREMENT PRACTICES
Richland Operations Office
In 1997, DOE-RL began a self-assessment program where lines of inquiry were developed for assessing affirmative procurement among the contractors. In addition, a series of meetings were held to discuss Hanford-wide affirmative procurement issues such as determining a de minimus level for accounting for affirmative procurement purchases, defining micropurchase, and setting goals. Since June 1998, Hanford has organized the complex-wide teleconferences.
Prior to 1998, DOE-RL was purchasing materials and supplies through Fluor Daniel Hanford Central Stores. Credit cards were instituted and now DOE-RL is procuring on their own and currently determining how to track these purchases. May 6, 1994, DOE-RL issued a Pollution Prevention Policy that directs RL and Hanford Site contractors to implement affirmative procurement programs for recycled and energy efficient materials including the procurement of other environmentally preferable products and services.
The prime contractors all include various affirmative procurement provisions in their programs for procuring recovered materials. In 1997, affirmative procurement contract clauses were issued for inclusion on all solicitations to ensure any awarded product received meets the minimum recycled content levels. Each prime contractor is required to report to the DOE-RL Procurement Division quarterly.
Table 3 identifies the Richland Operations Office as the lead site in FY 1997 affirmative procurement purchases for large sites. In FY1997, the Hanford Site goal was 60% achieving 82% and in FY1998, the Site goal was 80% with affirmative procurement purchases at 92%. The breakdown for FY1997 (without exclusions) by contractor is as follows: Bechtel 76% with $181,690 total purchases, Fluor Daniel Hanford 82% with $1,684,953 total purchases, Hanford Environmental Health Foundation 100% with $20,502 total purchases, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 80% with $198,238 total purchases. The breakdown for FY1998 (without exclusions) by contractor is as follows: Bechtel 97.1% with $91,815 total purchases, Fluor Daniel Hanford 85.3% with $1,345,274 total purchases, Hanford Environmental Health Foundation 46.8% with $24,451 total purchases, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 75.2% with $332,260 total purchases. The Hanford Site total was therefore 83.5%, purchasing $1,793,800. A description of each program is outlined below.
Table 3 FY 1997 Comparison of Hanford Site and Other DOE Affirmative Procurement Programs
Project Hanford Management Contractor
The pollution prevention procedure (HNF-PRO-462) includes provisions for affirmative procurement. It requires implementation of an affirmative procurement program for products that have a post-consumer recycled content. In addition, it requires contractors provide annual and quarterly reports of affirmative procurement of products with post-consumer recycled content. In addition to the pollution prevention procedure, Fluor Daniel Hanford (FDH) has initiated a policy whereby the P2/WMin program shall comply with the current P2/WMin executive orders, regulatory requirements, and DOE directives.
DOE-RL pollution prevention measures from the DEAR 970.5204-39—October 1995 are incorporated into site Management and Integration (M&I), or site support contracts. The directives flowed down to the major subcontractors of the M&I. These contracts included compliance with Executive Order 12873 "Federal Acquisition, Recycling, and Waste Prevention," Section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter I, Part 247, and the U.S. Department of Energy Affirmative Procurement Program for Products Containing Recovered Materials and related guidance documents. In addition, contractors are responsible to prepare and submit reports related to environmentally preferable products.
Included in all contracts is compliance with the FAR 52.204-4—Printing/Copying Double-Sided on Recycled Paper—May 1995. These requirements include printing double-sided on recycled paper that has at least 20-percent postconsumer material for high-speed copier paper, offset paper, forms bond, computer printout paper, and carbonless paper. A higher standard of 50-percent recovered material with 20-percent postconsumer material, applies to other uncoated printing and writing papers. The FAR 52.223-10 Waste Reduction Program—May 1995 further requires compliance with Section 701 of Executive Order 12873 by establishing a program to promote cost-effective waste reduction in all operations and facilities.
FDH and their major sub-contractor buyers follow the "FDH Acquisition Guide—Affirmative Procurement Program, Recycled and Recovered Materials" This guidance explains the affirmative procurement program. It states that if an EPA-guideline item is purchased without recycled content, explanations can include: (1) Emergency order; (2) Sole source service type order; (3) No sources located; or (4) Sources not responsive to other requirements. The EPA designated products are listed on the Hanford Homepage and links to an EPA Web page for each product category. The product and it's minimum recovered material content are characterized in detail.
Eleven commodities are listed under the Just-in-Time contracts. These include office supplies/computer consumable products (toner cartridges, disks, etc.), electrical supplies, fasteners (QA and non-QA), janitorial supplies, swagelok-Tube valves and fittings, hand tools/abrasives, bottled water, laboratory supplies, painting supplies, plumbing supplies—pipe, valves piping, and steel/aluminum—shapes and stock (QA). These products may be purchased on credit card as well as through Central Stores and on purchase requisition.
Prior to 1996, the EPA guideline items were linked by commodity code and updated as new products were added. The FDH purchasing database includes tracking purchases of all EPA-designated products from Just-in-Time ordering, purchase requisitions, and Stores orders. All products are listed by product code and those codes associated with designated products require purchase of recycled content or justification for purchasing virgin.
The credit card system tracks all EPA-designated products as well. For each credit card, an administrator is responsible for purchase and monthly reconciliation. After an item is purchased, the administrator enters it into the system. Each EPA guideline item is linked to a Hanford commodity code. If a guideline item is purchased, then a box illuminates to check if the product purchased was recycled. Justification is required for purchasing virgin materials. The box must be checked or a reason denoted in the justification area before the reconciliation can continue.
Training for credit card administrators and their manager(s) must be completed before access to a credit card is given. The written component of the training does not include requirements to purchase recycle. However, in the June 1999 newsletter to P-Card holders, an article was printed regarding purchasing recovered material products.
A procedure (HNF-PRO-00128) exists for the use and control of Purchasing Cards (P-Card). P-Cards should be used for purchasing materials valued at less than $5,000 and for services valued at less than $2,500. Purchases can only be made by the P-Card holder. As of November 1998 there were 251 purchasing card holders. A transaction log must be maintained which most P-Card holders choose to use the electronic ordering system. The ordering system is compared with the receipts received. Monthly P-Card holders are required to reconcile.
Quarterly, the performance indicators are tracked for the Secretary goals. Data is compiled from the credit card system and all purchase orders/requisitions and contracts. Procurement uses the quarterly reports to status against the affirmative procurement goal. The information is reported to DOE-RL and the company presidents.
Hanford Environmental Health Foundation
All purchases are procured through one individual with the only EPA designated products purchased being paper, paper products and non-paper office products. A list of all the products purchased is prepared from the general ledger. HEHF purchases copy paper through the Fluor Daniel Hanford (FDH) Central Stores and FDH does the reporting for this item. For all other products, the individual products are identified in a catalog and checked for recycled content. All department personnel ordering products are aware of the affirmative procurement program and they choose recycled content whenever possible. Two credit cards are available to HEHF purchasers and the products are tracked for recycled content.
Quarterly data is compiled by the Affirmative Procurement Coordinator and reported to DOE-RL.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
The vast majority of purchases are made on credit card. Credit card holders do not receive formal training. However, information is disseminated to the holders through the Purchasing Recycled Products Team and during internet ordering training. The suppliers provide the information necessary for tracking affirmative procurement purchases at PNNL. For construction products, information is compiled from the project managers. Some suppliers can provide the Affirmative Procurement Coordinator a list of people who purchased virgin designated products. In those cases, the Affirmative Procurement Coordinator contacts the person and assists him/her in making a recycled selection in the future.
PNNL revised its P-Card software and reissued it January 1999. The revised software captures the recycled products purchased or one of the three approved reasons why a designated product could not be purchased with recycled content. This information is provided during the monthly reconciliation. Reconciliation is based upon actual receipts received from the vendors.
The limit on credit cards is $5,000 for products and $2,500 for services. Purchase orders are used for purchases over those limits. For all products procured on purchase order, guidance is provided that describes the responsibility for purchasing recycled content products. Subcontracts are similar in nature. Internal regulations such as the P-Card documentation and Purchase Requisitions incorporate the buy recycled goal.
The PNNL contract stipulates the same three requirements described in the FDH section (1) DEAR 970.5204-39 Acquisition and Use of Environmentally Preferable Products and Services (Oct 1995), (2) FAR 52.204-4 Printing/Copying Double-Sided on Recycled Paper – May 1995, and (3) FAR 52.223-10 Waste Reduction Program – May 1995. General language on affirmative procurement is written in the laboratory policy, ES&H directives, purchasing request guidance, and purchasing card guidance. Additionally, the performance evaluations for the Division Directors include achievements for affirmative procurement. The Division Directors report to their management on the year’s results in their self assessment reviews. PNNL’s awareness efforts for highlighting affirmative procurement include: (1) The GreenGuide—a guide on the Internet on how to reduce, reuse, recycle, and purchase recycled products; (2) recycled product tips in the tri-weekly newsletter, "What’s Happening;" (3) e-mail messages to purchasers about new products, suppliers, performance of products, and prices; (4) articles in the Environmental Sustainability Practices newsletter on the Internet; (5) presentations at staff meetings; and (6) lunchtime workshops.
An electronic Prep and Risk form is completed and submitted for all proposed projects at PNNL. A yes/no response is required if the project involves the purchase of materials that are subject to affirmative procurement requirements. All those checked "yes" are reviewed by the Environmental Compliance Representative for that Division.
Quarterly data are compiled by Contracts and the Affirmative Procurement Coordinator and reported to DOE-RL.
Bechtel Hanford, Inc.
The buyers at Bechtel are given the list of EPA designated products. All products purchased on purchase requisition or purchase order are compared against the guideline item list and coded as either "Y" or "N." The "Y" denotes it was an affirmative procurement item, and "N" means it is not on the list of affirmative procurement products. Each quarter a list is manually produced which indicates all the "Y" purchases. If an item was not purchased with recycled content, then the BHI staff determines the reason.
Credit card purchases are similar. However, the software for ordering by credit card has the list of affirmative procurement products built in and the reports are run automatically. If an EPA-guideline item was purchased with virgin content, the P-Card holder enters an explanation as to why recycled content was not procured.
The vast majority (approximately 99.9%) of office supplies and paper are ordered by the Centralized Office Services Organization who have mandated that the Just in Time (JIT) subcontractor follow the EPA guidelines. The JIT supplier provides the report on quantities purchased and the dollar value. Additionally, Bechtel’s design engineering procedures contain a requirement to design with recycled content, from the current list of EPA designated products.
Quarterly data is compiled by the Affirmative Procurement Coordinator and reported to DOE-RL.
ANALYSIS OF HANFORD SITE AFFIRMATIVE PROCUREMENT PROGRAM
Preference Program
Hanford demonstrates a preference program through the adoption of the Secretary of Energy goal of 100-percent affirmative procurement purchases of EPA-designated items by the end of the fiscal year 1999. Additionally, the pollution prevention measures from the DEAR and the FAR have been incorporated into PHMC contract.
Areas for Improvement
No policy or procedure exists on the Richland Operations Office internet for procuring recovered material products.
Promotion Program
The Secretary of Energy goal of 100-percent affirmative procurement purchases of EPA-designated items by the end of the year 1999 has been communicated to all employees of the Hanford Site through a variety of methods including newspaper articles, training, word-of-mouth, and electronic messages. A list of products containing recovered material is posted on the Hanford internet in 2 locations. These lists assist requisitioners and buyers in purchasing the EPA-designated products with the highest recycled content achievable. This is evidenced through the high percentage of affirmative procurement purchases in 1997 and 1998. As new items are added to the EPA-designated products list, notification is disseminated to all contractors.
Areas for Improvement
Formal affirmative procurement training does not exist for buyers and requisitioners.
Certification Program
At the Hanford Site, a "Minimum Recovered Content Requirement" clause is inserted into all bids and proposals. The clause includes a provision for the supplier to provide certifications and/or test results that verify the recovered material content.
Areas for Improvement
A formal mechanism should be established to ensure future items designated are included in the contract clauses.
Monitoring Program
Hanford Site progress is evaluated quarterly against the Secretary of Energy goals. This information is reported to the company presidents and DOE-RL. Annually, a report is prepared on Hanford’s progress and submitted to DOE-RL and DOE-HQ. Affirmative procurement purchases are tracked to the penny. Additionally, credit card purchases include a tracking mechanism for all contractors.
Areas of Improvement
The reasons of Cost, Availability, and Performance for purchasing virgin products need to be stipulated in P-Card tracking systems as the only allowable justifications.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MEETING AFFIRMATIVE PROCUREMENT GOAL
The prime contractors of the Hanford Site already have key elements in place for success in meeting the 100-percent buy recycled goal such as the tracking and purchasing restrictions. The new requirement in EO13101 for purchasing 30-percent postconsumer book paper, computer printout paper, copy paper, cover stock, file folders and white woven envelopes beginning January 1, 1999 (or 20-percent if not available) should be communicated throughout the Site in order to ensure compliance. Enhanced training and awareness will undoubtedly move the Hanford Site to the 100-percent goal. Furthermore, collaborate with all contractors to obtain information on cost, availability, and performance for all EPA-designated products will improve affirmative procurement.
Although requisitions are evaluated for affirmative procurement prior to purchase, the Hanford systems allow for purchasing on credit card before formal evaluations for recycled content. If these systems were modified to require recycled content purchases for EPA designated products above the micropurchase threshold, all purchases would meet the 100-percent goal.
Specific recommendations for implementation are outlined below by contractor.
Bechtel
Problem: Buyers are not aware of the multitude of resources available for affirmative procurement products.
Solution: Institute a 15 to 30 minute affirmative procurement training segment for delivery to all purchasing agents and P-Card holders. Implement 6/1/99.
Collaboration among all contractors to obtain information on price, availability, and performance for all EPA-guideline items. Disseminate this information to the respective buyers. Implement 4/1/99.
Problem: The programmatic elements of the affirmative (were reviewed in 97) procurement program at Hanford is not reviewed or evaluated on a scheduled frequency.
Solution: Annually evaluate the programmatic elements of the affirmative procurement program to ensure progress is being achieved. Implement 12/1/99.
Problem: Most buyers and requisitioners are not aware of the new Executive Order 13101 which states that paper must contain a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998 regardless of justification..
Solution: Add an awareness statement to all P-Card electronic systems to say: "Paper must contain a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998 regardless of justification." Implement 4/1/99.
Conduct a media-blitz across the site to communicate the requirement to purchase a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998. Implement 3/1/99.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Problem: Buyers are not aware of the multitude of resources available for affirmative procurement products.
Solution: Institute a 15 to 30 minute affirmative procurement training segment for delivery to all purchasing agents and P-Card holders. Implement 6/1/99.
Collaboration among all contractors to obtain information on price, availability, and performance for all EPA-guideline items. Disseminate this information to the respective buyers. Implement 4/1/99.
Problem: The results of the Affirmative Procurement Program are evaluated quarterly by the EO13101 Coordinator and corrective action is taken quarterly to ensure future progress. However, the programmatic elements are only evaluated informally by the Pollution Prevention Team on an as needed basis.
Solution: Formally evaluate the programmatic elements of the affirmative procurement program every 2 years to evaluate their effectiveness. Implement 12/1/99.
Problem: Most buyers and requisitioners are aware of the new Executive Order 13101 which states that book paper, computer printout paper, copy paper, cover stock, file folders and white woven envelopes must contain a minimum of 30-percent postconsumer fiber beginning January 1, 1999 with no exceptions allowed.
Solution: Add an awareness statement to all P-Card electronic systems to say: "Book paper, computer printout paper, copy paper, cover stock, file folders and white woven envelopes must contain a minimum of 30-percent postconsumer fiber beginning January 1, 1999 without any exception." Implement 4/1/99.
Conduct a media-blitz across the Laboratory to communicate the requirement to purchase a minimum of 30-percent postconsumer fiber beginning January 1, 1999. Implement 3/1/99.
Fluor Daniel Hanford
Problem: The P-Card electronic system has an open field for describing the reason a virgin product was purchased.
Solution: Add Cost, Availability, and Performance buttons to the P-Card electronic system for checking reason for purchasing virgin products. Implement 4/1/99.
Problem: The language in the FDH Acquisition Guide allows explanations other than Cost, Availability, and Performance as acceptable reasons for purchasing virgin.
Solution: Modify the language in the FDH Acquisition Guide to say: "If the required levels of recycled/recovered materials are not purchased, then only one of the following explanations may be used: (1) Not available within a reasonable period of time; (2) Fail to meet the performance standards set forth in applicable specifications or fail to meet reasonable performance standards of the procuring agency; (3) Not available from a sufficient number of sources to maintain a satisfactory level of competition (i.e., available from two or more sources); 0r (4) Only available at an unreasonable price. Implement 4/1/99.
Problem: Buyers are not aware of the multitude of resources available for affirmative procurement products.
Solution: Institute a 15 to 30 minute affirmative procurement training segment for delivery to all purchasing agents and P-Card holders. Implement 6/1/99.
Collaboration among all contractors to obtain information on price, availability, and performance for all EPA-guideline items. Disseminate this information to the respective buyers. Implement 4/1/99.
Problem: The programmatic elements (were reviewed in 97) of the affirmative procurement program at Hanford is not reviewed or evaluated on a scheduled frequency.
Solution: Annually evaluate the programmatic elements of the affirmative procurement program to ensure progress is being achieved. Implement 12/1/99.
Problem: Most buyers and requisitioners are not aware of the new Executive Order 13101 which states that paper must contain a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998 regardless of justification..
Solution: Add an awareness statement to all P-Card electronic systems to say: "Paper must contain a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998 regardless of justification." Implement 4/1/99.
Conduct a media-blitz across the site to communicate the requirement to purchase a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998. Implement 3/1/99.
Hanford Environmental Health Foundation
Problem: Buyers are not aware of the multitude of resources available for affirmative procurement products.
Solution: Institute a 15 to 30 minute affirmative procurement training segment for delivery to all purchasing agents and P-Card holders. Implement 6/1/99.
Collaboration among all contractors to obtain information on price, availability, and performance for all EPA-guideline items. Disseminate this information to the respective buyers. Implement 4/1/99.
Problem: The programmatic elements (were reviewed in 97) of the affirmative procurement program at Hanford is not reviewed or evaluated on a scheduled frequency.
Solution: Annually evaluate the programmatic elements of the affirmative procurement program to ensure progress is being achieved. Implement 12/1/99.
Problem: Most buyers and requisitioners are not aware of the new Executive Order 13101 which states that paper must contain a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998 regardless of justification..
Solution: Add an awareness statement to all P-Card electronic systems to say: "Paper must contain a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998 regardless of justification." Implement 4/1/99.
Conduct a media-blitz across the site to communicate the requirement to purchase a minimum of 20-percent postconsumer fiber beginning December 31, 1998. Implement 3/1/99.
REFERENCES
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). 1976. 42 USC 6962 "Federal Procurement."
DOE, 1998, Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition, DOE Order 13101, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
DOE, 1998, The Hanford Site Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program Plan, DOE/RL-91-31, Rev. 4.
Place, B.G. 1998, Project Hanford Management Contract Pollution Prevention Program Implementation Plan, HNF-EP-0496 Rev. 3.
DOE/RL 1998, Hanford Site Guide for Preparing and Maintaining Generator Group Pollution Prevention Program Documentation, DOE/RL-95-103, Rev. 2.
DOE, 1992, Policy Letter No. 92-4 "Procurement of Environmentally-Sound and Energy-Efficient Products and Services." Office of Federal Procurement Policy.
Executive Order 13101 "Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition." September 14, 1998.
Project Hanford Procedures "Use and Control of Purchasing Card (P-Card)" HNF-PRO-335, Rev 2, Effective 9/15/98.
DOE, 1996, O’Leary, Hazel R., Departmental Pollution Prevention Goals, DOE Memorandum, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., May 3, 1996.
DEFINITIONS
Affirmative Procurement: A program that ensures that products composed of recovered materials will be purchased to the maximum extent practicable, consistent with Federal law and procurement regulations (RCRA, Section 6002 and 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 247). Guidance on this program has been issued and is updated as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues additional guidelines.
Minimum Content Standards: The minimum recovered materials content specifications as set by the EPA or Executive Order 13101 to ensure that the recovered materials content required is the maximum available without jeopardizing the intended end use of the item.
Post Consumer Waste: A material or product that has served its intended use and has been discarded for disposal after passing through the hands of a final user. "Post consumer waste" is a part of the broader category, "Recovered material."
Recovered Material: 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 wastes and other products, all of which can be used in the manufacture of new products.
Virgin Material: A raw material used in manufacturing that has been mined or harvested and has not yet become a product.
Biobased Product: A commercial or industrial product, other than food or feed, which utilizes biological products or renewable domestic agricultural (plant, animal and marine) or forestry materials. | 
