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|  | **Pilot Project Approach on Use of Non-Governmental Entities to Implement Section 503 of Executive Order 12873 on Federal Acquisition, Recycling and Waste Prevention**

**SEE ATTACHED LIST OF ADDRESSEES**

April 24, 1998

This letter relates to implementation of President Clinton's mandate for    environmentally preferable purchasing, as articulated in Executive Order 12873 on Federal    Acquisition, Recycling and Waste Prevention. This letter was developed with helpful input    from a number of agencies, including the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the Office    of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Department of Defense, the General Services    Administration and the Department of Interior. Its purpose is two-fold.

First, we would like to thank those agencies whose staff have taken a lead on pilot    projects on environmentally preferable purchasing. Specifically, for the past two to three    years, the General Services Administration (the Public Building Service and the Federal    Supply Service) and the Department of Defense (Washington Headquarters Service) have used    in-house government expertise to work in partnership with the Environmental Protection    Agency on projects to incorporate environmental preferability considerations into    acquisition and procurement decisions. The commitment and creativity of these teams have    contributed immensely to the success of our efforts. They have demonstrated the true    spirit of reinventing government -- helping to make government work better and cost less.

Second, we would like to share with you a pilot project approach to demonstrate how    executive agencies should use non-governmental entities -- including but not limited to,    environmental standard setting organizations, third party certification programs,    environmental labeling or environmental "report card" programs and other    environmental consulting organizations -- to help the agencies achieve the    Administration's mandate to have the Federal government purchase environmentally    preferable products and services. Enclosed is a paper outlining an approach to encourage    executive agencies to undertake projects to evaluate the potential role that    non-governmental entities might play in Executive Order 12873 implementation. 

The results from this pilot project approach will help to better operationalize the concepts and principles which are established in EPA's proposed    Guidance in the Acquisition of Environmentally    Preferable Products and Services. It is very important that EPA and the other    Federal agencies communicate on a regular basis as pilots are carried out. The purpose of    the pilot projects is to test these approaches on a limited basis so we can learn from the    experiences of all participating agencies. As appropriate, these approaches will be    modified before moving beyond the pilot stage.

Any questions about the non-governmental entity pilot project approach or other issues    related to environmentally preferable purchasing may be directed to Eun-Sook Goidel, EPA's    Program Manager for the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program at (202) 260-3296 or [email protected].

Enclosed for your information are some recent publications that describe EPA's    activities in environmentally preferable purchasing. We hope you will take a moment to    browse through these documents and pass them along to others in your agency.

Sincerely,

(signed by)

Lynn R. Goldman, M.D.    Assistant Administrator

Fran McPoland    Federal Environmental Executive

 

Enclosures    bcc: Fred Hansen, Deputy Administrator    Jonathan Cannon, General Counsel, EPA    Allan Brown, Acting Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, OMB    Ms. Jennifer Haverkamp, Assistant US Trade Representative for    the Environment    William H. Sanders III, Director, OPPT/EPA    Linda Strauss, EPA    Federal Agency Contacts
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