This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

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rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

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statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

15022 

Vol. 77, No. 50 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Presidential Memorandum of February 

21, 2012; Driving Innovation and 

Creating Jobs in Rural America 

Through Biobased and Sustainable 

Product Procurement 

On February 21, 2012, President 

Barack Obama issued a memorandum to 

the Heads of Executive Departments and 

Agencies directing that they effectively 

execute Federal procurement 

requirements for biobased products, 

including those requirements identified 

in Executive Order 13514 and 

prescribed in the 2002 Farm Bill, as 

amended by the 2008 Farm Bill. The 

text of this memorandum reads: 

The BioPreferred program— 

established by the Farm Security and 

Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 

107–171) (2002 Farm Bill), and 

strengthened by the Food, Conservation 

and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110– 

234) (2008 Farm Bill)—is intended to 

increase Federal procurement of 

biobased products to promote rural 

economic development, create new jobs, 

and provide new markets for farm 

commodities. Biobased and sustainable 

products help to increase our energy 

security and independence. 

The Federal Government, with 

leadership from the Department of 

Agriculture (USDA), has made 

significant strides in implementing the 

BioPreferred program. It is one of the 

key elements in my efforts to promote 

sustainable acquisition throughout the 

Government under Executive Order 

13514 of October 5, 2009 (Federal 

Leadership in Environmental, Energy, 

and Economic Performance). Further 

efforts will drive innovation and 

economic growth and create jobs at 

marginal cost to the American public. 

The goal of this memorandum is to 

ensure that executive departments and 

agencies (agencies) effectively execute 

Federal procurement requirements for 

biobased products, including those 

requirements identified in Executive 

Order 13514 and prescribed in the 2002 

Farm Bill, as amended by the 2008 Farm 

Bill. It is vital that these efforts are in 

accord and carefully coordinated with 

other Federal procurement 

requirements. 

Therefore, I direct that agencies take 

the following steps to significantly 

increase Federal procurement of 

biobased and other sustainable 

products. 

Section 1. Actions Related to Executive 

Order 13514 

(a) Agencies shall include and report 

on biobased acquisition as part of the 

sustainable acquisition goals and 

milestones in the Strategic 

Sustainability Performance Plan 

required by section 8 of Executive Order 

13514. 

(b) As required by section 2(h) of 

Executive Order 13514, agencies shall 

ensure that 95 percent of applicable new 

contract actions for products and 

services advance sustainable 

acquisition, including biobased 

acquisition, where such products and 

services meet agency performance 

requirements. In doing so, agencies 

shall: 

(i) Include acquisition of biobased 

products in their Affirmative 

Procurement Programs and Preferable 

Purchasing Programs, as applicable (as 

originally required by Executive Order 

13101 of September 14, 1998 (Greening 

the Government Through Waste 

Prevention, Recycling, and Federal 

Acquisition) and reinforced by 

Executive Order 13423 of January 24, 

2007 (Strengthening Federal 

Environmental, Energy, and 

Transportation Management) and 

Executive Order 13514); 

(ii) include biobased products as part 

of their procurement review and 

monitoring program required by section 

9002(a) of the 2008 Farm Bill, 

incorporating data collection and 

reporting requirements as part of their 

program evaluation; and 

(iii) provide appropriate training on 

procurement of biobased products for 

all acquisition personnel including 

requirements and procurement staff. 

(c) The Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) shall emphasize biobased 

purchasing in the fiscal year 2012 and 

2013 Sustainability/Energy scorecard, 

which is the periodic evaluation of 

agency performance on sustainable 

acquisition pursuant to section 4 of 

Executive Order 13514. 

Section 2. Biobased Product 

Designations 

The USDA has already designated 64 

categories of biobased products for 

preferred Federal procurement. 

Although these categories represent an 

estimated 9,000 individual products, 

less than half of the known biobased 

products are currently included in the 

preference program. Increasing the 

number of products subject to the 

Federal procurement preference will 

increase procurement of biobased 

products. Therefore, I direct the 

Secretary of Agriculture to: 

(a) Increase both the number of 

categories of biobased products 

designated and individual products 

eligible for preferred purchasing by 50 

percent within 1 year of the date of this 

memorandum; and 

(b) establish a Web-based process 

whereby biobased product 

manufacturers can request USDA to 

establish a new product category for 

designation. The USDA shall determine 

the merit of the request and, if the 

product category is deemed eligible, 

propose designation within 180 days of 

the request. 

Section 3. Changes in Procurement 

Mechanisms 

Several actions can be taken to 

facilitate improvement in and 

compliance with the requirements to 

purchase biobased products. To achieve 

these changes, I direct: 

(a) The Senior Sustainability Officers 

and Chief Acquisition Officers of all 

agencies to randomly sample 

procurement actions (such as 

solicitations and awards) to verify that 

biobased considerations are included as 

appropriate. Agencies shall include 

results of these sampling efforts in the 

Sustainability/Energy scorecard 

reported to OMB; 

(b) the Secretary of Agriculture to 

work with relevant officials in agencies 

that have electronic product 

procurement catalogs to identify and 

implement solutions to increase the 

visibility of biobased and other 

sustainable products; 

(c) the Senior Sustainability Officers 

of all agencies that have established 

agency-specific product specifications, 

in coordination with any other 

appropriate officials, to review and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 14, 2012 / Notices 15023 

revise all specifications under their 

control to assure that, wherever possible 

and appropriate, such specifications 

require the use of sustainable products, 

including USDA-designated biobased 

products, and that any language 

prohibiting the use of biobased products 

is removed. The review shall be on a 4- 

year cycle. Significant review should be 

completed within 1 year of the date of 

this memorandum, and the results of the 

reviews shall be annually reported to 

OMB and the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy (OSTP); and 

(d) the Secretary of Agriculture to 

amend USDA’s automated contract 

writing system, the Integrated 

Acquisition System, to serve as a model 

for biobased product procurement 

throughout the Federal Government by 

adding elements related to acquisition 

planning, evaluation factors for source 

selection, and specifications and 

requirements. Once completed, USDA 

shall share the model with all agencies 

and, as appropriate, assist any agency 

efforts to adopt similar mechanisms. 

Section 4. Small Business Assistance 

A majority of the biobased product 

manufacturers and vendors selling 

biobased products and services that use 

biobased products to the Federal 

Government are small businesses. To 

improve the ability of small businesses 

to sell these products and services to the 

Federal Government, I direct: 

(a) The Secretary of Commerce, in 

consultation with the Secretary of 

Agriculture, to use relevant programs of 

the Department, such as the 

Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

network, to improve the performance 

and competitiveness of biobased 

product manufacturers; 

(b) the Secretary of Agriculture to 

work cooperatively with Procurement 

Technical Assistance Center programs 

located across the Nation to provide 

training and assistance to biobased 

product companies to make these 

companies aware of the BioPreferred 

program and opportunities to sell 

biobased products to Federal, State, and 

local government agencies; and 

(c) the Secretary of Agriculture to 

develop training within 6 months of the 

date of this memorandum for small 

businesses on the BioPreferred program 

and the opportunities it presents, and 

the Administrator of the Small Business 

Administration (SBA) to disseminate 

that training to Small Business 

Development Centers and feature it on 

the SBA Web site. 

Section 5. Reporting 

The Federal Government should 

obtain the most reliable information to 

gauge its progress in purchasing 

biobased products, including measuring 

the annual number of procurements that 

include direct purchase of biobased 

products, the annual number of 

construction and service contracts that 

include the purchase of biobased 

products, and the annual volume and 

type of biobased products the Federal 

Government purchases. I direct that: 

(a) Within 1 year of the date of this 

memorandum, the Federal Acquisition 

Regulatory Council shall propose an 

amendment to the Federal Acquisition 

Regulation to require reporting of 

biobased product purchases, to be made 

public on an annual basis; and 

(b) following the promulgation of the 

proposed amendment referenced in 

subsection (a) of this section, the 

Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation 

with the Chief Acquisition Officers 

Council, shall develop a reporting 

template to facilitate the annual 

reporting requirement. 

Section 6. Jobs Creation Research 

Biobased products are creating jobs 

across America. These innovative 

products are creating new markets for 

agriculture and expanding opportunities 

in rural America. Therefore, I direct the 

Secretary of Agriculture to prepare a 

report on job creation and the economic 

impact associated with the biobased 

product industry to be submitted to the 

President through the Domestic Policy 

Council and OSTP within 2 years of the 

date of this memorandum. The study 

shall include: 

(a) The number of American jobs 

originating from the biobased product 

industry annually over the last 10 years, 

including the job changes in specific 

sectors; 

(b) the dollar value of the current 

domestic biobased products industry, 

including intermediates, feedstocks, and 

finished products, but excluding 

biofuels; 

(c) a forecast for biobased job creation 

potential over the next 10 years; 

(d) a forecast for growth in the 

biobased industry over the next 10 

years; and 

(e) jobs data for both biofuels and 

biobased products, but shall generate 

separate data for each category. 

Section 7. Education and Outreach 

In compliance with the 2002 Farm 

Bill, several agencies established agency 

promotion programs to support the 

biobased products procurement 

preference. The Federal Acquisition 

Institute has added biobased 

procurement training to its course 

offerings. To assure both formal and 

informal educational and outreach 

instruction on the BioPreferred program 

are in place and being implemented by 

each agency, I direct: 

(a) The Secretary of Agriculture to 

update all existing USDA BioPreferred 

and related sustainable acquisition 

training materials within 1 year of the 

date of this memorandum; 

(b) the Senior Sustainability Officers 

and Chief Acquisition Officers of 

agencies to work cooperatively with the 

Secretary of Agriculture to immediately 

implement such BioPreferred program 

agency education and outreach 

programs as are necessary to meet the 

requirements of this memorandum and 

relevant statutes; and 

(c) the Secretary of Agriculture to 

work actively with the Committee for 

Purchase From People Who Are Blind 

or Severely Disabled to promote 

education and outreach to program, 

technical, and contracting personnel, 

and to purchase card holders on 

BioPreferred AbilityOne products. 

Section 8. General Provisions 

(a) This memorandum shall apply to 

an agency with respect to the activities, 

personnel, resources, and facilities of 

the agency that are located within the 

United States. The head of an agency 

may provide that this memorandum 

shall apply in whole or in part with 

respect to the activities, personnel, 

resources, and facilities of the agency 

that are not located within the United 

States, if the head of the agency 

determines that such application is in 

the interest of the United States. 

(b) The head of an agency shall 

manage activities, personnel, resources, 

and facilities of the agency that are not 

located within the United States, and 

with respect to which the head of the 

agency has not made a determination 

under subsection (a) of this section, in 

a manner consistent with the policies 

set forth in this memorandum, to the 

extent the head of the agency 

determines practicable. 

(c) For purposes of this memorandum, 

‘‘biobased product’’ shall have the 

meaning set forth in section 8101(4) of 

title 7, United States Code. 

(d) This memorandum is not intended 

to, and does not, create any right or 

benefit, substantive or procedural, 

enforceable at law or in equity by any 

party against the United States, its 

departments, agencies, or entities, its 

officers, employees, or agents, or any 

other person. 

(e) The Secretary of Agriculture is 

hereby authorized and directed to 

publish this memorandum in the 

Federal Register. 


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15024 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 14, 2012 / Notices 

Dated: March 8, 2012. 

Pearlie S. Reed, 

Assistant Secretary for Administration, S. 

Department of Agriculture. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6101 Filed 3–13–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–93–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Office of the Secretary 

Privacy Act of 1974; Revised System of 

Records 

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information 

Officer, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of the revision of Privacy 

Act system of records. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of 

Agriculture proposes to revise an 

existing Department of Agriculture 

system of records notice now titled, 

USDA/OCIO–2 eAuthentication Service 

(eAuth). The USDA eAuth provides the 

public and government businesses with 

a single sign-on capability for USDA 

applications, management of user 

credentials, and verification of identity, 

authorization, and electronic signatures. 

USDA’s eAuth collects customer 

information through an electronic selfregistration process provided through 

the eAuth Web site. This System of 

Records Notice was previously 

published as ‘‘USDA eAuthentication 

Service’’ in Federal Register Vol. 71, 

No. 143 on Wednesday July 26, 2006. 

The revision reflects updates to the 

system name; the system location; 

routine uses; storage policies; 

safeguards; retention and disposal; the 

system manager; and notification, 

record access, and contesting 

procedures. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

April 23, 2012. This new system will be 

effective April 23, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number USDA/ 

OCIO–2 by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: (970) 295–5168. 

• Mail: Chris North, Enterprise 

Applications Services Director, 

eAuthentication, 2150 Centre Avenue, 

Suite 208, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526. 

• Instructions: All submissions 

received must include the agency name 

and docket number for this rulemaking. 

All comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

• Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general questions, please contact: Shari 

Erickson, Program Manager, (970) 295– 

5128, 301 South Howes Street, Suite 

309, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521. For 

privacy issues, please contact: Ravoyne 

Payton, Chief Privacy Officer, 

Technology Planning, Architecture and 

E-Government, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer, Department of 

Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The USDA eAuthentication Service 

provides USDA Agency customers and 

employees single sign-on capability and 

electronic authentication and 

authorization for USDA Web 

applications and services. Through an 

online self-registration process, USDA 

Agency customers and employees can 

obtain accounts as authorized users that 

will provide access to USDA resources 

without needing to re-authenticate 

within the context of a single Internet 

session. Once an account is activated, 

users may use the associated user ID 

and password that they created to access 

USDA resources that are protected by 

eAuthentication. Information stored in 

the eAuthentication Service may be 

shared with other USDA components, as 

well as appropriate Federal, State, local, 

tribal, foreign, or international 

government agencies as outlined in the 

routine uses or authorized by statute. 

This sharing will take place only after 

USDA determines that the receiving 

component or agency has a need to 

know the information to carry out 

national security, law enforcement, 

immigration, intelligence, or other 

functions consistent with the routine 

uses set forth in this system of records 

notice. The revisions to this system of 

records include renaming the system to 

be consistent with the Department’s 

naming system; updating the system 

location, storage policies, storage 

safeguards, and retention and disposal 

policies; and the system manager’s 

location; and the notification, record 

access, and contesting procedures in 

order to be consistent with the 

Department’s best practices. In addition, 

the routine uses were amended as 

follows: 

• Former Routine Use 1 was deleted. 

• Former Routine Use 2 was 

renumbered Routine Use 1 and revised. 

• Former Routine Use 3 was 

renumbered Routine Use 2 and revised. 

• Former Routine Use 4 was 

renumbered Routine Use 3 and revised. 

• Former Routine Use 5 was 

renumbered Routine Use 4 and revised. 

• Former Routine Use 6 was 

renumbered Routine Use 5 and revised. 

• Routine Use 6 is added to permit 

disclosure to the Department of Justice 

in order to represent the government’s 

interest in litigation. 

• Routine Use 7 is added to permit 

disclosure to appropriate agencies, 

entities, and persons to prevent or 

address a security breach or suspected 

security breach. 

• Former Routine Use 8 was deleted. 

Dated: March 6, 2012. 

Thomas J. Vilsack, 

Secretary, Department of Agriculture. 

SYSTEM OF RECORDS 

USDA/OCIO–2 

SYSTEM NAME: 

USDA/OCIO–2 eAuthentication 

Service. 

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED. 

SYSTEM LOCATION: 

USDA–NRCS Information Technology 

Center, 2150 Centre Avenue Building A, 

Fort Collins, Colorado 80526; USDA– 

NITC, 8930 Ward Pkwy, Kansas City, 

Missouri 64114. 

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE

SYSTEM: 

This system contains records on 

individuals who applied for and were 

granted access to USDA applications 

and services that are protected by 

eAuthentication. This includes 

members of the public and USDA 

employees. 

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: 

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THIS SYSTEM

INCLUDE: 

The eAuthentication system will 

collect the following information from 

individuals: 

• Name 

• Address 

• Country of residence 

• Telephone number 

• Email address 

• Date of birth 

• Mother’s maiden name 

• The system will also require users 

to create a user ID and password 

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM: 

Government Paperwork Elimination 

Act (GPEA, Pub. L. 105–277) of 1998; 

Freedom to E-File Act (Pub. L. 106–222) 

of 2000; Electronic Signatures in Global 

and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN, 

Pub. L. 106–229) of 2000; eGovernment 

Act of 2002 (H.R. 2458). 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES