Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 109 / Monday, June 8, 1998 / Notices 31217

[FR Doc. 98–15175 Filed 6–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[SWH–FRL–6108–7]

Recovered Materials Advisory Notice I

Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability of

document.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) today is

providing notice of the issuance of an

update to its May 1, 1995 Recovered

Materials Advisory Notice I (RMAN I).

The update to RMAN I (RMAN I

Update) provides guidance to procuring

agencies for purchasing certain items

containing recovered materials. Under

section 6002 of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976,

EPA designates items that are or can be

made with recovered materials and

provides recommendations for the

procurement of these items. In 1989,

EPA designated building insulation

products and in 1995, EPA designated

polyester carpet for use in low- and

medium-wear applications. EPA’s

recommendations for purchasing these

items were published in the 1995

RMAN I. Today’s RMAN I Update

contains a new reference to GSA’s

carpet schedule and a recommendation

for the recovered materials content level

for plastic batt building insulation.

EPA’s 1995 recommendations for

purchasing other types of building

insulation remain unchanged.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general information contact the RCRA

Hotline at (800) 424–9346 or TDD (800)

553–7672 (hearing impaired). In the

Washington, DC metropolitan area, call

(703) 412–9810 or TDD (703) 412–3323.

For technical information on individual

item recommendations, contact Terry

Grist at (703) 308–7257.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Authority

The Recovered Materials Advisory

Notice I Update (RMAN I Update) is

issued under the authority of sections

2002(a) and 6002 of the Solid Waste

Disposal Act, as amended by the

Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act of 1976 (RCRA), as amended; 42

U.S.C. 6912(a) and 2962; and section

502 of Executive Order 12873 (58 FR

54911, October 20, 1993).

II. Background

Section 6002 of RCRA establishes a

Federal buy-recycled program. RCRA

section 6002(e) requires EPA to (1)

designate items that are or can be made

with recovered materials and (2) prepare

guidelines to assist procuring agencies

in complying with affirmative

procurement requirements set forth in

paragraphs (c), (d), and (i) of section

6002. Once EPA has designated items,

section 6002 requires that any procuring

agency using appropriated Federal

funds to procure those items must

purchase them composed of the highest

percentage of recovered materials

practicable. For the purposes of RCRA

section 6002, procuring agencies

include the following: (1) any Federal

agency; (2) any State or local agencies

using appropriated Federal funds for a

procurement, or (3) any contractors with

these agencies (with respect to work

performed under the contract). The

requirements of RCRA section 6002

apply to such procuring agencies only

when procuring designated items where

the price of the item exceeds $10,000 or

the quantity of the item purchased in

the previous year exceeded $10,000.

Executive Order 12873 (the Executive

Order) (58 FR 54911, October 22, 1993)

directs EPA to designate items in a

Comprehensive Procurement Guideline

(CPG) and publish guidance that

contains EPA’s recommended recovered

content levels for the designated items

in the RMANs. The Executive Order

further directs EPA to update the CPG

annually and the RMANs periodically to

reflect changes in market conditions.

EPA codifies the CPG designations in

the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR),

but, because the recommendations are

guidance, the RMANs are not codified

in the CFR. This process enables EPA to

revise its recommendations in response

to changes in a product’s availability or

recovered materials content so as to

provide timely assistance to procuring

agencies in fulfilling their

responsibilities under section 6002.

EPA issued CPG I on May 1, 1995 (60

FR 21370) designating 19 new items,

including polyester carpet, and

published RMAN I for the designated

items on the same day (60 FR 21386).

These notices also consolidated the

guidelines previously issued for five

items designated between 1983 and

1989, including building insulation

products. At the time the 1995 RMAN

I was published, the U.S. General

Services Administration (GSA) offered

polyester carpet containing recovered

materials through the New Item

Introductory Schedule (NIIS). RMAN I

referenced that schedule. Since then,

GSA has added polyester carpet

containing recovered materials to its

carpet schedule, and this item is no

longer available through the NIIS.

Accordingly, today’s RMAN I Update

references the current GSA carpet

schedule.

Additionally, the RMAN I Update

contains an addition to the 1995

recommendations for building

insulation products—recovered

materials content levels for plastic nonwoven batt building insulation. EPA

recently learned that this type of

insulation is now available containing

recovered materials. EPA’s 1995

recommendations for other types of

building insulation products remain

unchanged.

III. Accessing Internet

EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement

Guidelines and eco-purchasing web

pages contain fact sheets about each

product category in which EPA has

designated recycled content products,

lists of manufacturers and vendors of

these products, copies of the

Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines

and related RMANs, and technical

background documents.

Follow these instructions to access

the information electronically:

WWW: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/

non-hw/procure.htm.

FTP: ftp.epa.gov

Login: anonymous

Password: your Internet address

Files are located in /pub/epaoswer.

IV. Use of EPA’s Recommendations

EPA encourages state and local

agencies to use the recommendations in

today’s RMAN I Update when

purchasing plastic batt building

insulation or polyester carpet containing

recovered materials. EPA also

encourages private sector purchasers to

use the information provided by EPA

when purchasing these items. EPA

recommends that purchasers establish

their minimum content standards at the

highest percentages available to them

that achieve their price and performance

objectives, even if these standards are

higher or lower than EPA’s

recommendations. If a product is not

available at a competitive price

containing the recommended recovered

material content levels, purchasers

should set their standards at the highest

levels available to them that meet their

price and performance objectives. In

this way, EPA’s recommendations will

encourage both public and private

sector purchasers to purchase the

designated items containing the highest

levels of recovered material practicable.
31218 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 109 / Monday, June 8, 1998 / Notices

EPA cautions persons using EPA’s

recommendations to use them only for

the specific items for which they were

intended. It is not appropriate to

analogize from one type of insulation or

carpet to another without first

researching the use of recovered

materials in the other items. The two

items could have different performance

requirements necessitating different

levels of recovered materials.

Dated: June 1, 1998.

Timothy Fields, Jr.,

Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of

Solid Waste and Emergency Response.

Recovered Materials Advisory Notice I

Update

Following are updates to EPA’s

recommendations to procuring agencies

for purchasing polyester carpet and

building insulation products containing

recovered materials, in compliance with

section 6002 of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

These recommendations are intended to

be used in conjunction with RMAN I (60

FR 21386, May 1, 1995). The remainder

of the RMAN I recommendations for

these items remains unchanged. Refer to

RMAN I or the Code of Federal

Regulations at 40 CFR part 247 for

definitions, general recommendations

for affirmative procurement programs,

and additional recommendations for

purchasing these items containing

recovered materials.

Part C.—Construction Products

(Revised)

Section C–1. Building Insulation

(Revised)

Note: EPA recommended purchasing

practices, including recovered materials

content levels, for thermal building

insulation products in RMAN I. EPA is

revising those recommendations by adding a

recovered materials content level for plastic

batt building insulation. Procuring agencies

should substitute the revised Table C–1

shown below for the recommendations found

in section C–1 of the 1995 RMAN I. EPA’s

revised recommendations are indicated in

Bold type.

Preference Program: EPA recommends

that, based on the recovered materials

content levels shown in Table C–1

(Revised), procuring agencies establish

minimum content standards for use in

purchasing building insulation

products.

TABLE C–1. (REVISED)—RECOMMENDED RECOVERED MATERIALS CONTENT LEVELS FOR BUILDING INSULATION

Insulation material Recovered material

Total recovered materials (%)

Cellulose loose-fill and spray-on .................................................. Postconsumer paper .................................................................... 75

Fiberglass ..................................................................................... Glass cullet ................................................................................... 20–25

Perlite composite board ................................................................ Postconsumer paper .................................................................... 23

Phenolic rigid foam ....................................................................... Recovered materials ..................................................................... 5

Plastic, non-woven batt ............................................................. Recovered and/or postconsumer plastics ............................... 100

Plastic foam-in-place, polyisocyanurate/polyurethane ................. Recovered materials ..................................................................... 5

Plastic rigid foam, polyisocyanurate/polyurethane ....................... Recovered materials ..................................................................... 9

Plastic foam, glass fiber reinforced polyisocyanurate/polyurethane.Recovered materials ..................................................................... 6

Rock wool ..................................................................................... Slag ............................................................................................... 75

Note: The recommended recovered

materials content levels are based on the

weight (not volume) of materials in the

insulating core only.

Section C–4. Carpet (Revised)

Note: EPA recommended purchasing

practices, including specifications, for

polyester carpet in RMAN I. EPA is revising

these recommendations to add a reference to

the General Services Administration’s carpet

schedule and the current contract for

polyester carpet containing recovered

materials. All of EPA’s other purchasing

recommendations for polyester carpet, found

in the 1995 RMAN I, remain unchanged.

Preference Program: EPA recommends

that Federal procuring agencies use

GSA’s contract GS–27F–5069–C under

Schedule 72, part I, section A, when

purchasing polyester carpet containing

recovered materials.

[FR Doc. 98–15176 Filed 6–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

[DA 98–1052]

Pleading for Further Modification of

Two Average Schedules Formula

Proposed by NECA

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This Public Notice invites

interested parties to comment on the

National Exchange Carrier Association’s

(NECA) proposed further modifications

of Common Line and Universal Service

Fund Average Schedules.

DATES: Comments are to be filed on or

before June 10, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications

Commission, 1919 M Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20054.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

George Williams, Accounting

Safeguards Division, Common Carrier

Bureau, (202) 418–0867.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Accounting Safeguards Division of the

Federal Communications Commission

will be considering this action.

Interested parties may file comments on

the petition on or before June 10, 1998,

with the Secretary, Federal

Communications Commission, 1919 M

Street, NW, Room 222, Washington, DC

20554. Comments should reference

AAD 98–20. An original and nine (9)

copies of each pleading should be sent

to the Secretary, Federal

Communications Commission, 1919 M

Street, NW, Room 222, Washington, DC

20554. A copy of the pleading should

also be sent to George Williams,

Reporting Management and Analysis

Branch, Accounting Safeguard Division,

Common Carrier Bureau, and to the

Commission’s contractor for public

service record duplication: International

Transcription Service (ITS), 1231 20th

Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036.

Copies of the petition may be obtained

from the Accounting Safeguards

Division’s public reference room, Room

812, 2000 L Street, NW, Washington, DC