Opinion ID: 599244
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Oil, Tire, and Insulation Guidelines

Text: 9 In October 1987, the EPA issued a proposed guideline for the procurement of re-refined oil. Guideline for Re-refined Oil Content in Oil Procured by the Federal Government (Proposed Rule), 52 Fed.Reg. 38,838 (1987). The proposed guideline stated that [t]his guideline does not apply to purchases which are not the direct result of a contract, grant, loan, funds disbursement, or agreement with a procuring agency. Id. at 38,849. 10 After notice and comment, the EPA issued a final re-refined oil guideline, Guideline for Federal Procurement of Lubricating Oils Containing Re-refined Oil (Final Rule), 53 Fed.Reg. 24,699 (1988) (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 252.1 et seq. (1992)). In the preamble to the final oil guideline, the EPA elaborated on its view of the scope of the applicability of the guideline, defining direct and indirect purchases by covered entities, to which the rule applies, as excluding incidental purchases by contractors or grant recipients, to which it does not: 11 However, the guideline does not apply to such [lubricating oil] purchases if they are unrelated to or incidental to the Federal funding, i.e., not the direct result of the grant, loan, or funds disbursement. An example of a lubricating oil purchase unrelated or incidental to Federal funding is where a contractor purchases an oil change for equipment under a grant for construction of a public works project. 12 Id. at 24,705. The final oil guideline provides no specific information on the price and availability of re-refined oil.
13 The EPA issued the proposed retread tire guideline in May 1988 which, like the re-refined oil guideline, included an incidental purchases exception. 14 An example of a tire purchase unrelated or incidental to the Federal funding is where a contractor purchases tires for equipment under a grant for construction of a public works project. 15 Guideline for Federal Procurement of Retread Tires (Proposed Rule), 53 Fed.Reg. 15,624, 15,627 (1988). After notice and comment, the EPA issued a final regulation which retained the incidental purchases exception, but did not include any examples of incidental purchases. Guideline for Federal Procurement of Retread Tires (Final Rule), 53 Fed.Reg. 46,558 (1988) (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 252.1 et seq. (1992)). The preamble to the final tire guideline states: 16 Several commenters disagreed with EPA's interpretation [of RCRA to exclude incidental purchases], noting that RCRA section 6002(a) states simply that section 6002 applies to any purchase or acquisition of a procurement item (emphasis added) when the $10,000 threshold is reached. These commenters raise an issue of general applicability to all the procurement guidelines. The Agency plans further review and consideration of this issue and will publish detailed guidance on this subject within the near term. However, at this time, EPA is retaining the proposed language ... which provided that the guideline did not apply to purchases which were not the direct result of a Federal grant, loan, or funds disbursement. 17 Id. at 46,562. The EPA has not as yet published detailed guidance on the subject. 18 In addition, the final tire guideline does not include information on price or availability. The EPA explained that publishing such information would not be cost effective and that the information would be constantly changing, rendering the information published in the Federal Register obsolete. Id. at 46,569. The EPA stated that it therefore intended to use other, less formal, highly available mechanisms to disseminate and update price, performance, and availability information. Id.
19 In August 1988, the EPA issued a proposed guideline for the procurement of building insulation products containing recycled materials. Guideline for Procurement of Building Insulation Products Containing Recovered Materials (Proposed Rule), 53 Fed.Reg. 29,166 (1988). This proposed regulation also included an incidental purchases exception, and explained: 20 An example of an insulation purchase unrelated or incidental to Federal funding is where funds have been provided for public transit maintenance and a new facility is built in which vehicles are repaired. The contractor constructing the maintenance facility also builds a temporary on-site management structure. Any insulation purchases for the second structure are not subject to the requirements in section 6002 of the guideline, even though some of the grant funds supporting the contract might be used to finance the purchases. 21 Id. at 29,188. The insulation guideline provided no specific information as to price and availability, nor did it include a minimum content standard for fiberglass building insulation. 22 Commenters objected to the incidental purchases exception and the EPA's failure to provide a minimum content standard for fiberglass insulation or information on price, availability, and performance of building insulation using recovered materials. 23 The final insulation guideline, issued in February 1989, retains the incidental purchases exception, although without the example. Guidelines for Federal Procurement of Building Insulation Products Containing Recovered Materials (Final Rule), 54 Fed.Reg. 7,328 (1989) (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 248.1 et seq. (1992)). The preamble to the guideline acknowledges some commenters' concerns about the incidental purchases exception and adopts language similar to that of the final tire guideline in promising further review and later publication of detailed guidance concerning the incidental purchases exception. Id. at 7,341. No further guidance has yet been forthcoming. The final insulation guideline contains no information on price and availability, although it does state an intent to establish a telephone hotline and a list of manufacturers of building insulation. Id. at 7,353. The final guideline also does not have a minimum content standard for fiberglass building insulation. Id. at 7,348.