Federal Agencies Must Prefer Bio, Not Petroleum, Products
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has adopted a final rule establishing a policy of preferred procurement for biobased products.
The preferred products –such as biobased greases, biodiesel and ethanol when used as additives, hydraulic fluids, biobased polymers, industrial solvents, biobased fertilizers and cutting oils–would be used instead of petroleum products.
The final rule outlines provisions for the Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program under the 2002 Farm Bill, which requires all federal agencies to preferentially purchase biobased products that have been designated by the USDA as eligible.
The new rule establishes the process by which the Department of Agriculture will designate “items” for preferred procurement by federal agencies.
To date, USDA has identified 83 items on which it is developing test information to support designation by rulemaking. Federal agencies must assure within one year after the publication of this final rule that their procurement specifications require the preference of biobased products consistent with this rule.
The rule is posted at www.biobased.oce.usda.gov.
Provided by the Environmental News Service.
