§ 2902.2 - Definitions.

These definitions apply to this part:

Agricultural materials. Agricultural-based, including plant, animal, and marine materials, raw materials or residues used in the manufacture of commercial or industrial, nonfood/nonfeed products.

ASTM International. ASTM International, a nonprofit organization organized in 1898, is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world with about 30,000 members in over 100 different countries. ASTM provides a forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services.

BEES. An acronym for “Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability,” an analytic tool used to determine the environmental and health benefits and life cycle costs of items, developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology, with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (BEES 3.0, Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability Technical Manual and User Guide, NISTIR 6916, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, October 2002). Also, see http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/software/bees_USDA.html for a discussion of how biobased feedstocks are addressed in the BEES Analysis.

Biobased components. Any intermediary biobased materials or parts that, in combination with other components, are functional parts of the biobased product.

Biobased content. Biobased content shall be determined based on the amount of biobased carbon in the material or product as a percent of weight (mass) of the total organic carbon in the material or product.

Biobased product. A product determined by USDA to be a commercial or industrial product (other than food or feed) that is composed, in whole or in significant part, of biological products or renewable domestic agricultural materials (including plant, animal, and marine materials) or forestry materials.

Biodegradability. A quantitative measure of the extent to which a material is capable of being decomposed by biological agents, especially bacteria.

Biological products. Products derived from living materials other than agricultural or forestry materials.

Designated item. A generic grouping of biobased products identified in subpart B that is eligible for the procurement preference established under section 9002 of FSRIA.

Diluent. A substance used to diminish the strength, scent, or other basic property of a substance.

Engineered wood products. Products produced with a combination of wood, food fibers and adhesives.

EPA-designated recovered content product. A product, designated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, that is subject to Federal procurement as specified in section 6002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6962), whereby Federal agencies must give preferred procurement to those products composed of the highest percentage of recovered materials practicable, subject to availability, cost, and performance.

Federal agency. Any executive agency or independent establishment in the legislative or judicial branch of the Government (except the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Architect of the Capitol, and any activities under the Architect's direction).

Filler. A substance added to a product to increase the bulk, weight, viscosity, strength, or other property.

Forest thinnings. Refers to woody materials removed from a dense forest, primarily to improve growth, enhance forest health, or recover potential mortality. (To recover potential mortality means to remove trees that are going to die in the near future.)

Forestry materials. Materials derived from the practice of planting and caring for forests and the management of growing timber. Such materials must come from short rotation woody crops (less than 10 years old), sustainably managed forests, wood residues, or forest thinnings.

Formulated product. A product that is prepared or mixed with other ingredients, according to a specified formula and includes more than one ingredient.

FSRIA. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Public Law 107-171, 116 Stat. 134 (7 U.S.C. 8102).

Functional unit. A measure of product technical performance that provides a common reference to which all environmental and economic impacts of the product are scaled. This reference is necessary to ensure comparability of performance results across competing products. Comparability of results is critical when competing product alternatives are being assessed to ensure that such comparisons are made on a common basis. For example, the functional unit for competing interior paint products may be defined as “protecting one square foot of interior wall surface for 50 years.”

Ingredient. A component; part of a compound or mixture; may be active or inactive.

ISO. The International Organization for Standardization, a network of national standards institutes from 145 countries working in partnership with international organizations, governments, industries, business, and consumer representatives.

Neat product. A product that is made of only one ingredient and is not diluted or mixed with other substances.

Procuring agency means any Federal agency that is using Federal funds for procurement or any person contracting with any Federal agency with respect to work performed under the contract.

Relative price. The price of a product as compared to the price of other products on the market that have similar performance characteristics.

Residues. That which remains after a part is taken, separated, removed, or designated; a remnant; a remainder; and, for this purpose, is from agricultural materials, biological products, or forestry materials.

Secretary. The Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Small and emerging private business enterprise. Any private business which will employ 50 or fewer new employees and has less than $1 million in projected annual gross revenues.

Sustainably managed forests. Refers to the practice of a land stewardship ethic that integrates the reforestation, management, growing, nurturing, and harvesting of trees for useful products while conserving soil and improving air and water quality, wildlife, fish habitat, and aesthetics.