[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 109 (Monday, June 8, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31217-31218]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15176]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[SWH-FRL-6108-7]
Recovered Materials Advisory Notice I Update
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of availability of document.
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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 non-woven 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.
[[Page 31218]]
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
recovered
Insulation material Recovered material 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 100
postconsumer plastics.
Plastic foam-in-place, Recovered materials..... 5
polyisocyanurate/polyurethane.
Plastic rigid foam, Recovered materials..... 9
polyisocyanurate/polyurethane.
Plastic foam, glass fiber Recovered materials..... 6
reinforced polyisocyanurate/
polyurethane.
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
