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 United States 
 Environmental Protection 
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 EPA744-F-94-002 
 September 1995 
 
 Pollution Prevention and Toxics (7409) 
 
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 Environmentally 
 Preferable Products 
 
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 Proposed Guidance 
 
 
 
 
 
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Proposed Guidance for Implementing 
 Executive Order 12873, Section 503 
 
 he federal government is 
 committed to minimizing 
 the environmental impact of 
 the products and services that it 
 purchases. 
 
 Spending $200 billion annually, 
 the federal government can apply 
 its purchasing power to create a 
 demand for products and services 
 that have a reduced impact on the 
 environment. 
 
 In order to identify and show a 
 preference for “environmentally 
 preferable” products and services, 
 President Clinton has called upon 
 EPA to issue guidance for execu¬ 
 tive agencies to use when purchas¬ 
 ing goods and services. 
 
 “Environmentally preferable” 
 products and services have a 
 lesser or reduced effect on 
 human health and the environ¬ 
 ment when compared to other 
 
 products and services that serve 
 
 % 
 
 the same purpose. 
 
 Executive Order 12873 
 Federal Acquisition, Recycling, 
 and Waste Prevention 
 Sections 201 & 503 
 October 20, 1993 
 
 
 
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Who Needs to Know About EPA’s Proposed 
 Guidance? 
 
 • All parties buying products 
 and services for the federal 
 
 • All parties providing products 
 and services to the federal 
 
 government. 
 
 government. 
 
 • All parties using products and 
 services purchased by the federal 
 
 • Federal contractors. 
 
 government. 
 
 
 Approach 
 
 
 • The guidance is not regulatory 
 and considers the federal gov- 
 
 • EPA has held public meetings, 
 received public comment, and 
 
 ernment to be a consumer in the 
 marketplace. 
 
 • EPA intends to bring together 
 federal acquisition and environ¬ 
 mental expertise, as well as the 
 experience of all interested par¬ 
 ties both inside and outside the 
 
 continues to encourage input 
 from all parties potentially affect¬ 
 ed by the guidance. This is to 
 ensure that the final guidance is 
 comprehensive, reasonable, and 
 practical. 
 
 government. 
 
 
 Overview 
 
 
 The proposed guidance includes a 
 set of seven general guiding princi¬ 
 ples designed to help executive 
 agencies begin the process of iden¬ 
 tifying and purchasing environ¬ 
 mentally preferable products and 
 services. 
 
 The proposed guidance also 
 recommends implementation 
 activities for executive agencies, 
 such as issuing policy directives 
 and applying the principles to 
 pilot acquisitions. 
 
 
Principle #1: 
 
 Pollution 
 
 Prevention 
 
 C onsideration of environmental 
 preferability should begin 
 early in the acquisition 
 process and be rooted in the ethic of 
 pollution prevention that strives to 
 eliminate or reduce, upfront, poten¬ 
 tial risks to human health and the 
 environment. 
 
 Purchasers should consider a 
 product or services environmental 
 impact at the time when they are 
 deciding to purchase it. This 
 approach allows for up-front elim¬ 
 ination or reduction of potential 
 risks to human health and the 
 environment. 
 
 Principle #2: 
 
 Multiple Attributes 
 
 A product or services environ¬ 
 mental preferability is a 
 function of multiple environ¬ 
 mental attributes. 
 
 A specific product or service may 
 have a number of environmental 
 impacts in both natural resource 
 consumption and toxic effects. 
 Targeting a single environmental 
 attribute can obscure other envi¬ 
 ronmental impacts that might 
 cause equal or greater damage. 
 
 Principle #3: 
 
 Life-cycle Perspective 
 
 E nvironmental preferability 
 
 should reflect life-cycle consid¬ 
 erations of products and 
 services to the extent feasible. 
 
 Environmental impacts can occur 
 at any time during the life cycle of 
 a service or product such as dur¬ 
 ing raw materials acquisition, 
 product manufacturing, packaging 
 
and transportation, distribution, 
 use, maintenance, or disposal. 
 Purchasers should consider vari¬ 
 ous stages of a product or services 
 life cycle in evaluating its environ¬ 
 mental preferability. 
 
 Principle # 4 : 
 Magnitude of Impact 
 
 E nvironmental preferability 
 should consider the scale 
 (global versus local) and 
 temporal aspects (reversibility) of 
 the impacts. 
 
 Environmental preferability should 
 reflect both the magnitude and the 
 permanence of a product or ser¬ 
 vices environmental impact. 
 Purchasers should consider the 
 geographic scale and the degree to 
 which an impact is reversible 
 when determining environmental 
 preferability. 
 
 Principle # 5 : 
 Local Conditions 
 
 E nvironmental preferability 
 should be tailored to local 
 conditions where appropriate. 
 
 The magnitude and permanence of 
 the environmental impacts of 
 products and services will depend 
 on where and how these products 
 and services are used. Purchasers 
 should factor in local conditions, 
 such as natural resource availabili¬ 
 ty, when evaluating products and 
 services. 
 
Principle #6: 
 Competition 
 
 E nvironmental attributes of 
 products or services should be 
 an important factor or subfac¬ 
 tor in competition among vendors, 
 when appropriate. 
 
 Environmental performance is one 
 of many factors considered in pur¬ 
 chasing and should serve as a 
 basis for competition among ven¬ 
 dors in the marketplace. This kind 
 of competition will also foster 
 continuous improvement in the 
 environmental performance of 
 products and services in the 
 marketplace. 
 
 Principle #7: 
 
 Product Attribute 
 Claims 
 
 A gencies need to examine 
 product attribute claims 
 carefully. 
 
 Executive agencies should pay 
 close attention to the environmen¬ 
 
 tal claims made by providers of 
 products and services. Relying on 
 several informational sources 
 rather than just one will provide 
 the most accurate assessment of a 
 product or services environmental 
 performance. 
 
 Implementation 
 Activities Ti 
 
 Policy Directives: 
 
 EPA recommends that each 
 
 « 
 
 executive agency issue a policy 
 directive that includes the follow¬ 
 ing elements: 
 
 • Commitment to increase the 
 acquisition of environmentally 
 preferable products. 
 
 • Incentives and award programs 
 for those who successfully pro¬ 
 mote or purchase environmen¬ 
 tally preferable products. 
 
 • Pilot projects. 
 
 Pilot Projects: 
 
 Agencies can gain practical experi¬ 
 ence in purchasing environmental¬ 
 ly preferable products and services 
 
by applying the principles of the 
 general guidance to a specific 
 product or service acquisition. 
 Pilot projects will generate more 
 detailed guidance on purchasing 
 environmentally preferable prod¬ 
 ucts and services. These pilots will 
 also include tool development, 
 training, and education. 
 
 EPA has identified a number of 
 pilot projects that can be imple¬ 
 mented in the short term: 
 
 • A joint EPA and General 
 Services Administration (GSA) 
 pilot demonstrating the pur¬ 
 chase of environmentally 
 preferable cleaning products. 
 
 • A joint GSA/EPA project to 
 identify attributes of environ¬ 
 mentally preferable computers. 
 Energy efficiency, which has 
 already been highlighted by the 
 Energy Star program, will be 
 one of a number of attributes 
 examined in this pilot. 
 
 • Although not specifically men¬ 
 tioned in the guidance, EPA is 
 investigating the possibility of 
 implementing a building pilot 
 that would include environ¬ 
 mentally preferable leasing, 
 construction, and building 
 management. 
 
 Executive agencies are encouraged 
 to volunteer other pilot acquisitions. 
 
 For More Information 
 
 Copies of EPAs proposed guidance 
 document can be obtained by call¬ 
 ing the Pollution Prevention 
 Information Clearinghouse (PPIC) 
 at (202) 260-1023. The guidance 
 has also been published for public 
 comment in the Federal Register 
 on September 29, 1993 (60 FR 
 30722) and on the Internet at 
 (http://www.epa.gov/docs/EPA- 
 TOX/1995/September/Day-29/ 
 pr-139.html). 
 

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