EO 13101 Quarterly Teleconference
"EO 13101 Reporting for FY 2000 and 18 Newly Designated Products for FY 2001"

Teleconference Workshop on Greening the Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition

November 30, 2000 11 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

PARTICIPANTS:

ALBUQUERQUE OPERATIONS OFFICE: JoAnn Wright
LANL: Rolly Constable
Sandia/CA: Sally Raubfogel

CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE:
Ames: Dan Kayser
PPPL: Tom McGeachen
BNL: Richard Eggert

DENVER REGIONAL OFFICE: Evelyn Matthews, Susan

FOSSIL ENERGY:
NETL: Debbie Boggs, Bruce Webster
Strategic Petroleum Reserves: Katherine Batiste, Joyce Francois

GOLDEN FIELD OFFICE:
NREL: Don Carlile

HEADQUARTERS: Susan Weber, Mark Huffman (SAIC), Connie Haga (SAIC)

IDAHO NATIONAL ENGINEERING & ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY : David Janke,Mary-Ann Somsen

NAVAL REACTOR SITES:
Pittsburgh: Tony Denapoli, Dwight Pearson, Ronald Sands
Schenectady: Steve Therrien

OAKLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE:
LBNL: John Sperros
LLNL: Kent Wilson, Bill Wayland
ETEC: Satish Shah

OAK RIDGE OPERATIONS OFFICE: Harvey Rice
TJNAF: Linda Even, Dennis Dobbins

RICHLAND OPERATIONS OFFICE: Anna Beard, Theresa Aldridge
PNNL: Sandra Cannon (EO 13101 Coordinator), Kathy Kindall, Susan Thelen, Glenn Thornton
DynCorp: Kathy Hinkelman
Fluor Daniel: Robert Moore, Dave Nichols
Bechtel: Donnell Long

ROCKY FLATS: Doug Schlagel

SAVANNAH RIVER SITE: Sarita Berry, Tim Coffield, Steve Mackmull

POWER ADMINISTRATIONS:
Western Area: Gene Iley, Frank Armstrong, Ken Mathias, Chris Johnson, Amy Wright, Janna Buwalda
Southwestern Area: Darlene Low

EPA: Terry Grist

11:10 Greeting and introductions - Susan Weber, DOE-HQ EO 13101 Manager

Susan Weber introduced herself and SAIC, welcomed everyone, and made a few introductory announcements. Susan talked about DOE participation in America Recycles Day, including the participation of children of DOE personnel in event festivities. Four of these children were winners in the America Recycles Day poster contest.

Susan talked about the Executive Order (EO) 13101 Web site, specifically the addition of the Buying Resources Guide page, which allows online purchasing of the Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG) items. Susan encouraged everyone to make use of the new page.

Susan said that DOE�s Strategic Plan to Implement EO 13101 was approved and the cover letter was signed by Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. The current version of the document is posted on the EO 13101 Web site. Final tweaks are being made to the document prior to printing and distribution. Distribution is expected before Christmas.

11:15 Eighteen newly designated recycled products - Terry Grist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Terry Grist (EPA) led the discussion about the newly designated items. EPA designated 18 new CPG items on January 19, 2000 (40 CFR Part 247, Pages 3070-3081). The new items are: carpet cushion, flowable fill, railroad grade crossing surfaces, park benches and picnic tables, playground equipment, food waste compost, plastic lumber, solid plastic binders, plastic clipboards, plastic file folders, plastic clip portfolios, plastic presentation folders, sorbents, industrial drums, awards and plaques, mats, signs, and manual grade strapping. Agencies must include these items in their Affirmative Procurement Programs by January 2001.

Tom McGeachen (PPPL) purchased plastic picnic tables and wants to get reporting credit for these items, even though DOE is not required to purchase the items until January 2001. He has included his purchases in the comment section of the EO 13101 data entry software. Is there a way he can get credit for purchasing these items? Terry said that the Executive Order goes beyond the purchase of designated items, therefore, some provision should be made for including the purchase of other items, such as environmentally preferable products, and items that have been designated, but for which reporting has not yet been required. This is important for program development to make everyone aware of available products. Susan said that the purchases would be noted in the Fiscal Year 2000 RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)/EO 13101 report.

EPA is currently working on drafting CPG IV and Recovered Material Advisory Notice (RMAN) IV. The new CPG items would be roofing material, non-pressure pipe, concrete containing silica fume (waste from electric arc furnaces), concrete containing cenospheres (associated with flyash), nylon carpet and carpet containing recycled backing, rebuilt motor vehicle parts, modular ramps, tires containing recycled content, office furniture, bicycle racks, and blasting grits. A draft Federal Register notice is expected to be published by the end of January 2001. There will be a 30-to-90 day public comment period. CPG/RMAN IV is expected to be finalized by the end of 2001.

Frank Armstrong (WAPA) asked about designating steel, metal, and aluminum products that are to be used as construction materials. EPA is looking into designating these items, specifically steel, metal, and aluminum used for weight bearing applications. Items designated must be specific products, e.g. industrial drums made of steel; not materials, e.g. steel.

Terry Grist made a request for anyone who wants to be included in the CPG workgroup. The group currently consists of about 20 people representing different agencies. Interested people can contact Terry via e-mail at grist.terry@epa.gov .

Susan Weber read two questions from Eleanor Chapman (LANL). If LANL bought copier paper made from hemp or kenaf (totally tree-free), would a minimum of 30 percent post consumer content still be required? Can paper products made from these materials count as affirmative procurement items? Terry Grist said that in his opinion LANL would be prohibited from these purchases, because according to information in the CPG, if a site purchases printing and writing paper, the paper must have at least 30 percent post consumer waste. Susan followed up with Dana Arnold at EPA. Dana�s answer follows:

"The answer to the alternative-fiber paper questions are yes and yes. A

facility can purchase an alternative-fiber paper, but it must contain 30

postconsumer fiber. The President's directive, and the original EPA

designation of paper and paper products address "paper," not just paper

made from wood pulp. Both the President's directive and EPA's recycled

content recommendations specify a 30 percent postconsumer fiber content for

uncoated printing and writing papers. It is required, for example, that

paper made from cotton fiber, including the President's letterhead, contain

30 percent postconsumer, so there is no reason why paper made from other

fibers wouldn't contain 30 percent postconsumer fiber. The fiber can

either be fiber recovered from postconsumer paper made from wood pulp or

other postconsumer paper.

As long as the paper contains 30 percent postconsumer fiber, I don't see

any reason why it shouldn't count as an affirmative procurement item. The

purpose of affirmative procurement is to create markets for recovered

materials by purchasing products made with those materials. For this

reason, purchase of kenaf or hemp paper not containing postconsumer fiber

cannot be counted towards the affirmative procurement requirements."

Mary-Ann Somsen (INEEL) asked a question regarding manufacturers of construction signs, danger signs, etc. made from recovered materials. Terry Grist said that the EPA Web site ( http://www.epa.gov/cpg ) contains an availability list with several manufacturers for recycled signage. Idaho is also purchasing steel drums for packaging and transportation. Currently, Idaho�s purchasing specifications don�t require that recycled content drums be given preference. In addition, manufacturers are currently producing steel drums with recycled content but they don�t have documentation of the post consumer content. Terry said that based on EPA�s conversations with the National Steel Institute and the Steel Recycling Institute, steel drums can be assumed to have at least 25 percent total recovered materials content because of the way they are manufactured (in Basic Oxygen or Electric Arc furnaces). Sites can deal directly with manufacturers to get more specific information/certifications. Chip Foley of the Steel Recycling Institute can be contacted via e-mail at wfoley@worldnet.att.net for more information on this issue.

Gene Iley (WAPA) asked about purchases of gasoline with alcohol, and other environmentally friendly constituents. Susan Weber said that the purchase of gasoline and other fuels was addressed in EO 13149. DOE�s compliance strategy for EO 13149 will push the use of alternate fuels, specifically, biodiesel fuels. The Executive Order can be found on the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) Web site.

Tom McGeachen (PPPL) asked about incorporating environmentally friendly floor products such as linoleum and porcelain tiles into CPG items. Currently only floor tiles for heavy duty/commercial applications are addressed in the CPGs. Terry Grist said that initially these items were unavailable from manufacturers. Now these items may be available. EPA needs to revisit this issue.

Satish Shah (ETEC) said that ETEC is having problems finding a vendor to recycle its materials because of the issue of potential radioactivity, even when the material meets standards set by regulatory requirements. Kent Wilson (LLNL) said that the policy of "swipe and release" is no longer viewed as adequate.

11:50 EO 13101 Fiscal Year 2000 Reporting

Mark Huffman (SAIC) led the reporting discussion. Mark said that the Web site will be open through December 29 for site data entry. After that there will be a two-week period for approval of contractor site data at the DOE Operations Office level, ending January 12.

Mark discussed the new log on procedure for data entry. Go the Web site�s Home page ( http://twilight.saic.com/ap) . Then go to the Reporting page. Choose the first bullet on the Reporting page. Choose your site�s name from a picklist. The system automatically assigns the user a password the first time they enter the system. Remember to use this password for subsequent data entry sessions.

Mark also explained the changes that were made to the data entry system. The items to be reported on are the same, but the navigation capabilities of the system have been improved. There are new menu options: Point of Contact (POC) information, input data, blank reports, completed reports, and a Users Manual. New data checks were put in the software to check for negative numbers or letters where numeric values are required. Mark requested that sites update their POC information, as some of the data appears outdated.

The data approval process will last two weeks. During this period the database will be read-only. Completed reports only will be displayed. Approvers will have a check-off page. Any changes should be e-mailed or faxed to Mark. Mark asked for questions/comments.

Tom McGeachen (PPPL) said to use Microsoft Explorer (not Netscape) when entering data. Netscape was giving small fonts for data entry for some pages. Tom also said the system was easy to navigate.

Satish Shah (ETEC) said the data entry system was very easy to use compared to last year.

Don Carlile (NREL) said Mark was very helpful.

Mary-Ann Somsen (INEEL) had a question regarding the practice of not reporting on items for which DOE, as a whole, purchases less than $10,000, annually. Susan explained the reporting rules. If one site purchases more than $10,000 of an item, it must report the purchases that year. The following year, the entire agency must report on the item. While these rules reduce the burden of reporting, some sites felt that not requiring reporting makes it harder to track purchases.

Someone from the Naval Reactors group asked how reviewers would be notified. Reviewers will be notified by SAIC, and a password will be provided to them. SAIC will make all changes. Mark Huffman (SAIC) suggested that reviewers use the print function from their INTERNET browser to print a completed report. The reviewer could mark up the report and fax the changes to Mark.

Susan Weber said that DOE personnel need to review the data since, in many cases, contractors operate the sites. Reviewers should talk with their contractors about their proposed changes.

Kathy Batiste (Strategic Petroleum Reserves) said that she gives her DOE contact a draft version of the report to review before entering/finalizing data, so her data is already approved. Susan said that the current review process is needed to formally verify approval, and because DOE is trying to make reporting a paperless process.

12:10 Miscellaneous Questions

Frank Armstrong (WAPA) commented that this was the first teleconference that included Green Acquisition Advocates (GAAs). Susan Weber asked if there were GAA questions, and if there should be a separate portion of the teleconference for the GAAs. There were no questions. It is too early to tell if a separate GAA section is needed.

There was a question from Eleanor Chapman (LANL) regarding how other sites track purchase orders for the CPG items. LANL tracks these purchases by hand. Is there an automated system? Tom McGeachen (PPPL) said his suppliers give him a spreadsheet every quarter with a breakout for office products by recycled and nonrecycled content items. This is easy to do if you purchase from a single vendor, which is not the case for many purchase requisitions.

In some cases, EZWEB software can be used to automate tracking. However, this software is only available for DOE personnel, not contractors. Kent Wilson is chairing a session at the next DOE Pollution Prevention Conference on tracking EO 13101 purchases.

Mary-Ann Somsen (INEEL) explained Idaho�s tracking system. At INEEL, tracking begins with the initiating purchase requisition. These requisitions are reviewed and coded by Product Service Codes (PSCs). Coded items can be extracted, and the information can be converted to EXCEL. Mary-Ann said that it is important to track purchases from the outset and customize your tracking system. Rolly Constable (LANL) will contact Mary-Ann.

Susan asked if people (other than Sandra Cannon) were having problems viewing the DOE EO 13101 Point of Contact list in Microsoft Word. No one expressed difficulty. Mark Huffman will contact Sandra and try to resolve the issue.

12:20 Decide on date (Feb 24?) and topic for next teleconference

(revised DEAR, biobased products, or...?)

The next quarterly teleconference will be February 22, 2001. Potential topics include the proposed revision to the Department of Energy Acquisition Regulations (DEAR). The Federal Register published the proposal on November 30, 2000. Flowdown requirements are addressed in the revision. Other suggested topics were the need to work as a team to assist requestors in buying the CPG items, and the purchase of biobased items. Susan suggested postponing the discussion of biobased items until the items are designated; currently the Department of Agriculture has proposed categories, not specific items. Energy efficient items were also proposed as a potential discussion topic.

The date and time of the next meeting will be sent out by e-mail, along with the agenda.

12:30 Adjourn

Sources of Information (Bold indicates especially pertinent to this teleconference)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Eighteen newly designated products (EPA 40 CFR Part 247, Advisory Notice III; Final Rule; Federal Register, Comprehensive Guideline for Procurement of Products Containing Recovered Materials - January 19, 2000)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

List of designated products pertaining to EO13101. Under each product is a list of manufacturers and suppliers for that product .

U.S. Department of Energy�s EO 13101 home page

DOE EO 13101 reporting site, annual report, teleconference agenda and minutes, Implementation Plan, and source of helpful information. For instance, to quickly find the EPA specifications and guidance for the designated products, look at the EO 13101 home page under Affirmative Procurement Program Guidance.

Office of the Federal Environmental Executive

Government Wide Strategic Plan for Implementing EO 13101

Office of Management and Budget

FAR Implementation of Greening the Government Executive Orders

U.S. Department of Energy

Acquisition and the Environment

U.S. Department of Energy/Richland Operations Office

DOE-Richland�s Affirmative Procurement Strategy for Implementing EO13101

Executive Order 13101 (Replaces EO 12873) - Greening the Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition

Executive Order 13123 - Energy Efficiency

Executive Order 13134 - Developing and Promoting Biobased Products and Bioenergy

Executive Order 13148 - Greening the Government through Leadership in Environmental Management,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Database of product information and newsletter, EPP Update

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Guidance on Government Purchasing of Green Products

DOE Complex Wide Materials Exchange

Post available and search for wanted materials (especially chemicals, equipment, and hazardous materials) at other DOE facilities. Log on with user name (erhquser) and password (erhqdoe).

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Guidance on Conducting Inspections of Federal Facilities for Compliance with Section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act , May 12, 1999

"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. The $10,000 threshold applies to all purchases made by an entire agency rather than regional or local offices (e.g., Department of the Interior, Department of Defense, etc). Most Federal agencies exceed the $10,000 threshold for EPA designated items."

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Construction Guidelines

Incorporation of principles of EO13101 into the Laboratory�s construction guidelines for staff and sub-contractors. Contact Shelley Worsham, 510-486-6126, saworsham@lbl.gov

"Painting the Town Green - Aberdeen Proving Ground Paint Pilot Project"

Results of paint pilot project at Aberdeen Proving Ground

Green Building Council Web site