WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new Recovered Material Advisory Notice in April that recognizes the benefits of using rebuilt motor vehicle parts and creates a preference for their use in federal government procurement.
Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), EPA is charged to designate goods that are or can be made with recycled or recovered material. When that step is completed, procuring agencies must purchase items of that type that have the highest percentage of recovered material practicable. Procuring agencies include federal agencies, state agencies to the extent they are using federal funds and contractors that work for these agencies.
The only requirements are to be in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “Guides for the Rebuilt, Reconditioned and Other Used Automotive Parts Industry” and that the part be tested for compliance within FTC guides.
In 1995, EPA issued the first Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG) that covered the Agency’s original five procurement guidelines and added 19 products. The first CPG update (CPG II), published in November 1997, designated an additional 12 items. A second CPG update (CPG III), published in January 2000, added 18 items. A third CPG update (CPG IV), published in April 2004, designated seven more items and revised three existing item designations.
For details, visit www.epa.gov/ epaoswer/non-hw/procure/about.htm.
