If you want a federal contract, be prepared to go green. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) is planning to require all federal agencies to give priority to providers of green products and services. The proposed policy is part of a number of new federal regulations and green standards. Green compliance is becoming an

increasingly important issue – and a potential competitive advantage – for federal government contractors.

Background

The OFPP’s proposed policy letter, Acquisition of Green Products and Services, implements the green procurement requirements set forth in Executive Order 13423, issued in January 2007. Agencies would be required to conduct their activities in an environmentally efficient and sustainable manner. The policy letter expands upon and replaces OFPP Policy Letter 92-4, Procurement of Environmentally Sound and Energy Efficient Products and Services, issued in

November 1992. The proposed policy also follows recent changes to the federal procurement rules regarding the purchase of items containing recovered materials and biobased content and requiring use of the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (“EPEAT”) when acquiring personal computer products.

Who Will Be Affected?

The new policy has the potential to affect every federal government contractor and subcontractor. The policy letter is currently in draft form and has an extremely broad scope, applying to all executive agencies. Agencies must incorporate these requirements into all future contracts and are encouraged to include them in existing contracts as they are modified or extended.

(See Article for more information).