Office of Acquisition and Logistics (OAL)

Environmental Performance and Sustainability Factors

Section 3(i) of Executive Order 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade, directs agencies to promote sustainable acquisition and procurement by ensuring that each of the following environmental performance and sustainability factors are included to the maximum extent practicable for all applicable procurements in the planning, award, and execution phases of the acquisition by:

I.  Meeting statutory mandates that require purchase preference for:

• Recycled content products designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and listed in EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines .
• Energy and water efficient products and services, such as ENERGY STAR qualified and Federal Energy Management Program -designated products, identified by EPA and the US Department of Energy.
• BioPreferred and biobased designated products designated by the US Department of Agriculture.

II.  Purchasing sustainable products and services identified by EPA programs including:

• Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP ) chemicals or other alternatives to ozone-depleting substances and high global warming potential hydrofluorocarbons, where feasible, as identified by SNAP.
• WaterSense certified products and services (water efficient products).
• Safer Choice labeled products (chemically intensive products that contain safer ingredients).
• SmartWay Transport partners and SmartWay products (fuel efficient products and services).

III.  Purchasing environmentally preferable products or services that:

• Meet or exceed specifications, standards, or labels recommended by EPA that have been determined to assist agencies in meeting their needs and further advance sustainable procurement goals of this order; or
• Meet environmental performance criteria developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies consistent with section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (P.L. 104–113) and OMB Circular A–119 .

Agencies must also reduce copier and printing paper use and acquire uncoated printing and writing paper containing at least 30 percent postconsumer recycled content or higher as designated by future instruction under this order.

For a walk-through of EO 13693, visit the General Services Administration’s (GSA) “Hot Annotated” Sustainable Facilities Tool.  Here you will find annotated text for definitions, procurement strategies such as for source reduction through reduced or minimal packaging of products, and links to additional resources such as GSA’s Green Procurement Compilation .

Instructions for implementing EO 13693 were signed by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on June 10, 2015.  The purpose of this document is to provide clarifying instructions and guidance for Federal Executive departments and agencies in implementing the provisions of this order.  It revokes and supersedes the Instructions for Implementing EO 13423 issued by CEQ on March 29, 2007.

return to top