THE WHITE HOUSE CLOSING THE CIRCLE AWARDS 2003 Instructions and Nomination Form

We cordially invite you to participate in the 2003 White House Closing the Circle (CTC) Awards. This program recognizes Federal employees and their facilities for efforts which resulted in significant contributions to or have made a significant impact on the environment. The awards focus on waste prevention, recycling, and affirmative procurement activities under E.O. 13101 and environmental management under E.O. 13148. This year we are introducing two new categories: Biobased Products and Sustainable Design/Green Buildings.

Now in our ninth year, we continue to seek exemplary success stories that can set the example for other Federal facilities to follow. The categories for 2003 are:

• Waste/Pollution Prevention*
• Recycling*
• Affirmative Procurement
• Environmental Preferability*
• Education and Outreach
• Environmental Management Systems
• Biobased Products
• Sustainable Design/Green Buildings

Each category recognizes efforts made by either an individual Federal employee ("individual award") or teams/groups of Federal employees (including teams of Federal and contract employees) at government facilities ("team/project award"). Each category will also recognize "Military" and "Civilian" nominations with separate awards. Descriptions of the award categories are provided, and while not all inclusive, they will help to understand the criteria used to judge and evaluate the nominations for awards.

Individual Federal employees or teams/groups submitting nominations in any categories marked with asterisks (*) should indicate whether the nomination applies to: material(s) which would normally be a non_hazardous solid waste under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); or a hazardous waste, toxic substance, or radioactive waste under Subtitle C of RCRA, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and/or the Atomic Energy Act (AEA).

Individual Federal employees or teams/groups who demonstrate outstanding leadership in the implementation of Executive Order 13148 will be considered for recognition in three of the categories: Waste/Pollution Prevention, Education and Outreach, and Environmental Management Systems.

Several Federal agencies have begun implementing, within their own in-house environmental recognition programs, categories consistent with the White House Closing the Circle Awards. These agency-wide winners may be the only programs, for that particular agency, eligible to compete in the annual White House Program after submitting their nomination package. For more information on your agency in-house recognition program, please contact your agency representative listed below:

Please remember these five important points when submitting your nomination package:

1. Only nominations for which there is a completed electronic registration form will be eligible to participate. Please go to www.ofee.gov for more details.
2. Include a total of no more than two 8 ½ x 11 sheets of paper (4 sides), duplex printed on recycled paper containing at least 30 percent postconsumer material, in addition to a hard copy of the required electronic registration form as the cover page.
3. Describe what positive changes were made by the individual or facility program and provide supporting documentation along with quantitative data (for example, reductions in waste generation). Additional documentation in excess of the two page limit, that you believe may support your nomination, may be included but will not necessarily be considered by the judges.
4. Check with your Agency/Department headquarters to determine if you have to submit the nomination package through them or if there are any internal requirements or due dates to be met.
5. Mail five complete hard copies of your nomination package postmarked by January 31, 2003 to:
   
   Office of the Federal Environmental Executive
   White House Closing the Circle Awards 2003
   Mail Code 1600S
   1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
   Washington, D.C. 20460

Waste/Pollution Prevention
This category recognizes source reduction practices related to the generation of non-hazardous solid wastes or hazardous wastes or pollution from a Federal facility through any change in the design, manufacturing, or use/reuse of materials or products; and/or the amount of toxicity in waste materials before recycling, reuse, treatment or disposal.

Recycling
This category recognizes outstanding activities, including outreach, collection, separation and processing by which products or other materials are recovered from the waste stream for use in the manufacture of new products (other than fuel for producing heat or power by combustion) at a Federal site, facility, or operation.

Affirmative Procurement
This category recognizes the most effective and innovative programs implemented for the purchase and use of products containing recovered materials at a Federal site, facility, or operation. This award focuses on, but is not limited to, those products designated in the Environmental Protection Agency Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG).

Environmental Preferability
This category recognizes the best examples of acquiring, using, or validating products or services that have a reduced impact on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose; an outstanding improvement to a process that resulted in significant monetary savings and benefit to the environment; or product testing that led to the approval and use of environmentally preferable products or services.

Education and Outreach
This category recognizes those individuals or teams/groups who have implemented outreach programs/projects or educational efforts designed to promote the goals and objectives of E.O. 13101 or E.O. 13148. The E.O. 13101 programs successfully acquaint the Federal community and the public sector of the environmental and economic benefits of recycling. In doing so, the programs provide tangible benefits to the recycling and "buy recycled" efforts at the facility and/or local community. The E.O. 13148 programs promote the goals and objectives of this Executive Order, enhance facility-level environmental management systems or pollution prevention, and educate the Federal community and surrounding communities. The award also recognizes training of non-environmental program personnel in E.O. 13101 or E.O. 13148 goals and objectives.

Environmental Management Systems
This category recognizes the most effective and innovative programs to implement environmental management systems at Federal facilities in accordance with E.O. 13148. Implementation of Facility level environmental management systems shall include measurable environmental goals, objectives, and targets that are reviewed and updated as appropriate. The systems should also include a compliance component. This category also recognizes the use of quantitative or qualitative consideration of the full range (cradle to grave) of environmental costs and impacts of certain activities or procurement. The effort should include environmental consideration in either descriptive or accounting format of raw material derivations, use and disposal of final products services; material and energy usage and waste; environmental, health and safety management costs; or the use of environmental accounting and life cycle assessment in multiple types of decision_making.

Sustainable Design/Green Buildings
This category recognizes the most innovative Federal government sustainable design and green building projects. Nominations should be limited to projects which have been completed, are under construction, or have completed the planning process and have been awarded to a successful offeror. Nominations should address all facets of a structure/projects life cycle, i.e., encompass project design, energy efficiency, and building operations, etc. Each nomination should highlight the cost effective use of innovative techniques and solutions that utilize sustainable design principles in the planning, construction, and operation of Federal facilities.

Biobased Products
This category recognizes the most effective and innovative programs implemented for the purchase and use of products containing biobased materials at a Federal site, facility, or operation.

Register Your Nomination Now!

There are now two options for submitting nomination materials. In addition to the previous years' format, we now offer a completely electronic transmission process. Choose one of the following two options for submitting materials:

1) Submit all information on-line through this website.

2) Submit the abstract on-line, but mail in hard copies of the longer nomination.

• For option 2, please remember these five important points when delivering your nomination package:
  • Only nominations that have completed the electronic registration form will be eligible to participate.
  • Include a total of no more than two 8 ½ x 11 sheets of paper (4 sides), duplex-printed on recycled paper containing at least 30 percent postconsumer material, in addition to a hard copy of the required electronic registration form as the cover page.
  • Describe what positive changes were made by the individual or facility program and provide supporting documentation along with quantitative data (for example, reductions in waste generation). Additional documentation in excess of the two page limit, that you believe may support your nomination, may be included but will not necessarily be considered by the judges.
  • Check with your Agency/Department headquarters to determine if you have to submit the nomination package through them or if there are any internal requirements or deadlines to be met.
  • Mail five complete hard copies of your nomination package postmarked by January 31, 2003 to:
    Office of the Federal Environmental Executive
    White House Closing the Circle Awards 2003
    Mail Code 1600S
    1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
    Washington, D.C. 20460

Finally, it is not our intent to limit your opportunity for award recognition by imposing strict parameters that may hinder program innovation. The objective of the White House Closing the Circle Award Program is to recognize all applicable waste reduction, pollution prevention, recycling and affirmative procurement innovations and successes. Be creative and let your imagination run wild! If you have any questions call the Task Force at: (202) 564-1297, or E-mail at: Task_Force@ofee.gov. Good Luck!

[If you experience difficulties logging onto the OFEE nomination form, please send your information via email to hughest@tteam.com, and it will be manually entered into the database. You will be faxed a hardcopy of the nomination form, along with your identification number to submit. Please feel free to phone Teague (TJ) Hughes at 703.256.6661 if you have questions or problems.]