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 Biobased Products
USDA Proposes Federal Biobased Products Purchasing Program On Friday, December 19, 2003, USDA published its long-awaited proposal establishing the Federal biobased products purchasing program. The program will be similar to the buy-recycled program managed by the U.S. EPA but contains significant differences. Most notable is that USDA has authority to establish a labeling program. The proposal can be found in the Federal Register, which can be accessed on-line at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html. GAO Issues Report on Implementation of Biobased Products Purchasing. The General Accounting Office released a report "BIOBASED PRODUCTS: Improved USDA Management Would Help Agencies Comply with Farm Bill Purchasing Requirements", GAO-04-437, which discusses USDA's implementation of the biobased products purchasing program under the 2002 Farm Bill. Managing Spills of Biobased Products Such as Lubricants We have heard the statement made by representatives of federal facilities that they don't have to clean up spills of biobased products because those products are biodegradable. We have been concerned about the accuracy of this statement, considering that products such as lubricants contain additives and can pick up metals and other contaminants through normal use. We asked the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste about proper management of spills of biobased products. With EPA's permission, our questions and OSW's answers are found below. Proper Management of Spills of Biobased Lubricants OFEE has heard misinformation about how spills of biobased products such as lubricants should be handled. Below are questions that we posed to EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and the replies that we received. 1. Considering that biobased products will biodegrade, should spills of biobased lubricants be handled any differently than spills of petroleum based lubricants? Will the answer depend on whether or not the product is a blend of biobased and petroleum oils and if so, is there a minimum amount of petroleum content that will affect the answer (i.e., below this percentage of petroleum, the spill is handled one way, but above the percentage, it is handled another way). Spills of biobased lubricants are handled in the same manner as spills of petroleum based lubricants. EPA has considered the physical, chemical, biological, and other properties and environmental effects of petroleum oils, vegetable oils, and animal fats, which are the criteria now to be evaluated under the Edible Oil Regulatory Reform Act. EPA finds that petroleum oils, vegetable oils, and animal fats share common physical properties and produce similar environmental effects. Like petroleum oils, vegetable oils and animal fats and their constituents can: 1) Cause devastating physical effects, such as coating animals and plants with oil and suffocating them by oxygen depletion; 2) Be toxic and form toxic products; 3) Destroy future and existing food supplies, breeding animals, and habitats; 3) Produce rancid odors; 4) Foul shorelines, clog water treatment plants, and catch fire when ignition sources are present; and 5) Form products that linger in the environment for many years. The preceding information was taken from the Oil Program's web site at http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/vegoil.htm. 2. Do the answers vary depending on the feedstock used to product the biobased lubricants -- i.e., corn-based, soy-based, meadowfoam seed-based, other? With respect to our answer to question 1, no, the answer would not vary depending on the feedstock. Tools and Resources The inter-agency Buy Bio Workgroup is developing tools and resources to assist Federal agencies with purchasing biobased products and product manufacturers with selling their products to Federal agencies: Fact Sheet On Buying Biobased Products PDF Format Word Format Many Federal agencies are already purchasing and using biobased products. OFEE encourages all agencies to do so. The Summer 2000, Winter 2001, and Fall 2001 issues of Closing the Circle News report agency acquisitions of biobased cafeteria-ware, biodiesel, ethanol, cleaning products, and compost "tea" for golf courses. Until USDA designates biobased products and establishes the voluntary biobased products labeling program, you can find biobased products by visiting the following sites:
The listing of these web sites should not be construed as an endorsement by the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive of any of the biobased products identified on these sites or a guarantee regarding product performance or conformance to USDA's biobased products recommendations. |