Pentagon encourages environmentally friendly acquisitions

The Defense Department has issued a new policy aimed at helping procurement offices make environmentally sound purchases, officials announced Wednesday.

The "green procurement" guidelines ask the department's acquisition officials to plan how they will identify opportunities to buy environmentally friendly "products and services in the normal course of business" and keep up-to-date lists of those opportunities. Such items include products made from recycled materials or non-ozone depleting substances, and those labeled as energy-efficient. Products or services that use alternative fuels also count as green.

Under the policy, Defense purchasing offices must also set reasonable goals for buying environmentally safe items, based on overall levels of acquisition and the nature of goods and services needed.

In addition, the policy asks procurement offices to educate employees on ecological responsibilities and to train them on seeking out green products at a reasonable cost. Environmentally sound purchases must also be tracked so officials can determine if employees are meeting established goals and applicable laws.

Tracking systems should comply with already established rules on reporting compliance with applicable environmental laws, the guidelines note. As a final stage, the Pentagon's purchasing offices are to conduct regular self-assessments to determine if training programs and performance measures are effective. If the programs and measures aren't working, officials must improve them.

The new policy is meant to "affirm a goal of 100 percent compliance" with federal laws and executive orders concerning use of environmentally friendly products, Defense officials said. If properly implemented, the policy should "enhance and sustain mission-readiness through cost effective acquisition that not only meets regulatory requirements, but also reduces resource consumption and waste generation," said Deidre Lee, director of Defense procurement and acquisition policy.

To make the policy work, acquisition offices will have to form strong partnerships with the federal "environmental community," Lee noted. Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency praised the Pentagon for establishing a comprehensive policy on green procurement.