(a) General. As required by E.O.13423, agencies must ensure that they meet at least 95 percent of their annual acquisition requirement for electronic products with Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) -registered electronic products, unless there is no EPEAT standard for such products. This policy applies to contracts performed in the United States, unless otherwise provided by agency procedures.
(b) Personal computer products. Personal computer products is a category of EPEAT-registered electronic products.
(1) The IEEE 1680 standard for personal computer products-
(i) Was issued by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers on April 28, 2006;
(ii) Is a voluntary consensus standard consistent with Section 12(d) of Pub. L. 104-113, the “National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995,” (see 11.102(c));
(iii) Meets EPA-issued guidance on environmentally preferable products and services; and
(iv) Is described in more detail at http://www.epeat.net .
(2) A list of EPEAT-registered products that meet the IEEE 1680 standard can be found at http://www.epeat.net .
(3) The IEEE 1680 standard sets forth required and optional criteria. EPEAT “Bronze” registered products must meet all required criteria. EPEAT “Silver” registered products meet all required criteria and 50 percent of the optional criteria. EPEAT “Gold” registered products meet all required criteria and 75 percent of the optional criteria. These are the levels discussed in clause 1.4 of the IEEE 1680 standard. The clause at 52.223-16, IEEE 1680 Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products, makes EPEAT Bronze registration the standard that contractors must meet. In accordance with guidance from the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive encouraging agencies to procure EPEAT Silver registered products, Alternate I of the clause makes EPEAT Silver registration the standard that contractors must meet. Agencies also may use EPEAT Silver or Gold registration in the evaluation of proposals.
(c) The agency shall establish procedures for granting exceptions to the requirement in paragraph (a) of this section, with the goal that the dollar value of exceptions granted will not exceed 5 percent of the total dollar value of electronic products acquired by the agency, for which EPEAT-registered products are available. For example, agencies may grant an exception if the agency determines that no EPEAT-registered product meets agency requirements, or that the EPEAT-registered product will not be cost effective over the life of the product.
