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[GreenYes] Submit Testimony for US Senate Recycling Hearing 7-11-02
Apologies for Cross-Postings

Reprinted from the National Recycling Coalition's
"Recycling Policy Reporter"
>Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 16:00:34 -0400
>/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
>NRC's RECYCLING POLICY REPORTER
>June  2002, Volume 3, Issue 5
>/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Senate to Hold Recycling Hearing on July 11; You Can
Submit Testimony
On July 11, 2002, the Senate Environment and Publics
Works Committee will
hold a hearing on recycling issues. The hearing will
include two parts: a
session on the national bottle bill introduced by
Senator Jeffords and a session on federal procurement of recycled products.
The Committee has asked Dobbins Callahan of Collins & Aikman
Floorcoverings to speak during the procurement session. Dobbins chairs both 
NRC's Buy Recycled Business Alliance and the NRC board of directors.

Why is This Hearing Occurring Now?
In January 2000, Senators Jeffords, Baucus, Levin, Harkin and Lautenberg
asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to prepare a report on
environmental procurement by the U.S. government. The report analyzed
the compliance of federal procurement agencies with the provisions of
Section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and 
Executive Orders 12873 and 13101, which direct agencies
to buy recycled products and biobased products.

In June 2001 the GAO issued a report,"Federal Procurement: Better
Guidance Needed to Assess Purchases of Environmentally Friendly
Products." In this report, GAO found the federal government's buy recycled 
program to be lacking and made several recommendations.
For example, the Federal Environmental Executive and the EPA
administrator should work with officials at the major procurement agencies 
to provide better information about the availability of the recycled
products. These officials should also determine how recycled products can 
be more effectively promoted.

Senator Jeffords wrote EPA Administrator Whitman to solicit ideas on how
to improve compliance and to develop new ways for the government to use
market-based mechanisms to stimulate the development of   environmentally 
preferable products (EPP) and services. Based on the
response from Whitman, Jeffords decided to hold a hearing to request
comments on what Congress could and should do to ensure that federal
agencies are doing all they can to support recycled and environmentally
preferable products.

Why Do Federal Buy Recycled Programs Matter?

Without strong, concerted federal procurement of recycled products, the
investment made by cities, counties and state governments in recycling
collection and processing will continue to be jeopardized. A number of
leading-edge companies have made major investments in the needed
research and technology to develop products that meet the recycled
content and EPP standards. Strong, concerted purchasing by the federal
government is absolutely necessary for these products to gain a foothold
within the national economy. The GAO report should be the benchmark for
measuring what the federal government has accomplished, as well as the
critical need to push harder for federal agencies to implement the
requirements of the Executive Orders and of RCRA.

Let Congress Hear Your Opinion

NRC encourages its members to make their voices heard during this
important hearing. You can send your written testimony to:

         Senator Jeffords, Chair,
         Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works,
         410 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
         Washington, DC 20510.

You may also fax testimony to (202) 224-1273. Emails can be sent to
Cameron_Taylor@epw.senate.gov and Duane_Nystrom@epw.senate.gov.

>___________________________________
>
>ABOUT THE RECYCLING POLICY REPORTER
>
>The NRC Recycling Policy Reporter is a benefit for members of the National
>Recycling Coalition and its affiliated recycling organizations in the
>following states:
>
>Arizona - California - Colorado - Connecticut - Illinois -
>Indiana - Maryland - Michigan - Minnesota - Missouri -
>Nebraska - New Mexico - New York - Ohio - Pennsylvania -
>Tennessee - Texas - Utah - Washington - Wisconsin
>
>Any and all reprints of material in this newsletter must include the
>following notice: Reprinted from the National Recycling Coalition's
>"Recycling Policy Reporter"
>
>© 2002, National Recycling Coalition. All Rights Reserved.


Gary Liss
916-652-7850
Fax: 916-652-0485

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