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 RCRA Section 1004(17) defines a procuring agency as "any Federal agency, ..." RCRA
Section 1004(4) further defines a Federal agency as "any department, agency, or other
instrumentality of the Federal government, including any Government corporation and the
Government Printing Office." All of the entities described in the definition are "whole"'
agencies, and are therefore subject to the requirements of RCRA Section 6002, including the
$10,000 threshold.
Further, EPA does not believe that the FAR and RCRA definitions are inconsistent
because they define different terms. A "procuring activity" is vastly different from a
`procuring agency." EPA believes that if Congress had meant to apply the $10,000
threshold to a procuring activity, it would have done so.
VI. DEFINITIONS
Most of the definitions found in new
247.3 are the same as those used in the five
existing procurement guidelines. EPA has concluded that it is easier for procuring agencies
to use the definitions if they are limited to those terms used in the CPG (and do not include
any definitions. specific to the RMAN). Therefore, in the final CPG, the definitions section
contains only terms used in the CPG. The terms "recovered materials," "procuring agency,"
"person," and "Federal agency" are defined the same as in RCRA. "Postconsumer paper"
has the same definition as used in EPA's 1988 paper procurement guideline as derived from
the statutory definition of "recovered materials" applicable to paper and paper products.
Other terms are standard industry or purchasing definitions (e.g., purchasing, specification).
EPA requested comment on these definitions and the definition of "practicable' during the
development of the existing five procurement guidelines and,, therefore, did not request
comment on them in the proposed CPG.
A. Summary of Comments and Agency's Response
A commenter recommended that EPA revise the general definition of "postconsumer
material" to be consistent with the general definition of "recovered materials" found in
RCRA. Specifically, the definition of "postconsumer material" proposed in the CPG
included the phrase "has been discarded for disposal or recovery." The commenter
suggested that this phrase be replaced with "has been diverted or recovered from waste
destined for disposal." EPA agrees that the recommended phrase is more consistent with the
RCRA definition and also better reflects the fact that the material in question has been
recovered or diverted from the waste stream. In the final CPG, EPA revised the definition
of "postconsumer material" accordingly.
EPA also added the folding item-specific terms: hydraulic mulch, hydroseeding,
laminated paperboard, and structural fiberboard. They are based on industry definitions,
including ASTM or other standard specifications, or represent descriptions of the scope of
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