HOUSE BILL NO. 2485 Offered January 10, 2007 Prefiled January 9, 2007 A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-4313 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Public Procurement Act; procurement of environmentally preferable products. ----------
Patrons-- Bulova, Amundson, Callahan, Caputo, Ebbin, Marsden, Moran, Plum, Rust, Scott, J.M., Shannon, Sickles and Watts; Senators: Herring, Howell, Puller, Ticer and Whipple
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 2.2-4313 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 2.2-4313. Petition for recycled goods and products; periodic review of procurement standards.

A. Any person who believes that particular goods or products with recycled content are functionally equivalent to the same goods or products produced from virgin materials or that particular goods or products are environmentally preferable goods and services may petition the Department of General Services or other appropriate agency of the Commonwealth to include the recycled or environmentally preferable goods or products in its procurement process. The petitioner shall submit, prior to or during the procurement process, documentation that establishes that the goods or products (i) contain recycled content or are environmentally preferable as defined subsection D and (ii) can meet the performance standards set forth in the applicable specifications. If the Department of General Services or other agency of the Commonwealth that receives the petition determines that the documentation demonstrates that the goods or products with recycled content or defined as environmentally preferable will meet the performance standards set forth in the applicable specifications, it shall incorporate the goods or products into its procurement process.

B. The Department of General Services and all agencies of the Commonwealth shall review and revise their procurement procedures and specifications on a continuing basis to encourage the use of goods and products with recycled content and shall, in developing new procedures and specifications, encourage the use of goods and products with recycled content.

C.  The Department of General Services and all agencies of the Commonwealth may review and revise their procurement procedures and specifications on a continuing basis to encourage the use of environmentally preferable goods and products and may, in developing new procedures and specifications, encourage the use of environmentally preferable goods and products.  

D. For the purposes of this section, the term “environmentally preferable goods and services” means goods or products that have lesser or reduced negative effect on human health and the environment when compared to competing goods or products that serve the same purpose.  This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, operation, maintenance, reuse, and disposal of the products.