|
A series of new policies that are required under state statute and designed to encourage the purchase of environmentally responsible products take effect February 1, 2021 to allow time for training requirements to be met.
An online training, supporting these policies, is required for staff who do pre-award and post-award work as a primary part of their job. These individuals must complete the training by February 1st. The WA-State Environmental Procurement Preference training takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and is available in the state Learning Management System (LMS). Training is an important aspect of policy implementation and advancing environmentally responsible purchasing to improve the state’s overall human and environmental health. The DES training website contains more detailed information regarding who is required to take this training.
Policy suite highlights
The policy suite applies when an agency is purchasing goods under chapter 39.26 RCW. A related update to WEBS assists with compliance by allowing for central reporting. The policy suite:
- Encourages agencies to purchase environmentally responsible products.
- Creates a one-stop-shop for environmental purchasing policies and related materials such as training and other resources. The suite now includes policies for preference of nonmercury-added products, electronics products, recycled content products, products that do not contain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and products and packaging that do not contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
- Support tools are already available, including procedures, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs),
sample documents designed to encourage the purchase of environmentally responsible products, desk aids, environmental documinis, and an environmental preference calculator tool. They can be
found on the Environmental Procurement Preferences Training Page.
- An additional tool helps purchasers determine exactly which environmental requirements they need to apply to their specific procurement.
- Is designed so new preferences or other environmental requirements can be added to the suite in the future.
Thank you
DES received a significant amount of stakeholder input, which was critical in how the policies, training, and tools were implemented. Although the content was largely driven by statute, the input we received was valuable, and we would like to thank everyone who participated in the process. Stakeholder feedback was especially beneficial in providing clarity around:
- Applicable products affected
- Application of the preferences
- Training
- Compliance
DES began working with stakeholders to establish this policy since 2018. The policy concept was discussed during a September 19, 2018 Policy Workshop; a discussion draft was shared at a May 23, 2019 Policy Workshop; and a revised discussion draft was shared during the October 23, 2019 Policy Workshop. DES also solicited and accepted targeted feedback through May 2020.
More information
More information can be found at the Enterprise Procurement Policy webpage.
Questions about the policies may be sent to: DESmiEnterpriseProcurementPolicy@des.wa.gov.
|
