(a) Applicability to Federal procurements—(1) Applicability to procurement actions. The guidelines in this part apply to all procurement actions by Procuring Agencies involving product categories designated by USDA in this part, where the Procuring Agency makes purchases of $10,000 or more of one of these products during a fiscal year, or where the quantity of such products or of functionally equivalent products purchased during the preceding fiscal year was $10,000 or more. The $10,000 threshold applies to Federal Agencies as a whole rather than to agency subgroups such as regional offices or subagencies of a larger Federal department or agency.
(2) Exception for procurements subject to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. For any procurement by any Procuring Agency that is subject to regulations of the Administrator of the EPA under section 6002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (40 CFR part 247), these guidelines do not apply to the extent that the requirements of this part are inconsistent with such regulations.
(3) Procuring products composed of the highest percentage of Biobased Content. Section 9002(a)(2) of FSRIA (7 U.S.C. 8102(a)(2)) requires Procuring Agencies to procure Qualified Biobased Products composed of the highest percentage of Biobased Content practicable. Procuring agencies may decide not to procure such Qualified Biobased Products if they are not reasonably priced or readily available or do not meet specified or reasonable performance standards.
(4) Incidental purchases. This part does not apply to purchases of Qualified Biobased Products that are unrelated to or incidental to Federal funding (i.e., purchases that are not the direct result of a contract or agreement with persons supplying products to a Procuring Agency or providing support services that include the supply or use of products).
(5) Exemptions. The following applications are exempt from the preferred procurement requirements of this part:
(i) Military equipment: Products or systems designed or procured for combat or combat-related missions.
(ii) Spacecraft systems and launch support equipment.
(b) Applicability to Participating Organizations and Other Entities—(1) Participating Organizations. The requirements in this part apply to all prospective Participating Organizations who wish to participate in the BioPreferred Program. Those wishing to participate in the BioPreferred Program are required to obtain and maintain product certification. USDA will allow only one owner or Designated Representative of a branded product to participate. Participating Organizations may not obtain product certification for a product using a brand name owned by a separate organization unless they are acting on behalf of the brand owner, with their approval, as a Designated Representative.
(2) Other Entities. The requirements in this part apply to Other Entities who wish to use the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label or Certification Icon in promoting the sales or the public awareness of Certified Biobased Products.