U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Program Contract Service Center (3803R), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460-0001

R -- MARKET RESEARCH FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE PROCUREMENT SOL RFQ-DC-99-00106 DUE 090799 POC Valoree S. Lilley at lilley.valoree@epa.gov WEB: click here to download a copy of the RFP, http://www.epa.gov/oamhpod1/. E-MAIL: click here to contact the contracting officer, lilley.valoree@epa.gov. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) in support of its Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) program is issuing this combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with FAR 12.603. RFQ-DC-99-00106 with all attachments may be accessed at http://www.epa.gov/oamhpod1/ The EPA is FACNET certified. SIC code for this requirement is 8732. Two copies of the proposal must be submitted by the due date. The U.S. MAIL ADDRESS is -- U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Mail Code 3803R, Washington, D.C. 20460, ATTN: Linda C. Jordan. HANDCARRY (such as fed-ex) should be submitted to Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Bid and Proposal Room, 6th Floor, Room 61107. BACKGROUND: The Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) program is mandated by Executive Order 13101 entitled "Greening the Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition", which directs Executive agencies to implementa variety of waste reduction and other activities, to assist Agencies in making purchasing decisions that are less damaging to the environment. To achieve the goals of environmentally preferable purchasing, the EPP program is charged to work with a broad range of constituents through several activities and outreach efforts. For the purposes of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and in order to strategically guide the EPP toward the most effective methods and program activities, program staff believe it is necessary to measure the success of current efforts and identify what motivates people to connect environment with the products and services, and their purchase actions. The constituents include: other Federal Agencies; the Federal acquisition community; third parties, for example voluntary consensus standards organizations; state and local governments; international contacts; private sector companies; the Office of the Environmental Executive; EPP "pioneers"; and others. The following program activities are underway or planned to reach the above mentioned constituents: -Agency or Department specific EPP pilot projects. -examination of procurement methods, for example contracts and schedules. -general and targeted outreach. -policy development through: regulation and directives, for example Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) changes; white papers; and other guidance. -EPP tool development. Measurement research activities will be designed to: 1. obtain immediate qualitative feedback on the effectiveness of the EPP program. 2. identify qualitative inputs to the development of the quantitative research, future decision tools, outreach activities, and other EPP methods or policies. 3. develop a quantitative baseline to measure the effectiveness of the EPP program, specific projects, and, to the extent possible, gage environmental improvement over time. The Measurement activities, when completed, will include both qualitative and quantitative research, however, this statement of work covers only the initial qualitative research, numbers 1 and 2 above, and some limited planning for the quantitative work mentioned in 3 above. STUDY OBJECTIVES AND INTENDED PRODUCTS This research project has three main objectives, each with deliverable products. These are: 1. Define and document the purchasing decision process in federal agencies as it pertains to how purchase decision makers take into consideration specific attributes, specifically whether the products and services are environmentally preferable. 2. Produce preliminary qualitative findings about levels of awareness, acceptance and actual behavior relating to environmentally preferable purchases. 3. Select and refine the method for more comprehensive quantitative research that can be conducted to secure national estimates of the acceptance of environmentally preferable products and services. The Request for Quotations for this procurement can be found at the EPA internet site: http://www.epa.gov/oamhpod1/ under the heading of RFQs. Posted 08/17/99 (W-SN369011). (0229)

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