Biobased Markets Program

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE <SUBAGY>Office of Procurement and Property Management</SUBAGY> <CFR>7 CFR Parts 3201 and 3202</CFR> <SUBAGY>Rural Business-Cooperative Service</SUBAGY> <CFR>7 CFR Part 4270</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. RBS-22-BUSINESS-0004]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 0570-AB05</RIN> <SUBJECT>Biobased Markets Program</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule; request for comments. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS or the Agency), an agency of the Rural Development (RD) mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is issuing a proposed rule with request for comments to adopt changes from the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). These proposed changes include the merger of the Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement and the Voluntary Labeling Program for Biobased Products into one streamlined regulation, Biobased Markets (BioPreferred) Program. The plain language summary of the proposal is available on <E T="03">Regulations.gov</E> in the docket for rulemaking. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments are due on or before March 25, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Information regarding the BioPreferred® Program is available at <E T="03">https://www.biopreferred.gov.</E> Comments may be submitted on this rulemaking using the following methods: • <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.</E> Follow the instructions for submitting comments. All submissions must include the Agency name, Docket Number and Regulatory Information Number (RIN). Also, submissions should be identified as “Redesignation of the BioPreferred Program.” <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Vernell Thompson, Procurement Analyst, USDA RD, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-1522, STOP 3250; email: <E T="03">vernell.thompson@usda.gov;</E> phone (202) 720-4145. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> The information presented in this preamble is organized as follows: <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Authority</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Organization of the Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Summary of Proposed Changes</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Section 4270.1 Purpose and Scope</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Section 4270.2 Definitions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Section 4270.3 Applicability</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Section 4270.4 Criteria for Eligibility</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Section 4270.5 Procurement Programs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Section 4270.6 Category Designation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Section 4270.7 Determining Biobased Content</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Section 4270.8 [Reserved]</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Section 4270.9 Initial Approval Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Section 4270.10 [Reserved]</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Section 4270.11 Requirements Associated With Promotional Certification Materials</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Section 4270.12 Violations of Program Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">M. Section 4270.13 Appeal Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">N. Section 4270.14 Reporting and Recordkeeping</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">O. Section 4270.15 Oversight and Monitoring</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">P. Section 4270.99 OMB Control Number</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Executive Orders/Acts</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Executive Order 12866—Classification</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Executive Order 12372—Intergovernmental Consultation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. National Environmental Policy Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Environmental Impact Statement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Executive Order 12988—Civil Justice Reform</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Executive Order 13132—Federalism</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Executive Order 13175—Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. E-Government Act Compliance</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Civil Rights Impact Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">M. USDA Non-Discrimination Statement</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Authority</HD> The USDA Biobased Markets Program, called the BioPreferred® Program, is established under the authority of section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA) of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171) (the 2002 Farm Bill), as amended by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 10-246) (the 2008 Farm Bill), the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79) (the 2014 Farm Bill), and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-334) (the 2018 Farm Bill). Section 9002 of the 2002 Farm Bill, as amended by the 2008, 2014, and 2018 Farm Bills, is referred to in this proposed rule as section 9002 of FSRIA. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Background</HD> The Agency is proposing to implement the amendments made to section 9002 of FSRIA by the 2018 Farm Bill by combining the Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement (7 CFR part 3201) and the Voluntary Labeling Program for Biobased Products (7 CFR part 3202), the legacy rules of the BioPreferred Program, into one regulation, 7 CFR part 4270, and proposing to make amendments as outlined in section IV of this proposed rule. The legacy rules established the two core initiatives of the BioPreferred Program. part 3201 detailed the rules for the procurement of Biobased Products by Federal agencies and their contractors, established the process for designating categories of Biobased Products for preferred Federal procurement, maintained the list of Designated Product Categories, and outlined the requirements for Biobased Products to qualify for preferred Federal procurement. Part 3202 established the rules for manufacturers and vendors of Biobased Products to become certified to use the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label (Label) and provided rules for maintaining certification and utilizing the Label. With this rulemaking, the Agency is proposing to merge the legacy rules into one streamlined regulation which will facilitate the objective of the BioPreferred Program, which is to encourage the increased use of Biobased Products in all market sectors. Additionally, the Agency believes these changes will benefit BioPreferred Program Stakeholders by implementing process improvements and tying the two initiatives more closely together, making it easier to qualify for both initiatives. <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Organization of the Rule</HD> To help the public locate existing regulatory provisions found in the new rule, the Agency provides the following table showing sections under the new BioPreferred Program regulations and where the information and requirements were previously located in the legacy regulations. <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s75,r75"> <TTITLE>Table 1—BioPreferred Program CFR Sections</TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> New biopreferred program regulation <ENT I="01">§ 4270.1 Purpose and Scope</ENT> <ENT>§ 3201.1 Purpose and scope. § 3202.1 Purpose and scope.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.2 Definitions</ENT> <ENT>§ 3201.2 Definitions. § 3202.2 Definitions.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.3 Applicability</ENT> <ENT>§ 3201.3 Applicability to Federal procurements. § 3202.3 Applicability.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.4 Criteria for Eligibility</ENT> <ENT>§ 3202.4 Criteria for product eligibility to use the certification mark. § 3201.5 Category designation.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.5 Procurement programs</ENT> <ENT>§ 3201.4 Procurement programs.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.6 Category designation</ENT> <ENT>§ 3201.5 Category designation. § 3202.5 Initial approval process.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.7 Determining Biobased Content</ENT> <ENT>§ 3201.7 Determining biobased content.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.8 [Reserved]</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.9 Initial Approval Process</ENT> <ENT>§ 3202.5 Initial approval process. § 3202.8 Violations.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.10 [Reserved]</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.11 Requirements Associated with Promotional Certification Materials</ENT> <ENT>§ 3202.7 Requirements associated with the certification mark.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.12 Violations of Program Requirements</ENT> <ENT>§ 3202.8 Violations.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.13 Appeal Process</ENT> <ENT>§ 3202.6 Appeal processes.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.14 Reporting and Recordkeeping</ENT> <ENT>§ 3201.6 Providing product information to Federal agencies. § 3201.8 Determining price, environmental and health benefits, and performance. § 3202.9 Recordkeeping requirements.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.15 Oversight and Monitoring</ENT> <ENT>§ 3202.10 Oversight and monitoring.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">§ 4270.99 OMB Control Number</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD1">IV. Summary of Proposed Changes</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Section 4270.1 Purpose and Scope</HD> The purpose of this proposed rule is to establish procedures and guidelines for the implementation of the BioPreferred Program by combining the purpose and scope of §§ 3201.1 and 3202.1 into one. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. Section 4270.2 Definitions</HD> The Agency is combining the definitions sections of §§ 3201.2 and 3202.2 into one and amending as follows: a. <E T="03">Merged Definitions Only.</E> The following definitions were merged from §§ 3201.2 and 3202.2 without revisions or substantial revisions: ASTM International (ASTM), Biobased Content, Biodegradability, Biological Pr ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 208k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━