(a) General.

(1) As required by E.O.s 13423 and 13514, agencies, when acquiring an electronic product to meet their requirements, shall meet at least 95 percent of those requirements with Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT®)-registered electronic products, unless—

(i) There is no EPEAT® standard for such product;

(ii) No EPEAT®-registered product meets agency requirements; or

(iii) The agency head has provided an exemption in accordance with 23.105.

(2) Contracting officers, when acquiring an electronic product, except as specified in paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section, shall acquire an EPEAT®-registered electronic product, unless the agency determines, in accordance with agency procedures, that the EPEAT®-registered product will not be cost effective over the life of the product.

(3) This section applies to acquisitions of electronic products to be used in the United States, unless otherwise provided by agency procedures. When acquiring electronic products to be used outside the United States, agencies must use their best efforts to comply with this section.

(b) Personal computer products, imaging equipment, and televisions. These are categories of EPEAT®-registered electronic products.

(1) The IEEE 1680.1TM-2009 Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products, the IEEE 1680.2TM-2012 Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Imaging Equipment, and the IEEE 1680.3TM-2012 Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Televisions—

(i) Were issued by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., on March 5, 2010; October 19, 2012, and October 19, 2012, respectively;

(ii) Are voluntary consensus standards consistent with section 12(d) of Pub. L. 104-113 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), the “National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995,” (see 11.102)(c));

(iii) Meet EPA-issued guidance on environmentally preferable products and services; and

(iv) Are described in more detail at https://www.epa.gov/greenerproducts/epas-recommendationsspecifications-standards-and-ecolabels.

(2) A list of EPEAT® product categories and EPEAT®-registered electronic products that are in conformance with these standards can be found at https://www.epa.gov/greenerproducts/epas-recommendationsspecifications-standards-and-ecolabels.

(3) EPEAT® electronic products are designated “bronze-,” “silver-,” or “gold-” registered.

(4) Agencies shall, at a minimum, acquire EPEAT® bronze-registered products.

(5) Agencies are encouraged to acquire EPEAT® silver- or gold-registered products.

[79 FR 35862, June 24, 2014, as amended at 79 FR 24208, Apr. 29, 2014; 80 FR 53438, Oct. 5, 2015; 81 FR 67781, Sept. 30, 2016]