(a) Providing information on price and environmental and health benefits. Federal agencies may not require manufacturers or vendors of qualified biobased products to provide to procuring agencies more data than would be required of other manufacturers or vendors offering products for sale to a procuring agency (aside from data confirming the biobased contents of the products) as a condition of the purchase of biobased products from the manufacturer or vendor. USDA will work with manufacturers and vendors to collect information needed to estimate the price of biobased products, complex assemblies, intermediate materials or feedstocks as part of the designation process, including application units, average unit cost, and application frequency. USDA encourages industry stakeholders to provide information on environmental and public health benefits based on industry accepted analytical approaches including, but not limited to: Material carbon footprint analysis, the ASTM D7075 standard for evaluating and reporting on environmental performance of biobased products, the International Standards Organization ISO 14040, the ASTM International life-cycle cost method (E917) and multi-attribute decision analysis (E1765), the British Standards Institution PAS 2050, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology BEES analytical tool. USDA will make such stakeholder-supplied information available on the BioPreferred Web site.

(b) Performance test information. In assessing performance of qualified biobased products, USDA requires that procuring agencies rely on results of performance tests using applicable ASTM, ISO, Federal or military specifications, or other similarly authoritative industry test standards. Such testing must be conducted by a laboratory compliant with the requirements of the standards body. The procuring official will decide whether performance data must be brand-name specific in the case of products that are essentially of the same formulation.

(c) Biodegradability information. If biodegradability is claimed by the manufacturer of a qualifying biobased product as a characteristic of that product, USDA requires that, if requested by procuring agencies, these claims be verified using the appropriate, product-specific ASTM biodegradability standard(s). Such testing must be conducted by an ASTM/ISO-compliant laboratory. The procuring official will decide whether biodegradability data must be brand-name specific in the case of products that are essentially of the same formulation. ASTM biodegradability standards include:

(1) D5338   “Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under Controlled Composting Conditions”;

(2) D5864   “Standard Test Method for Determining the Aerobic Aquatic Biodegradation of Lubricants or Their Components”;

(3) D6006   “Standard Guide for Assessing Biodegradability of Hydraulic Fluids”;

(4) D6400   “Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics” and the standards cited therein;

(5) D6139   “Standard Test Method for Determining the Aerobic Aquatic Biodegradation of Lubricants or Their Components Using the Gledhill Shake Flask”;

(6) D6868   “Standard Specification for Biodegradable Plastics Used as Coatings on Paper and Other Compostable Substrates”; and

(7) D7081   “Standard Specification for Non-Floating Biodegradable Plastics in the Marine Environment.”

[70 FR 1809, Jan. 11, 2005, as amended at 71 FR 13704, Mar. 16, 2006; 71 FR 42575, July 27, 2006; 76 FR 6322, Feb. 4, 2011; 79 FR 44657, Aug. 1, 2014]