and 249.11, such that portland cement or concrete and cement or concrete containing fly ash are both considered acceptable materials for the particular construction job. Such an approach allows a contractor to secure award of a contract based on normal bid evaluation procedures. At a later time, the contractor can exercise the option to use or not to use fly ash, subject to normal quality assurance procedures and review and approval of mix designs, materials, etc. by the procuring agency/project engineer.

(ii) This bidding approach may be most useful in procurements where cement or concrete is not the sole material purchased, e.g., as in the case of a solicitation covering all phases of construction of an office building. Under this approach, procuring agencies should put offerors on notice that a specification change has taken place and that they should actively seek out suppliers of cement or concrete containing fly ash.

(2)(i) Solicitation of alternate bids, allowing separate price quotations for either portland cement concrete or concrete containing fly ash. Under this approach, award is made to the successful bidder (typically lowest priced responsible offeror) for either one or the other of the materials. However, the successful bidder can later revise the selection of materials planned for use, for example, due to technical reasons or material availability, subject to approval of the procuring agency/project engineer.

(ii) This bidding approach may be most useful in procurements where the procuring agency is purchasing cement or concrete separately from other phases of a construction project, thus enabling the agency to evaluate bids for cement or concrete individually and to deal directly with potential suppliers.

(c) Regardless of the method of solicitation used, award should be made in accordance with an agency's customary award procedures, typically to the lowest priced responsible bidder, regardless of whether fly ash is used. In the event that two or more low bids are received which offer different levels of fly ash content, award should be made in accordance with an agen

cy's customary award procedures, typically to the lowest priced responsible offeror. In the case of identical low bids, award should be made to the offeror with the higher level of fly ash content, all other factors being equal.

§ 249.21 Recommendations for reasonable price.

(a) Procuring agencies should use general procedures, such as those contained in the Federal Procurement Regulations, in determining whether the prices offered are reasonable. This determination should consider the objectives of section 6002 of RCRA.

(b) Techniques of price analysis (not cost analysis) should be used, as appropriate. (Price analysis is the process of examining and evaluating a prospective price without evaluating the separate cost elements and proposed profit of the individual prospective supplier.) Price analysis may be done in various ways, including:

(1) Comparison of the price quotations submitted.

(2) Comparison of prior quotations and contract prices with current quotations for the same or similar end items, making appropriate allowances for any differences in quantities, delivery time, inflation, etc.

(3) Comparison of prices set forth in published price lists or catalogs.

Cost analysis may be necessary where there is no history or published information upon which to base price analysis.

§ 249.22 Recommendations for reasonable

competition.

(a) Procuring agencies can assume that there is reasonable competition if there is adequate price competition.

(b) Adequate price competition is usually presumed to exist if:

(1) At least two responsible offerors, (2) Who can satisfy the purchaser's (e.g., the Government's) requirements, (3) Independently compete for a contract to be awarded,

(4) By submitting priced offers responsive to the expressed requirements of a solicitation.

In addition, the reasonableness of prices is a factor which should be evaluated in accordance with § 249.21.

§ 249.23 Reasonable availability.

Procuring agencies should consider cement or concrete which contains fly ash to be reasonably available if it can be delivered in time to successfully perform the job, or if there are no unusual or unnecessary delays expected in its delivery compared to those for portland cement or concrete.

§ 249.24 Recommendations for time-phasing.

In order to minimize any adverse effects on the marketplace or on the procuring agency in implementing this guideline, the Agency recommends that not later than the beginning of the second year after the effective date of the guideline, all contracts should solicit bids which specifically allow for the use of fly ash, in accordance with the provisions of § 249.11 and §§ 249.20 through 249.23.

Subpart D-Certification

§ 249.30 Recommendations for measurement.

(a) The procuring agency should require the supplier to:

(1) Certify that the percentage of fly ash to be included in the cement or concrete supplied under the contract is in accordance with the amount required by specifications referenced in the solicitation or contract.

(2) Estimate the percentage of fly ash which will be used in a particular mix design, as well as the quantity of fly ash to be supplied under the contract.

(b) Measurement of fly ash content should be made in accordance with standard industry practice, normally on a weight basis, and stated as a percentage of the weight of total cementitious material: (fly ash weight/ (fly ash weight + cement weight)) %. This will often be a reflection of either a typical cubic yard of concrete or ton of cement.

=

§ 249.31 Recommendations for documentation.

(a) The supplier's certification of fly ash content should not require separate reporting forms, but should make use of existing mechanisms, such as a

statement contained in a signed bid document or a mix design proposal.

(b) In cases where the purchase of cement or concrete is not under the direct control of the procuring agency, as in the case of certain indirect purchases, the fly ash content of the cement or concrete purchased and quantity of fly ash used should be made available to the procuring

agency.

§ 249.32 Quality control.

(a) Nothing in this guideline should be construed to relieve the contractor of responsibility for providing a satisfactory product. The certification procedures discussed in §§ 249.30 and 249.31 are intended to satisfy the certification requirements of section 6002, and are entirely separate in purpose and format from standard industry quality control and quality assurance procedures. Cement and concrete suppliers are already responsible both for the quality of the ingredients of their product and for meeting appropriate performance requirements, and will continue to be under this guideline. This guideline does not attempt to shift normal industry procedures for assigning responsibility and liability.

(b)(1) Procuring agencies should expect suppliers of blended cement, fly ash, and concrete to demonstrate (through reasonable testing programs or previous experience) the performance and reliability of their product and the adequacy of their quality control programs. However, procuring agencies should not subject cement and concrete containing fly ash to any unreasonable testing requirements.

(2) In accordance with standard industry practice, fly ash suppliers should be required to provide to users a statement of the key characteristics of fly ash supplied. These characteristics include its chemical constituents, loss on ignition (LOI), and fineness of the matter. These characteristics may be stated in appropriate ranges. Other characteristics should be requested as needed by the procuring agency.

(c) Agencies desiring a testing or quality assurance program for cements, blended cements, or fly ash should contact the U.S. Army Engi

tion and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended, as that section applies to paper and paper products designated in § 250.2 of this part.

(b) This guideline contains recommendations for implementing the requirements of section 6002 of RCRA, including the revision of specifications and the establishment of an affirmative program for the procurement of paper and paper products containing recovered materials. The guideline also makes recommendations concerning solicitations for bids and estimation, certification, and verification procedures. In addition, the guideline sets dates for implementation.

(c) The Agency believes that adherence to the practices recommended in the guideline constitutes compliance with section 6002 of RCRA, as it relates to the purchase of paper and paper products containing recovered materials.

§ 250.2 Designation.

Under section 6002(e)(1) of RCRA, paper and paper products are designated as items which can be produced with recovered materials and whose procurement by procuring agencies will carry out the objectives of section 6002 of RCRA. As used in this guideline, the term "paper and paper products" does not include building and construction paper grades.

§ 250.3 Applicability.

(a) This guideline applies to all paper and paper products purchased with appropriated Federal funds.

(b)(1) This guideline applies to all procuring agencies and to all procurement actions involving paper and paper products where the procuring agency purchases $10,000 or more worth of one of these items during the course of a fiscal year, or where the cost of such items or of functionally equivalent items purchased during the preceding fiscal year was $10,000 or

more.

(2) This guideline applies to Federal agencies, to State or local agencies using appropriated Federal funds, and to persons contracting with any such agencies with respect to work performed under such contracts. Federal

agencies should note that the requirements of RCRA section 6002 apply to them whether or not appropriated Federal funds are used for procurement of items designated by EPA.

(3) The $10,000 threshold applies to procuring agencies as a whole rather than to agency subgroups such as regional offices or subagencies.

(c) For purposes of the $10,000 threshold, each item listed in each category below is considered to be functionally equivalent to every other item in the category:

(1) All grades and types of xerographic/copy paper;

(2) Newsprint;

(3) All grades and types of printing and writing paper;

(4) Corrugated and fiberboard boxes; (5) Folding boxboard and cartons;

(6) Stationery, office papers (e.g., memo pads, scratch pads), envelopes, and manifold business forms including computer paper;

(7) Toilet tissue, paper towels, facial tissue, paper napkins, doilies, and industrial wipers; and

(8) Brown papers and coarse papers. (d) Procurement actions covered by this guideline include:

(1) All purchases of paper and paper products made directly by a procuring agency or by any person contracting with any such agency with respect to work being performed under such contract, for example, contract printing; and,

(2) Indirect purchases of paper and paper products made by a procuring agency, such as purchasing resulting from Federal grants, loans, and similar forms of disbursements of monies that the procuring agency intended to be used for the procurement of paper or paper products.

(e) Purchases of paper and paper products that are unrelated or incidental to Federal funding, i.e., not the direct result of a Federal contract, grant, loan, funds disbursement, or agreement with a procuring agency, are not covered by this guideline.

§ 250.4 Definitions.

As used in this guideline, the following terms shall have the meaning indicated below:

(a) "Act" or "RCRA" means the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.;

(b) "Bleached papers" means paper made of pulp that has been treated with bleaching agents;

(c) "Bond paper" means a generic category of paper used in a variety of end use applications such as forms (see "form bond"), offset printing, copy paper, stationery, etc. In the paper industry, the term was originally very specific but is now very general.

(d) "Book paper" means a generic category of papers produced in a variety of forms, weights, and finishes for use in books and other graphic arts applications, and related grades such as tablet, envelope, and converting papers;

(e) "Brown papers" means papers usually made from unbleached kraft pulp and used for bags, sacks, wrapping paper, and so forth;

(f) "Coarse papers" means papers used for industrial purposes, as distinguished from those used for cultural or sanitary purposes;

(g) "Computer paper" means a type of paper used in manifold business forms produced in rolls and/or fan folded. It is used with computers and word processors to print out data, information, letters, advertising, etc. It is commonly called computer printout; (h) "Corrugated boxes" means boxes made of corrugated paperboard, which, in turn, is made from a fluted corrugating medium pasted to two flat sheets of paperboard (linerboard); multiple layers may be used;

(i) "Cotton fiber content papers" means paper that contains a minimum of 25 percent and up to 100 percent cellulose fibers derived from lint cotton, cotton linters, and cotton or linen cloth cuttings. It is also known as rag content paper or rag paper. It is used for stationery, currency, ledgers, wedding invitations, maps, and other specialty papers;

(j) "Cover stock" or "Cover paper" means a heavyweight paper commonly used for covers, books, brochures, pamphlets, and the like;

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(k) "Doilies" means paper place mats used on food service trays in hospitals and other institutions;

(1) "Duplicator paper" means writing papers used for masters or copy sheets in the aniline ink or hectograph process of reproduction (commonly called spirit machines);

(m) "Envelopes" means brown, manila, padded, or other mailing envelopes not included with "stationery;"

(n) "Facial tissue" means a class of soft absorbent papers in the sanitary tissue group;

(0) "Federal agency" means any department, agency, or other instrumentality of the Federal Government, any independent agency or establishment of the Federal Government including a government corporation, and the Government Printing Office;

(p) "Fiber or fiberboard boxes" means boxes made from containerboard, either solid fiber or corrugated paperboard (general term); or boxes made from solid paperboard of the same material throughout (specific term);

(q) "Folding boxboard" means a paperboard suitable for the manufacture of folding cartons;

(r) "Form bond" means a lightweight commodity paper designed primarily for business forms including computer printout and carbonless paper forms. (See manifold business forms);

(s) "Industrial wipers" means paper towels especially made for industrial cleaning and wiping;

(t) "Ledger paper" means a type of paper generally used in a broad variety of recordkeeping type applications such as in accounting machines.

(u) "Manifold business forms" means a type of product manufactured by business forms manufacturers that is commonly produced as marginally punched continuous forms in small rolls or fan folded sets with or without carbon paper interleaving. It has a wide variety of uses such as invoices, purchase orders, office memoranda, shipping orders, and computer printout;

(v) "Mill broke" means any paper waste generated in a paper mill prior to completion of the papermaking process. It is usually returned directly

to the pulping process. Mill broke is excluded from the definition of "recovered materials;"

(w) "Mimeo paper" means a grade of writing paper used for making copies on stencil duplicating machines;

(x) "Newsprint" means paper of the type generally used in the publication of newspapers or special publications like the Congressional Record. It is made primarily from mechanical wood pulps combined with some chemical wood pulp;

(y) "Office papers" means note pads, loose-leaf fillers, tablets, and other papers commonly used in offices, but not defined elsewhere;

(z) "Offset printing paper" means an uncoated or coated paper designed for offset lithography;

(aa) "Paper" means one of two broad subdivisions of paper products, the other being paperboard. Paper is generally lighter in basis weight, thinner, and more flexible than paperboard. Sheets 0.012 inch or less in thickness are generally classified as paper. Its primary uses are for printing, writing, wrapping, and sanitary purposes. However, in this guideline, the term paper is also used as a generic term that includes both paper and paperboard. It includes the following types of papers: bleached paper, bond paper, book paper, brown paper, coarse paper, computer paper, cotton fiber content paper, cover stock or cover paper, duplicator paper, form bond, ledger paper, manifold business forms, mimeo paper, newsprint, office papers, offset printing paper, printing paper, stationery, tabulating paper, unbleached papers, writing paper, and xerographic/copy paper.

(bb) "Paper napkins" means special tissues, white or colored, plain or printed, usually folded, and made in a variety of sizes for use during meals or with beverages;

(cc) "Paper product" means any item manufactured from paper or paperboard. The term "paper product" is used in this guideline to distinguish such items as boxes, doilies, and paper towels from printing and writing papers. It includes the following types of products: corrugated boxes, doilies, envelopes, facial tissue, fiberboard boxes, folding boxboard, industrial