Sustainable Community and
Eco-Friendly Contract Specifications

The Board of Supervisors (BOS) has adopted Sustainable Community(SC) Resolution 2007-84 to require and enable actions that provide recurring benefit to our community. In support of those objectives a five year action plan with quantifiable actions has been developed by a steering committee led by County administration. The resolution and action plan are posted at www.pima.gov.

ECO-FRIENDLY CONTRACT SPECIFICATIONS

The action plan included a requirement to update Board of Supervisors Procurement policy D29.2 XIII which defines general objectives and performance attributes that should be included in requested contracts. The policy was updated in April 2008 to support the SC resolution objectives (D29.2.XIII. A (1) and D). The updated policy is available in PDF format.

Department heads and staff assigned to develop contract specifications are responsible for becoming familiar with the resolution’s objectives, BOS Procurement policy, eco-friendly concepts, materials and services available and applicable for supporting their functions. As the department head deems possible and practical, they are also responsible for the development and incorporation of contract specifications that optimize economic and eco-friendly attributes . The policy recognizes that until some eco-friendly products and services reach market maturity and mass demand that their costs may be excessive and unsupportable considering current financial conditions. The policy also recognizes that department functions and contract requirements are diverse and the manner in which they can support the SC objectives will differ. The policy applies to services as well as products and materials.

Several departments, via administrative procedure, have been assigned the authority to restrict specifications for particular materials or services and have or will implement these eco-friendly concepts accordingly. Those Departments include Information Technology, Fleet, Facilities Maintenance and Graphics Services.

ECO-FRIENDLY PRODUCTS & SERVICES EDUCATION & TRAINING

Training sessions identifying the general responsibilities and potential sources of eco-friendly products and services was offered and given to County staff during the summer of 2008. On December 15, 2008 a letter was transmitted to all department heads and department representatives (jointly identified by the Sustainable Community Manager and the departments) announcing additional one-hour training sessions. These will be conducted at:

The BOS Meeting Room
January 14, 2009—3PM
and
January 28th, 2009—10AM.

The session is open to all County employees. Jennifer Moore, Procurement Contracts & Commodity Officer will conduct the training.

The power-point presentation that will be used in the training sessions is posted at the procurement intranet and may be downloaded, modified and used by department representatives to conduct department training specific to the functions and scope of their department.

The National Association of Counties website is a potential source for ideas on how to apply these concepts in a governmental environment: www.greencounties.org

SC PLAN REQUIREMENT TO UPDATE NEW & EXISTING CONTRACT SPECIFICATIONS
 
The SC plan includes actions to assure that new and existing contract specifications incorporate the new eco-friendly dimensions. The SC Manager is required to report progress on these actions each quarter to the Board of Supervisors.

In support of these requirements the Procurement Department will perform and request the actions, listed below, from the department administering the contract. As usual, the administering department will control the contract specifications but integrate the development of them with other departments that may also have significant requirements for the products and materials.

NEW contracts & requisitions:

The requesting department should document that they have optimized their contract specifications consistent with the BOS resolution and policy. The response will be included in the procurement file.

EXISTING contracts (with Renewals):

For those contracts that have remaining renewals and that were procured by the Materials & Services Division, Procurement will issue a monthly notice to the administering department’s assigned “Green Purchasing” representative. Notices will be given seven months prior to the expiration date of the current contract term. This action was commenced in December 2008 for contracts expiring during June 2009. Department representative assignments have been developed and will be maintained by the SC Manager in conjunction with departments.

The notice will include a request that the department assess the contract and determine whether the specifications should be amended to enhance eco-friendly attributes and to provide a response in writing (email) within 30 days of the notice. This information will be provided to the SC Manager to include in the quarterly SC Plan status report to the BOS.

If an amendment of contract specifications is deemed appropriate the administering department will need to develop and document the desired changes and submit them to the assigned Procurement Commodity & Contracts Officer for processing. The amendment should be submitted as soon as possible and not later than 90 days prior to the expiration date of the current contract term. If the desired change of specifications is not received by Procurement, or if other acceptable communication and agreement is not established with Procurement by that date, Procurement will proceed as usual to process an amendment to extend the term of the contract (if prior year usage > $5,000).

It is the County’s objective to renew all contracts, or give notice of non-renewal to the supplier, at least 60 days in advance of the contract termination date.

For contracts procured other than by Procurement (i.e., via delegated authority) the procuring department is responsible for performing these actions and providing similar results.

After a 12-month cycle, all County contracts should include specifications that support BOS SC resolution and action plan.

Questions may be submitted to:

• Tedra Fox, Sustainable Community Manager
• Denise Waldo, Buyer responsible for managing the renewal notice action, or
• The Commodity & Contracts Officer assigned to the contract.